Scott Foresman Reading Street

SKILLS

STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Main Idea
Graphic Organizers

Test

Selection Test:
17–20, 37–40,
93–96;
Benchmark Test: Unit 2

Reteach/
Review

TE: 4.1 75, 133b, TR16; 4.2 225, 259b, TR16; 4.4 475; 4.5 607b, TR15
PB: 26, 86, 186

TE: 119, 123, 247, 251, 589, 595
PB: 43, 47, 48, 93, 97, 98, 233, 237, 238

Practice

TE: 4.1 112–113; 4.2 240–241;
4.5 582–583

Introduce/
Teach

Main Idea and Details

	Determine main idea and supporting details.
	Use a graphic organizer to identify main ideas and supporting details.

INTRODUCE

Write the topic "Hiking in National Parks" and add details: Some parks have difficult trails that lead hikers to waterfalls and other natural wonders. Easy trails are also available. Ask what might be the main idea in an article with this topic and details. (National parks offer a wide range of trails for hikers.)

Have students read the information on p. 112. Explain the following:

Main ideas tell the central ideas of an article. Use a graphic organizer to record the most important points of an article.
Supporting details expand on the main idea, providing more information about it.

Use Skill Transparency 5 to teach main idea and graphic organizers.

TEACH

SKILL Use paragraph 1 to model how to determine the main idea.

MODEL The title and the first paragraph give many details about the job of a park ranger. It seems like every detail relates to the first sentence: The job of a ranger is made up of a lot of different jobs. That sentence is the biggest idea in the paragraph.

SKILL Discuss using a graphic organizer to record main ideas and details.

MODEL If I wanted to complete a graphic organizer showing the main idea and details, I could use the first sentence of the article as the main idea. The examples of different jobs rangers do tell more about the main idea, so they could all be listed as supporting details.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

SKILL The author restated the sentence to show that the second paragraph has the same main idea as the first paragraph.

STRATEGY The additional jobs the author mentions could be listed as supporting details on the graphic organizer.

WRITE Have students complete

steps 1 and 2 of the Write activity. If students have not visited a national park, have other students first describe their experiences or allow time for students to research a park.

then… use Practice Book
p. 43 to provide
additional practice.

If… students are unable to complete Write on p. 112,

Main Idea

The job of a ranger is made up of a lot of different
jobs. Park rangers are like police officers—they
make sure people obey the rules of the park. Park
rangers are like teachers—they take people on nature
walks and tell them about important places in our
history. Park rangers are like scientists—they keep
track of information about plants and animals. Park
rangers are like firefighters—they keep close watch
to help put a stop to forest fires. Park rangers are
like rescue workers—they hunt for people who are
lost or hurt.

Strategy
Graphic
Organizers

Skill
Main Idea
and Details

Main Idea
and Details

The topic is what a paragraph, part of an
article, or a whole article is about.

The most important thing the author has to say
about the topic is the main idea.

The little pieces of information telling more
about the main idea are the supporting details.

Skill The first
sentence sounds like
a big, overall main
idea. Read on to see
if this is so or if there
is another bigger idea.

Supporting
Detail

Main Idea

Supporting
Detail

Skill Is each example
of a job a supporting
detail or a new
main idea?

Skill Why do you
think the author
restated a sentence
used earlier? Is this
a clue about what
the main idea is?

Strategy: Graphic Organizers

Active readers often use graphic organizers to
help them understand what they read. Graphic
organizers can be used before, during, or after
reading. You can create a graphic organizer like
the one above to help you remember the main
idea and details.

Strategy On the
graphic organizer,
where would you put
these additional jobs?

Use your graphic organizer to
help you write about a national
park you have visited or would
like to visit, and your reasons.

Read “Send a Ranger!” Make
a graphic organizer like the
one above to help you
understand the article.

    Yes, the job of a park ranger is made up of a lot
of different jobs.    In fact, Stephen Mather, the first
director of the National Parks Service, has said: “If
a trail is to be blazed, send a ranger; if an animal is
floundering in the snow, send a ranger; if a bear is in a hotel, send a ranger; if a fire threatens a forest, send a ranger; and if someone is to be saved, send a ranger.”
    Does this sound like fun to you? Maybe you
would like to be a park ranger.



	Close
	Access Content Beginning/Intermediate For a Picture It! lesson on main idea and supporting details, see the ELL Teaching Guide, pp. 29–30. Advanced Before reading "Send a Ranger!" point out the idiom made up in the first sentence of paragraph 1. Have volunteers rephrase this sentence. Main Idea Explain that a main idea is like the headline of a newspaper article. Display a few newspaper or magazine article headlines and ask pairs to discuss what kinds of details they would expect to read in the accompanying articles. Skill Transparency 5 Practice Book p. 43 with \| without Answers