Understanding and Explaining Texts: Mastering 5.RI.10
Understanding and Explaining Texts: Mastering 5.RI.10 Objective: Students will learn how to read and comprehend informational texts at grade level, and clearly explain the key ideas in their own words.
Learning Objectives
- Identify and understand key ideas in an informational text.
- Summarize the main points clearly in their own words.
- Practice rereading to improve comprehension.
Materials Needed
- Grade-level informational text (article or passage, approximately 1-2 pages)
- Notebook or paper
- Pencil
- Highlighter or colored pencils
Key Vocabulary
- Informational Text
- A nonfiction text that provides facts, explanations, or instructions about a topic.
- Key Ideas
- The most important points or main messages in a text.
- Explain
- To make something clear or easy to understand by describing it in detail.
Detailed Activities
Read and Highlight Key Ideas
- Choose an informational text appropriate for a 5th grader.
- Read the text aloud together with your child or have them read independently.
- Use a highlighter or colored pencil to mark sentences or phrases that show the key ideas.
- Discuss why these parts are important and what they tell us about the topic.
Summarize and Explain
- Ask your child to write or say a summary explaining the main points of the text in their own words.
- Encourage them to include important details but keep it clear and simple.
- Review their summary together, offering help to clarify or expand their explanation if needed.
Parent & Instructor Notes
- This lesson is designed to help children improve their reading comprehension and ability to explain what they’ve read.
- Encourage your child to take their time and ask questions about anything they don’t understand.
- It’s helpful to read the text multiple times to build confidence and understanding.
Assessment Questions
- What is the main idea of the text?
- Can you explain two important details that help support the main idea?
- Why do you think the author wrote this text?
Extension Ideas
- Have your child create a small poster or drawing that represents the main ideas of the text.
- Explore other informational texts on similar topics to build background knowledge and vocabulary.
- Practice explaining key ideas verbally to family members or friends to build confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Encourage them to look for repeated words or sentences that answer questions like who, what, when, where, why, and how. Reading the text more than once can also help.
You can read the text aloud to your child, discuss it together, and use the guiding questions provided to support understanding.
Teacher’s Guide
Common Misconceptions:
- Students may confuse key details with minor or unrelated information.
- They might copy text directly instead of explaining in their own words.
- Some students may struggle with unfamiliar vocabulary impacting comprehension.
Scaffolding Ideas:
For Struggling Students:
- Use shorter or simpler texts with clear, distinct main ideas.
- Provide sentence starters or graphic organizers to help structure their summaries.
- Read the text aloud and pause frequently to check understanding.
For Advanced Students:
- Challenge them to identify supporting details and explain how they connect to the main idea.
- Encourage them to compare the text with other sources or relate it to personal experiences.
- Have them create questions about the text to quiz themselves or others.
Pacing Recommendations:
- Allow extra time for reading and discussion if needed; this lesson can be completed over two sessions if helpful.
- Spend at least 15-20 minutes on reading and identifying key ideas, 10-15 minutes on summarizing and explaining.
Standards
- 5.RI.10 — By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Printable Worksheet
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