Literacy

Professional Development

January 26, 2013

Teaching Main Idea and Details Through Non-Fiction Text

Last week was wonderful! We had a great time digging into main idea and details during our reading time. We have continued to focus on it because my little ones are having a hard time. I think it’s just a hard concept for all. I tried to do a few things to make it easier and a bit more exciting.


We started the week by reviewing as I did a whole group lesson. We read non-fiction winter books and polar bear books. We made big anchor charts to display in the classroom. My point with these visuals was that if we took away the details, it wouldn’t be a good book and we wouldn’t see the main idea. We even folded under the polar bear’s legs and talked about how he didn’t look like a polar bear anymore!
Teaching main idea and details is a breeze when you provide your students with a visual! See how this teacher use polar bears to help provide her students with the necessary knowledge to get them identifying main idea and details for first grade.

I split my friends up into small groups of 4 or 5 and they read a book on their reading level. Then they had to identify the main idea and details. Each group got to share their main idea and details after. It’s nothing magical whatsoever, but it was SO powerful!


I also introduced this little activity to do in our writing station for main idea and details. They had to read about polar bears and then write two facts or details that they learned from the book.Arctic Animal research is always so much fun for kindergarten and first grade students. Grab this FREE polar bear craft and have your students write about facts they have learned.

All of you who are faithful little blog followers can grab this main idea and details polar bear activity here for FREE!

Do you discuss arctic animals in your classroom? Do you have any great lesson ideas for main idea and details? I’d love to hear!

Teaching main idea and details through non-fiction text with this fun lesson idea! See the visual supports the teacher used and grab the FREE writing craft for identifying main idea and details, too!

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Happy Teaching,

Amanda

EASILY PLAN YOUR K-2 READING SMALL GROUPS​

Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This FREE guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!

Hi, I'm Amanda

I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers.  Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!

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5 Responses

  1. I just love your polar bear activities- they are so cute! Thanks for sharing the awesome craftivity 🙂 and your newest fonts are adorable! Hope you had a fun date night 🙂

  2. Can you tell me what polar bear book you used and the other books you used? I’m writing sub plans and I want to make sure I have exact titles for her to pick up from the library.

    1. Hi Shannon! I’m not sure which books I used! This post is old and I know I used a mixture of books I had and what our school library had. 🙂

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