Main Idea

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2004 : October : 14

Main Idea
By Mrs. D

One thing I did for main idea that the kids really enjoy (3rd graders) is took the kids page from my local paper as well as Scholastic type newspaper/magazines and had them laminated. I collected them for free by having
the teachers that buy them give me 1-3 of their extra copies......usually not too difficult. Then I would put them in a center with a variety of options for telling about what they read. Sticky notes for the Main Idea(yellow), 3 supporting facts (pink), and one like and one dislike about the article (blue). I also included copies of ready to use graphic organizers for "Main Idea"! I

usually put in at least 3 options in style for the graphic organizers, to give the kiddos some choice. You can also include an option for "This article was so awesome, I want to tell everyone about it!" If the kids found an article that they were really into, they could make a "Main Ideas" poster display and tell the rest of the class about the article. They loved it. I made it a three step process. They first had to do both the sticky notes and at least 1 graphic organizer about it and get them okayed by me. Then they had to use paper and pencil to draw up their poster and a "speech" which also had to be approved by me. Once that was done, they were able to do the fun part.......making their poster for presentation. The sticky notes, graphic organizer, and final poster were to be done in class, but the write up and design on paper were done at home! Hope some of this helps!