Kerri Goucher Guided Reading Lesson #1

EDUC 342
4.4.14


Objective
Identify the main idea & key details of a paragraph.

Introduce & Connect
Show students a picture in your classroom, like the cover an already familiar book. Ask
them to describe what that picture shows. Explain that the main idea is what a picture
or text is mostly about, while the details give us more information about the main idea.

Teaching the Skill
Tell students that they can identify main ideas when they read. Explain: Finding the
main idea can help us understand what you read and how to describe what weve
learned. We can use the title, pictures, and the words on a page to help us find the main
idea. Usually, one sentence tells us the main idea of a paragraph. It can be the first or
last sentence; you have to think about which sentence tells us what the paragraph is
mostly about.

Applying the Skill
Either by projectable or hard copy, display The Busy City for your students. Ask for a
prediction of what the main idea might be by having them describe what is happening in
the picture. Then read the passage aloud and ask: What is this passage mostly about?
Remind students that many times, the first sentence of a paragraph is the main idea.
Reread the first sentence and ask if it tells us what the passage is mostly about. Model
underlining the first sentence to show the main idea.
Ask students for find the details in the passage, and then model highlighting them. Have
students tell how each detail tells us more about why the city is such a busy place.
Distribute a hard copy of What Do Police Officers Do? to pairs of students. Read the
title aloud and ask students to describe what is happening in the picture. Have each pair
of students take turns reading the passage to each other. Ask them to underline the
main idea and highlight the details just like you model previously. Help students by
saying: To find the main idea, we ask ourselves What is the passage mostly about?
Give students the opportunity to share their examples and explain their thinking.
Reteach how details support the main idea as needed. Use a detail that does not
support the main idea like Police officers wear uniforms. and a supporting detail such
as Police officers tell people what the laws are. Have students identify which detail
supports the main idea and explain why.

Write & Share
Point out how one detail in The Busy City is about city parks. Prompt student pairs to
make a list of things that people can do on playgrounds. Then have them write or
dictate a paragraph to you with a clear main idea sentence and two to three supporting
Kerri Goucher Guided Reading Lesson #1
EDUC 342
4.4.14

details. Remind students that the first sentence is often the main idea, while the other
sentences are details that tell more about it.
If this activity is done in pairs, encourage students to share their paragraphs with the
class and ask for volunteers to identify the main ideas in their classmates paragraphs.

Extensions
Read the leveled book, Sharks and use a graphic organizer to identify the main idea
and details.