Rachel Duchene

CBSE 4221

Lesson #3 of 6 Grade Level: 1

Central Focus Finding the main idea from details

Standard 1R2
Identify a main topic or central idea in a text and retell important
details

Learning Objective Students will be able identify the main idea of a story by locating
details and illustrations.

Materials “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”
Google Slides Presentation
Anchor Chart
Mystery Bag and Cut Out Words
Scissors
Glue
Details and Main Idea Worksheets (A, B, and C)

Teaching point The point is to have students fully comprehend what they are
reading about so that they can make deeper connections to the
text.

Explicit Instruction Introduction (5-6 minutes)

The teacher will inform the students that they will become
detectives. Show them the “mystery bag” and pull out the cut out
words which should include “sprinkles,” “syrup,” “cherry” and
“whipped cream.” Ask the students to turn and talk about how all
of the words are related.
Explain to students that the words they looked at are called
details. Details are small, but important pieces of information. The
more details an illustration or story has, the more we can
understand the main idea. The main idea is what the story or
illustration is mostly about. In detective work, our “main idea” is
that the words are all toppings that can be put on ice cream.

Model
Display the book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day” on the smartboard. Acknowledge the
title and the cover illustration and how it could relate to the “main
idea” of the book.
During the read aloud, focus on details that support the
main idea: Alexander is having a bad day. For example, “I went to
 sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair” is a
detail that supports the main idea. Circle it and explain to students
that circling a detail is important because it can help them
remember where to find it later. Continue reading and remind
students that they will also be finding details that support the main
idea.

Guided Practice
Once additional pages are read, have students turn and talk
with groups of 2-3 to discuss another detail they found that
supports the main idea. The teacher should listen in on these
conversations. The teacher should allow students to share what
they or their partners found.

Anticipated Difficulties
Students may have difficulties constructing a main idea of
the story. Students may state that a smaller detail is the “main
idea”. Give them sentence starters to remind them what they are
looking for. If students need additional help, go back to the
original picture of the ice cream cone and discuss how one detail
saw is important, but does not necessarily show the main idea.

Learning Task The teacher will hand out differentiated worksheets for the
students to work on independently. Give out the sheets according
to the reading level each student is performing at. Group A will
consist of emerging proficiency and developing proficiency.
Group B will be considered proficient. Group C will be considered
proficient and highly proficient. Assess the students’ performance
as they work and answer any additional questions they may have.

Closing Collect independent work to be graded. For homework,

have students create their own story with details and an illustration
to share during the next class.

Assessments ● Independent worksheets will be collected after lesson and

graded
● During guided practice, the placement of each group’s
word or picture will be observed by the teacher
● During guided practice, group discussion will be
monitored
● Homework will be collected the following day and graded

Academic Language Details, illustrations, main idea, setting, text, characters

Differentiation ● Differentiated texts for independent work based on reading

levels
 ● Sheet will be given to ML’s with anchor chart filled out
with example

Google Slides Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-abdzO77ZfPP5jlhMkAlyeOha9QBgYWuzDcztp
MMpQg/edit

Anchor Chart/Differentiated Anchor Chart

Independent Worksheets/Differentiated Worksheets

Group A:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NEfQktDlmxGd6cLKKqmGqOlr7ANACE8MTmaj
Zkec9Nk/edit

Group B:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NEo6lc9kzGxUbDxlhNdcgm3p2gwep8HCi2IvLhs1R
yA/edit
Group C:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OyGJhEB1rf9liNOdy8nRSYwQlgxSVdnEYtzJ9aE9
hHg/edit

Homework
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TTIWWoYLmBxyl_Nb99LuMY4PF-tTrmosApwEW
isfyPw/edit