Design for Learning

Instructor: Abby Conner

Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 5th grade/Ms. Dillard

Lesson Title: Whats the Main Idea?

Date: 4-8-2015

Curriculum Area: Language Arts/Reading Estimated Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Standards Connection: 5th grade Language Arts

11.) Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are
supported by key details; summarize the text. [RI.5.2]

Learning Objective(s): When given a passage, the students will correctly pull out the
main idea and at least three supporting details from the passage with 4/5 being considered
proficient.

Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language: Today, we will be learning

about main idea and supporting details.

Evaluation of Learning Objective(s): The students will read a passage and correctly
identify the main idea and at least three supporting details. The entire assessment will be
worth five points. The main idea is worth two points and the supporting details are worth
one point each. If students provide more than three details, they will receive an
encouraging note on their paper but no extra points.
Engagement: The students and teacher will read the article, The Price of Ivory that is
projected on the smart board. They will then brainstorm possible reasons why the article
was written. What makes them say that? I would like for everyone to move where they
can see the board. This is an article called The Price of Ivory. What do you think that
this article is going to be about before we begin reading it? Good elephants? Raise your
hand if you have ever seen an elephant before. The teacher will accept a few stories about
when students have seen an elephant. The teacher will also share about when she saw an
elephant. I saw an elephant too! It was over my Spring Break. I was at the National Zoo
in Washington DC. They were HUGE! I only saw them while they were moving from their
indoor exhibit to their outdoor exhibit so I did not see them for very long. The teacher
will bring the students attention back to the article. Lets look back at the article. I would
like for you to follow along while I read it aloud. The teacher will read the article. Raise
your hand and using only one word, share your reaction to this article. It can be a
reaction to the elephants being hunted and killed. It can be a reaction to the last
paragraph. Remember, you are using only one word. Take a minute to think. Raise your
hand when you have a word. The teacher will accept words from several students. She
will write them on the board. For the next few questions, you do not have to use only one
word. The one word responses were just for the first question. Who can raise their hand

and tell me why the demand for ivory is so high in China? The students will answer
because Chinas economy is growing. Why was the international trading of ivory banned
in 1989? The students will answer because over 1 million elephants were killed for their
tusks. Why is illegal ivory being sold in China? The students will answer because legal
ivory is being sold there and that makes it easier for illegal ivory to be sold. The teacher
will praise the students for their good answers and ask them to return to their desks. You
all did a great job with those questions! I was really impressed by your one word
responses! Quietly walk back to your desk and clear everything away.

Learning Design:
I. Teaching: The students will be seated at their desks. The teacher will pass out the
students note taking guides. What is more important? The Mona Lisa or a doodle on a
scratch sheet of paper? Mona Lisa? What is more important? The Declaration of
Independence or the lunch menu? What is more important? A tree or a piece of grass?
Why are some things more important than others? Are some ideas more important than
others? What if someone had an idea that would stop the hunting of elephants for ivory
while someone had an idea that today should be national pizza day? Is one of those ideas
more important than the other? Yes! When you read, are there ideas that are more
important than the others? Yes! When you read, there are some ideas that are the most
important ideas in what you are reading. Those ideas are called the main ideas. The
main ideas are supported by the details that are in what you are reading. The supporting
details can be anything that supports the main idea. The teacher will instruct the students
to take out their reading textbooks and turn to page 655. Please follow along with your
eyes while I read this story aloud to you. They will then fill out a graphic organizer as a
class and determine the main ideas and the supporting details for the text. Look at your
main idea note taking guide. Do you see the graphic organizer on the page? The main
idea goes in the big circle and the supporting details go in the other circles. After reading
this passage, what do you think that the main idea of the story is about? Good! The
teacher will write the main idea on the graphic organizer on the board and the students
will be encouraged to do so in their note taking guides as well. Someone raise their hand
and tell me why they think that causes of crop circles is the main idea for this story. Give
me a supporting detail. The teacher will take three supporting details for the main idea
and write them on the board. Good! Now lets go back and double check our main idea.
Does the main idea cover all of the supporting details? Yes! Great! Are there any
questions about main idea or supporting details?
The teacher will then have the students split up into their table groups to fill out the
graphic organizers for the text The Mystery of Saint Matthew Island. I believe that you
have all read the case study called The Mystery of Saint Matthew Island correct?
Okay. I would like for you to flip through it to refresh your memory of the case study.
With your table group, I would like for you to decide the main idea and three supporting
details of the case study. Fill out your graphic organizers and give me a thumbs up when
you are done. The teacher will allow the students a few minutes to discuss the main idea
and supporting details of the case study. The teacher will walk around and answer any
questions that the students have about main idea or supporting details.
When they are done the teacher will bring the students back together to discuss their
decisions and they will fill out a graphic organizer as a class. Alright! Lets see what you

all decided the main idea was. Raise your hand and tell me what your table group
decided the main idea is. The teacher will accept an answer from every table group. She
will then ask the class what they think the best main idea that they heard was. We heard
several different main ideas. Someone raise their hand and tell me what they think that
the best main idea was that they heard. Does the class agree? Okay, the main idea is that
the reindeer died from lack of food. Someone raise their hand and share with me a
supporting detail for this main idea. The teacher will accept several supporting details.
Great job! Are there any questions about main idea or supporting details? Great!
II. Opportunity for Practice: The students will use a graphic organizer to write a short
paragraph. The paragraph must contain a main idea and three supporting details. When
the students have completed their paragraphs, they will switch papers with a neighbor and
try to determine the main idea and three supporting details in their neighbors paragraph.
Now the fun begins! In a minute, I will be passing out a sheet that has two graphic
organizers on it. One is on the front, the other is on the back. On the front, you are going
to choose a main idea and three details to support it. The main idea can be about
anything. I chose to do mine about my love of reading. I then chose three reasons why I
love to read and put them in my supporting details bubbles. Then I took my supporting
details and on a separate sheet of paper, I wrote a paragraph that included my main idea
and my three supporting details. Once you all have done that, you are going to switch
paragraphs with a partner and try to fill out what the main idea and supporting details
are of their paragraphs. Then you can get together and see if you correctly identified the
main idea and supporting details of your partners paragraph. The teacher will share her
example. I chose to do my graphic organizer on my love of books. Here is my graphic
organizer. The teacher will show the students her graphic organizer. Here is my
paragraph I wrote about my love of books. The teacher will read the paragraph aloud.
Now if you were my partner, you would write what you think the main idea and three
supporting details are of my paragraph. When you were done, I would show you my
graphic organizer and you would see if you correctly identified what the main idea and
three supporting details of my paragraph were. Are there any questions? When I pass you
your paper, you may begin. The teacher will pass out the papers.
III. Assessment: The students will be given an article and a graphic organizer. The
students will fill in the main idea and the supporting details into the graphic organizer
while using the article. I would like for you all to clear your desks and take out nothing
but a pencil. When you have done so, I would like to have all eyes on me. The teacher will
pause until everyone has followed the instructions. I am about to pass out an article and
a graphic organizer. This is your time to show me what you have learned. I would like to
see your very best effort on this. You do not need to share answers with your neighbor.
You can do this! You will read the article. Using what you read in the article, you will
complete the graphic organizer. The graphic organizer is looking for the main idea and
three supporting details. It is the same graphic organizer that you have been using all
day just copied and pasted onto a different sheet of paper. Thumbs up if you are about to
do great on this! Wonderful! When you are done, turn your papers into me, return to your
seats, and take out a book and read. Are there any questions? The teacher will pass out
the articles and the graphic organizers. You may begin!
IV. Closure: The teacher will pull the article, The Price of Ivory, back onto the board. The
class as a whole will complete a graphic organizer on the article The Price of Ivory.
Everyone move to where you can see the board. Do you remember this article from
earlier? We are going to use our main idea skills to determine the main idea and three
supporting details from this article. Turn and talk to your neighbor about what you think

that the main idea of this article is. The teacher will allow the students a moment to
discuss. Alright what do you think that the main idea is? The teacher will draw a graphic
organizer on the board and write the main idea into the graphic organizer. Yes! That
elephants are dying out because they are being hunted for their tusks. Turn and talk to
your neighbor and decide on a supporting detail. The teacher will allow the students a
moment to talk. She will write the supporting details on the board. Alright, what is one
supporting detail? The teacher will accept as many supporting details as the class
provides because there is no limit to the amount of supporting details that a text may
provide. I know we have more than three supporting details, but sometimes there are
more than three supporting details. There is no limit to the amount of supporting details
you can have. I have only asked you to look for three today but there could have been
more. The teacher will dismiss the students back to their seats. Thank you all for listening
and participating. You may walk quietly back to your seats.
Materials and Resources:
Promethean board
Main idea note taking guide
Practice worksheets
Notebook paper
Link to The Price of Ivory http://www.timeforkids.com/news/article-priceivory/98961
Reading text book
Assessment article What Killed the Dinosaurs?
http://www.timeforkids.com/news/what-killed-dinosaurs/167841
Main idea graphic organizer
Pencils
Highlighters (not required. Usage would be left at the students discretion)

Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):

Higher level learners will be asked to look for more than three supporting details
in a text. If a more difficult text is required, one may be obtained. This is not
meant to punish the student but to challenge the student. If the student uses a more
difficult text, they may not be asked to look for more than three supporting
details. The student may also be asked to summarize what they have read or write
their own story/article using the main ideas and supporting details gathered from
the text.
Lower level learners will be asked to look for one or two supporting details. If the
student is in need of extreme differentiation strategies, the student may be asked
to only identify the main idea of the text. The students may also be given an easier
text to examine in order to find the main idea and supporting details. The student

may also be given extra time to complete the assignment. The student may have
the text read aloud to them with guided questions to help them learn if required.

Data Analysis:
The data gathered from the students assessments showed that most of the
students in the class were proficient. Sixteen out of twenty-three students received a 4/5
or higher on the assessment. Seven students received either a 3/5 or a 2/5 on their
assessment. There were no 1/5 or 0/5 grades given. 70% of the students were proficient. I
would consider 13% of the students in the yellow and 17% of students in the red.

Reflection:
This lesson was very different than any other lesson I had taught before. There
was a big learning curve to it. I jumped from teaching kindergartners to teaching fifth
graders. I knew it would be different but I was unsure of how different and how best to
prepare for the differences. The big difference was that the depth of the responses I
received were deep compared to what I was looking for. I was unsure how to best handle
the deep responses so I just glazed over them. It is a mistake I deeply regret. About once a
day, I think about what I could have done differently with the students deep thoughts to
help them develop further.
The data was fairly close to what I expected. I knew that most of the students
grasped the concept of the main idea. I also knew that there were a few who could use the
extra exposure and practice. If given the opportunity, I would form small groups of
students based on their ability and allow them to focus their attention on the areas that
they are struggling in. One of the biggest differences I have noticed between my
kindergarten class at Trace and my fifth grade class at Phillips is the difference in
differentiation. I felt like I saw a lot of differentiation at Trace. Every student was
working on his or her own level and was constantly learning. At Phillips, the students are
all being taught on the same level. I see the more advanced students reading under their
desks and not paying attention and the less advanced students staring off into space.
Neither one is very engaged and neither one is really learning.
If I could redo the lesson, I would change the practice. It seemed like a really
good idea on paper but it was out of hand in the classroom. I found it challenging to
motivate the students to do work once they had their partners. On reflection, I should
have set a timer. It is the way that their teacher keeps them on track. I was still going off
of my experience of working with kindergartners during the practice. The kindergartners
were great about doing their work. They were talking while they worked, but they were
still working. The fifth graders took the opportunity to talk to their partner to anything
except what they were supposed to be doing.
I learned a lot when I taught this lesson. The one thing that I learned that will stay
with me is the fact that I did not allow the students deep thoughts in the engagement
fully develop. I am sorry to those students for being underprepared in that area. I will be
prepared for the depth of thoughts next time. I was scared of the lesson morphing from
the lesson plan I had in front of me. The lesson was being observed and videotaped. I
know that I need to improve in the area of going off of the script. I will do my best to
dive into the deep discussion headfirst the next time the opportunity arises.

Samford University
Design for Learning