Teaching Main Idea and Details Through Non-Fiction Text

Last week was wonderful! We had a great time digging into main idea and details during our reading time. We have continued to focus on it because my little ones are having a hard time. I think it’s just a hard concept for all. I tried to do a few things to make it easier and a bit more exciting.

We started the week by reviewing as I did a whole group lesson. We read non-fiction winter books and polar bear books. We made big anchor charts to display in the classroom. My point with these visuals was that if we took away the details, it wouldn’t be a good book and we wouldn’t see the main idea. We even folded under the polar bear’s legs and talked about how he didn’t look like a polar bear anymore!

I split my friends up into small groups of 4 or 5 and they read a book on their reading level. Then they had to identify the main idea and details. Each group got to share their main idea and details after. It’s nothing magical whatsoever, but it was SO powerful!

I also introduced this little activity to do in our writing station for main idea and details. They had to read about polar bears and then write two facts or details that they learned from the book.

All of you who are faithful little blog followers can grab this main idea and details polar bear activity here for FREE!

Do you discuss arctic animals in your classroom? Do you have any great lesson ideas for main idea and details? I’d love to hear!

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