Understanding Key Ideas and Details in Informational Text
Understanding Key Ideas and Details in Informational Text Objective: Students will be able to identify and explain the main idea of an informational text and locate supporting details to answer questions about the text.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the main idea of an informational text.
- Find supporting details that explain or support the main idea.
- Answer questions about a text using evidence from the reading.
Materials Needed
- A short informational passage suitable for 7-year-olds (about 200 words)
- Paper and pencils
- Highlighters or colored pencils
Key Vocabulary
- Main Idea
- The most important point or message the author wants to share in a text.
- Supporting Details
- Facts or information that explain or prove the main idea.
- Informational Text
- A type of writing that provides facts and information about a topic.
Detailed Activities
Read and Highlight
- Read the provided informational passage aloud together with your child.
- Ask your child to listen carefully and think about the main idea.
- Have your child use a highlighter or colored pencil to mark sentences that seem important.
- Discuss which sentence best represents the main idea and why.
Find the Details
- Review the highlighted sentences and identify supporting details with your child.
- Write down the main idea at the top of a paper.
- Underneath, list the supporting details your child found in the text.
- Ask your child questions like ‘What is this text mostly about?’ and ‘What facts help us understand the main idea?’
Answer Questions Using the Text
- Create or use simple questions related to the passage.
- Encourage your child to find answers by looking back at the text.
- Have your child explain their answers using the main idea and supporting details.
- Discuss how using details from the text helps give better answers.
Parent & Instructor Notes
- This lesson focuses on helping your child understand how to find the main idea and supporting details in informational texts, which is a key reading skill.
- Encourage your child to always look back at the text when answering questions to build strong reading comprehension habits.
- Be patient and provide lots of praise as your child practices these skills for the first time.
Assessment Questions
- What is the main idea of the passage we read?
- Can you point out two details that support the main idea?
- How did you find the answer to that question in the text?
Extension Ideas
- Have your child write their own short informational paragraph on a topic they enjoy, including a clear main idea and supporting details.
- Use books or articles on other topics to practice finding main ideas and details regularly.
- Create a graphic organizer with main idea and supporting detail sections for future readings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Try reading the passage together multiple times and discuss the overall topic before looking for details. Sometimes summarizing the passage in your own words can help.
Yes, but make sure the text is at an appropriate reading level for your child and not too long to keep them engaged.
Teacher’s Guide
Common Misconceptions:
- Children may confuse the main idea with a detail or a minor point.
- Students might think the first sentence always contains the main idea.
- Some children may answer questions based on memory instead of using text evidence.
Scaffolding Ideas:
For Struggling Students:
- Provide shorter, simpler texts with clear main ideas.
- Use graphic organizers to visually separate main ideas and details.
- Work together to highlight key sentences before independent practice.
For Advanced Students:
- Challenge them with longer or more complex texts.
- Have them explain how details relate to the main idea in their own words.
- Encourage writing summaries including main ideas and details.
Pacing Recommendations:
- Spend about 10-15 minutes reading and discussing the passage.
- Use 15 minutes for identifying main ideas and supporting details with guided practice.
- Reserve 10-15 minutes for answering questions and reviewing answers using text evidence.
Standards
- 7.RI.5 — Identify the main idea and supporting details of an informational text to answer questions and demonstrate understanding.
Printable Worksheet
Plan Your Own Lesson
Looking for a custom lesson plan? Try our Lesson Planning Generator — create standards-based plans for any topic, instantly!
Common Core Aligned Lesson Plans
Looking for another common core lesson? See all of the lesson plans here.
More Free Lesson Plans
We’re adding more every week! Check back soon or explore all our lesson plans here.
Leave a Reply