ELA G3:M4:U1:L2

Determining the Main Idea: Pages 4–5 of One Well: The Story of Water on Earth

Like what you see?

Order printed materials, teacher guides and more.

How to order

Help us improve!

Tell us how the curriculum is working in your classroom and send us corrections or suggestions for improving it.

Leave feedback

These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

RI.3.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
SL.3.2: Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Daily Learning Targets

I can determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud. (SL.3.2)

Ongoing Assessment

Determining the Main Ideas note-catcher (SL.3.2)

Agenda

Agenda	Teaching Notes
1. Opening A.Reflecting on Module Guiding Questions (10 minutes) B.Reviewing Learning Target (5 minutes) 2. Work Time A. Reading Aloud: One Well, Pages 4-5 (30 minutes) 3. Closing and Assessment A. Launching Independent Reading (15 minutes) 4. Homework A. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.	Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: The lesson opens with time for students to share their reflections about the module guiding questions if they choose. Continue to be sensitive to students' and families' feelings and experiences with water, specifically those who have had issues with access to water. In Work Time A, students are introduced to the anchor text for the module, One Well. Students then close their books to hear a read-aloud of pages 4-5. The purpose of the read-aloud is for students to practice finding the main idea and supporting details of a text read aloud (SL.3.2).Pay careful attention to this routine in order to apply it in subsequent lessons. In the Closing, students choose independent research reading books (RL.3.10, RI.3.10). Consider using the Independent Reading: Sample Plans if you do not have your own independent reading review routines (see the Tools page). In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners on a characteristic of their choice and working to become ethical people by showing respect as students share their reflections on the module guiding questions. The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to water. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it. How this lesson builds on previous work: In Lesson 1, students were introduced to the module topic, including the module guiding questions. In this lesson, they reflect on the module guiding questions and are introduced to the anchor text for the module. Continue to use Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation. Areas in which students may need additional support: Students may need additional support to determine the main idea and supporting details from a read-aloud. Invite those students to sit together for additional teacher support. Assessment guidance: Review students' Determining the Main Ideas note-catchers to identify common issues to use as whole group teaching points Down the road: In the next lesson, students will reread pages 4-5 of One Well in order to answer text-dependent questions.

Teaching Notes

1. Opening

A.Reflecting on Module Guiding Questions (10 minutes)

B.Reviewing Learning Target (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Reading Aloud: One Well, Pages 4-5 (30 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Launching Independent Reading (15 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

The lesson opens with time for students to share their reflections about the module guiding questions if they choose. Continue to be sensitive to students' and families' feelings and experiences with water, specifically those who have had issues with access to water.
In Work Time A, students are introduced to the anchor text for the module, One Well. Students then close their books to hear a read-aloud of pages 4-5. The purpose of the read-aloud is for students to practice finding the main idea and supporting details of a text read aloud (SL.3.2).Pay careful attention to this routine in order to apply it in subsequent lessons.
In the Closing, students choose independent research reading books (RL.3.10, RI.3.10). Consider using the Independent Reading: Sample Plans if you do not have your own independent reading review routines (see the Tools page).
In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners on a characteristic of their choice and working to become ethical people by showing respect as students share their reflections on the module guiding questions.
The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to water. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

In Lesson 1, students were introduced to the module topic, including the module guiding questions. In this lesson, they reflect on the module guiding questions and are introduced to the anchor text for the module.
Continue to use Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

Students may need additional support to determine the main idea and supporting details from a read-aloud. Invite those students to sit together for additional teacher support.

Assessment guidance:

Review students' Determining the Main Ideas note-catchers to identify common issues to use as whole group teaching points

Down the road:

In the next lesson, students will reread pages 4-5 of One Well in order to answer text-dependent questions.

In Advance

In advance:

Strategically group students into triads for work in this lesson, with at least one strong reader per triad.
Review the Independent Reading: Sample Plans in preparation for launching independent reading (see the Tools page).
Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 2.I.A.1 and 2.I.C.10

Important points in the lesson itself

The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to work in triads as they determine the main idea and supporting details of text read aloud. Additionally, the opportunity to hear the text read aloud three times during Work Time A, each with a specific focus and task, is particularly supportive of ELLs.
ELLs may find it challenging to determine the main idea of text read aloud after one reading, as well as to determine the most relevant supporting details without being able to see the text. Consider inviting students to share out their main ideas as a class before they listen for supporting details (see ?For heavier support?and the Meeting Students' Needs section in Work Time A).

Levels of support
For lighter support:

During Work Time A,challenge students to determine another meaning for the word well. Consider providing sentences with multiple meanings of the word well and invite students to determine which sentence uses well in the same way that well is used in the title. (Example: I did my homework very well last night. The boy went to the well to retrieve water for the day.) Invite students to explain the function of well in each sentence. Add well to the corresponding example columns on the Parts of Speech anchor chart.

For heavier support:

During Work Time A, distribute a partially filled-in copy of the Determining the Main Ideas note-catcher, with one or two supporting details filled in. This supports students in determining the main idea and provides a model for the kind of information they should enter, while relieving the volume of writing required.

Universal Design for Learning

Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): In this lesson, students interact with One Well. Students listen to a read aloud-of this text, then focus on determining the main idea and identifying supporting details. For students who may need additional support identifying these, consider highlighting or underlining key phrases in their copy of the text in advance. This emphasizes the supporting details for them as they read independently.
Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): In this unit, some students may need support in setting appropriate goals for their effort and the level of difficulty expected. Recall that appropriate goal-setting supports development of executive skills and strategies. Offer scaffolds for students learning to set appropriate personal goals (e.g., a checklist with specific goals for each lesson).
Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Since this is a unit about reading, students who may have needed additional support with reading in the past may lack engagement. Encourage students by reminding them that everyone has reading goals that they are working toward. Emphasize that all students will grow and improve in their reading throughout this unit.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

main ideas, supporting details, gist (L)
well (T)

Materials

Module Guiding Questions anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
One Well (one per student)
Determining the Main Ideas note-catcher (one per student and one to display)
Determining the Main Ideas note-catcher (example, for teacher reference)
Parts of Speech anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
Independent Reading: Sample Plans (for teacher reference; see the Tools page)

Assessment

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

Opening	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Reflecting on Module Guiding Questions (10 minutes) Move students into pre-determined triads and invite them to label themselves A, B, and C. Remind students that in the previous lesson they were introduced to the guiding questions for the module. Direct students' attention to the Module Guiding Questions anchor chart and invite them to silently reread it. Remind students that for homework they were asked to reflect on what those guiding questions mean to them and how they feel about them. Direct students' attention to the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart and focus them on the criteria of respect. Remind students that they should be respectful of each other and the varied experiences they each bring, and to be respectful of the stories classmates may share. Remind students of what respect looks and sounds like. ?Invite volunteers to share their reflections with the whole group.
B. Reviewing Learning Target (5 minutes) Direct students' attention to the posted learning target and select a volunteer to read it aloud: "I can determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud." Underline main ideas and supporting details. Remind students that they have found the main idea of a text many times in the previous modules. Think-Triad-Share: "What is the main idea of a text?" (a big idea that the author wants you to understand from reading the text) "What are the supporting details?" (the details in the text--facts and pieces of information--that help you understand the big idea) Turn and Talk: "What is different about this learning target compared to what you have seen before? What do you notice?" (We are going to find the main ideas of a text read aloud, rather than a text we are reading ourselves.) Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart and invite them to read the habits of character on the chart to themselves. Tell students to choose a habit they would like to focus on as they work with their classmates today. Cold call students to share with the whole group and select one as a class.	For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Checking Comprehension of Concepts) Check comprehension of main idea and supporting detailsby inviting students to turn to an elbow partner and define them in their own words. Provide clarification as necessary, and then invite them to notice the details in something familiar.For example, show them the illustration on the cover of a book read in class this year. Ask: "What details do you notice in this illustration? How do you know ______ is a detail? How does this detail help you understand what the book will be about?" (MMR) For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Sharing Strategies) Invite students to share a strategy that helps them determine the main idea and supporting details of a book they are reading. Provide sentence frames for support. (Example: One thing that helps me determine the main idea is _______ [looking for something that happens over and over again]. One thing that helps me determine a supporting detail is ______ [asking myself, "Is this detail important to understanding the big picture of the book?"]) (MMAE

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Module Guiding Questions (10 minutes)

Move students into pre-determined triads and invite them to label themselves A, B, and C.
Remind students that in the previous lesson they were introduced to the guiding questions for the module. Direct students' attention to the Module Guiding Questions anchor chart and invite them to silently reread it.
Remind students that for homework they were asked to reflect on what those guiding questions mean to them and how they feel about them.
Direct students' attention to the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart and focus them on the criteria of respect. Remind students that they should be respectful of each other and the varied experiences they each bring, and to be respectful of the stories classmates may share. Remind students of what respect looks and sounds like. ?Invite volunteers to share their reflections with the whole group.

B. Reviewing Learning Target (5 minutes)

Direct students' attention to the posted learning target and select a volunteer to read it aloud:

"I can determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud."

Underline main ideas and supporting details. Remind students that they have found the main idea of a text many times in the previous modules. Think-Triad-Share:

"What is the main idea of a text?" (a big idea that the author wants you to understand from reading the text)
"What are the supporting details?" (the details in the text--facts and pieces of information--that help you understand the big idea)

Turn and Talk:

"What is different about this learning target compared to what you have seen before? What do you notice?" (We are going to find the main ideas of a text read aloud, rather than a text we are reading ourselves.)

Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart and invite them to read the habits of character on the chart to themselves. Tell students to choose a habit they would like to focus on as they work with their classmates today. Cold call students to share with the whole group and select one as a class.

For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Checking Comprehension of Concepts) Check comprehension of main idea and supporting detailsby inviting students to turn to an elbow partner and define them in their own words. Provide clarification as necessary, and then invite them to notice the details in something familiar.For example, show them the illustration on the cover of a book read in class this year. Ask:

"What details do you notice in this illustration? How do you know ______ is a detail? How does this detail help you understand what the book will be about?" (MMR)

For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Sharing Strategies) Invite students to share a strategy that helps them determine the main idea and supporting details of a book they are reading. Provide sentence frames for support. (Example: One thing that helps me determine the main idea is _______ [looking for something that happens over and over again]. One thing that helps me determine a supporting detail is ______ [asking myself, "Is this detail important to understanding the big picture of the book?"]) (MMAE

Work Time

Work Time	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Reading Aloud: One Well, Pages 4-5 (30 minutes) Distribute *One Well. Invite a volunteer to read the title aloud. Think-Triad-Share: "What is a well?" (a deep hole in the ground where you find water)* "Given the title of the book, what do you think it will be about? Why?" (about water on Earth, as that is what it says in the title) "Do you think this is a literary text or an informational text? Why?" (Responses will vary, but may include: informational, because it will be all about water on Earth) Conversation Cue: "Can you say more about that?" (Responses will vary.) If student books have dust jackets, invite students to turn to the part of the dust jacket on the inside of the cover. Read it aloud while students read along silently in their heads. Think-Triad-Share: "How would you extend your answer about what the book will be about now that you have read this information? What evidence supports your answer?" (The book answers the question "What can we do to protect water?" because it states the question and then says, "One Well answers this important question while telling the eye-opening story of water on Earth.) Conversation Cue: "How is what _____ said the same as/different from what _____ said?" (Responses will vary.) Build excitement about the book by inviting students to flip through it for a couple of minutes tolook at the illustrations and page headings. After 2 minutes, tell students to close their books. Share that they are going to listen to a read-aloud of the first two pages of One Well. Read pages 4-5 aloud while students listen. Do not show them the text. Think-Triad-Share: "What was the gist of these pages? What were these pages mostly about?" (All water around the world is connected.) "What surprised you about what you heard?" (Responses will vary, but may include: I was surprised that all water is connected and that the amount of water hasn't ever changed.) Conversation Cue: "Can you say more about that?" (Responses will vary.) Distribute the Determining the Main Ideas note-catcher. Focus students on the box at the top: "Main Idea(s)" Think-Triad-Share: "The main ideas are the big points the author wants you to understand from reading. You might not understand all of the words you heard, but having listened once, what do you think the main ideas of pages 4-5 are?" (All of the water on Earth is connected, so we need to take care of it.) Explain that the note-catcher says "idea(s)" because students may be able to identify only one idea. Invite students to record their initial ideas about the main idea in the appropriate box. Don't call students to share yet. Focus students on the Supporting Details Notes box. Tell students that you are going to read the text again, and this time they are going to listen for details that support the main idea/ideas they have identified, and they are going to note them in this box. If triads have identified more than one main idea, invite the triad to allocate a main idea to each student so that each student has to identify the supporting details for only one main idea. Reread pages 4-5. Think-Triad-Share: "Did you find details to support the main idea(s) you recorded in the first box?"(Responses will vary.) "If you didn't, you might want to reconsider your main idea(s). Having listened again, what do you think the main idea(s) is of this text? What big point does the author want you to understand?" (Responses will vary.) Invite triads that found appropriate supporting details to record them in the Supporting Details box. Invite triads that want to reconsider their main idea(s) to revise their Main Idea(s) box. Tell students that you are going to read the text again, one final time, so that those who have reconsidered their main idea(s) can once again listen for supporting details. Those triads that feel confident about their main idea and supporting details should listen for additional supporting details they could add. Give students time to revise their note-catchers. Use total participation techniques to select students to share their main ideas and supporting details with the whole group. Refer to the Determining the Main Ideas note-catcher (example, for teacher reference) as necessary. Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the learning target and how well they demonstrated the habit from the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart they decided to focus on today.	For ELLs: (Parts of Speech: Explaining Function) After defining the wordwell, invite students to determine its part of speech. Challenge them to explain how they can "prove" which part of speech well falls under. Provide a sentence frame for support. (Example: I know well is a ______ [noun] in this sentence because it tells ______ [a place where you can find water].) Add well as an example of a noun on the Parts of Speech anchor chart (see Lesson 1, "For heavier support"). For ELLs and students who may need additional support with auditory processing: (Reading Aloud Twice for Main Idea) Consider reading the text aloud twice for the main idea before inviting students to listen for supporting details. After the text has been read aloud twice, invite triads to focus on the main idea they are most confident about before listening for supporting details. (MMR) For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud: Identifying Supporting Details) Before inviting students to listen for supporting details, consider sharing a main idea of the text and modeling and thinking aloud the process for identifying supporting details. Write one supporting detail in the note-catcher and invite students to discuss with a partner how it supports the main idea. (MMAE) For students who may need additional support with sustained effort: Support students'understanding of the purpose for identifying the main idea and supporting details in a text. Ask: "Why is it important to identify the main idea and supporting details in a text?" Confirm understanding by restating the purpose: "Yes, identifying the main idea and supporting details helps us understand the author's message in the text. In this way, we are creating a mental organizer for the meaning we will construct from the text."(MME)

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Reading Aloud: One Well, Pages 4-5 (30 minutes)

Distribute One Well. Invite a volunteer to read the title aloud.
Think-Triad-Share:

"What is a well?" (a deep hole in the ground where you find water)
"Given the title of the book, what do you think it will be about? Why?" (about water on Earth, as that is what it says in the title)
"Do you think this is a literary text or an informational text? Why?" (Responses will vary, but may include: informational, because it will be all about water on Earth)
Conversation Cue: "Can you say more about that?" (Responses will vary.)

If student books have dust jackets, invite students to turn to the part of the dust jacket on the inside of the cover. Read it aloud while students read along silently in their heads.
Think-Triad-Share:

"How would you extend your answer about what the book will be about now that you have read this information? What evidence supports your answer?" (The book answers the question "What can we do to protect water?" because it states the question and then says, "One Well answers this important question while telling the eye-opening story of water on Earth.)

Conversation Cue: "How is what _____ said the same as/different from what _____ said?" (Responses will vary.)

Build excitement about the book by inviting students to flip through it for a couple of minutes tolook at the illustrations and page headings.
After 2 minutes, tell students to close their books.
Share that they are going to listen to a read-aloud of the first two pages of One Well. Read pages 4-5 aloud while students listen. Do not show them the text.
Think-Triad-Share:

"What was the gist of these pages? What were these pages mostly about?" (All water around the world is connected.)
"What surprised you about what you heard?" (Responses will vary, but may include: I was surprised that all water is connected and that the amount of water hasn't ever changed.)
Conversation Cue: "Can you say more about that?" (Responses will vary.)

Distribute the Determining the Main Ideas note-catcher. Focus students on the box at the top:

"Main Idea(s)"

Think-Triad-Share:

"The main ideas are the big points the author wants you to understand from reading. You might not understand all of the words you heard, but having listened once, what do you think the main ideas of pages 4-5 are?" (All of the water on Earth is connected, so we need to take care of it.)

Explain that the note-catcher says "idea(s)" because students may be able to identify only one idea.
Invite students to record their initial ideas about the main idea in the appropriate box. Don't call students to share yet.
Focus students on the Supporting Details Notes box.
Tell students that you are going to read the text again, and this time they are going to listen for details that support the main idea/ideas they have identified, and they are going to note them in this box. If triads have identified more than one main idea, invite the triad to allocate a main idea to each student so that each student has to identify the supporting details for only one main idea.
Reread pages 4-5.
Think-Triad-Share:

"Did you find details to support the main idea(s) you recorded in the first box?"(Responses will vary.)
"If you didn't, you might want to reconsider your main idea(s). Having listened again, what do you think the main idea(s) is of this text? What big point does the author want you to understand?" (Responses will vary.)

Invite triads that found appropriate supporting details to record them in the Supporting Details box. Invite triads that want to reconsider their main idea(s) to revise their Main Idea(s) box.
Tell students that you are going to read the text again, one final time, so that those who have reconsidered their main idea(s) can once again listen for supporting details. Those triads that feel confident about their main idea and supporting details should listen for additional supporting details they could add.
Give students time to revise their note-catchers.
Use total participation techniques to select students to share their main ideas and supporting details with the whole group. Refer to the Determining the Main Ideas note-catcher (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the learning target and how well they demonstrated the habit from the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart they decided to focus on today.

For ELLs: (Parts of Speech: Explaining Function) After defining the wordwell, invite students to determine its part of speech. Challenge them to explain how they can "prove" which part of speech well falls under. Provide a sentence frame for support. (Example: I know well is a ______ [noun] in this sentence because it tells ______ [a place where you can find water].) Add well as an example of a noun on the Parts of Speech anchor chart (see Lesson 1, "For heavier support").
For ELLs and students who may need additional support with auditory processing: (Reading Aloud Twice for Main Idea) Consider reading the text aloud twice for the main idea before inviting students to listen for supporting details. After the text has been read aloud twice, invite triads to focus on the main idea they are most confident about before listening for supporting details. (MMR)
For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud: Identifying Supporting Details) Before inviting students to listen for supporting details, consider sharing a main idea of the text and modeling and thinking aloud the process for identifying supporting details. Write one supporting detail in the note-catcher and invite students to discuss with a partner how it supports the main idea. (MMAE)
For students who may need additional support with sustained effort: Support students'understanding of the purpose for identifying the main idea and supporting details in a text. Ask:

"Why is it important to identify the main idea and supporting details in a text?"

Confirm understanding by restating the purpose: "Yes, identifying the main idea and supporting details helps us understand the author's message in the text. In this way, we are creating a mental organizer for the meaning we will construct from the text."(MME)

Closing & Assessments

Closing	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Launching Independent Reading (15 minutes) Refer to the Independent Reading: Sample Plans to launch independent reading.	For students who may need additional support with reading stamina: Provide opportunities to take breaks at pre-determined points. Let them choose from a list of appropriate break activities (e.g., getting a drink of water, stretching, etc.). (MME)

Homework

Homework	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.	For ELLs: (Oral Response) Read aloud, discuss, and respond to your prompt orally, either with a partner, family member, or student from grades 2 or 4) or record an audio response.

EL Education Curriculum