Scott Foresman Reading Street

SKILLS

STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Main Idea
Text Structure

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 text structure to identify main ideas and supporting details.

INTRODUCE

Write the topic "Travel" and add details: Some people fly in an airplane to travel long distances. Others take a train or bus to their destination. Many people drive cars to travel from place to place, and some people even ride bikes. Ask what might be the main idea in an article with this topic and details. (Possible response: People use different forms of transportation to travel from place to place.)

Have students read the information on p. 582. Explain the following:

Identifying main ideas helps you understand the most important information about a topic.
The way text is organized and text features can help you identify main ideas and supporting details.

Use Skill Transparency 24 to teach main idea and text structure.

TEACH

SKILL Model how to determine the main idea of paragraph 2.

MODEL The first sentence tells what a glacier is, so it must be the main idea. Each of the other sentences gives details about where glaciers are found or how they are formed. Every sentence but the first could be taken away and still leave an important idea.

STRATEGY Choose the text structure that is used in
paragraph 3.

MODEL I'll read the paragraph and think about whether it shows a sequence of events, compares and contrasts things, or describes a problem and solution. The first sentence says, "There are two types of glaciers," so the text structure is compare and contrast.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

SKILL The last sentence is a supporting detail. The topic is "icebergs" and the main idea tells what an iceberg is. The last sentence gives additional information about icebergs in Greenland.

STRATEGY The text headings tell the topic of each paragraph.

WRITE Have students complete

steps 1 and 2 of the Write activity. You might consider using this as a whole-class activity.

then… use Practice Book p. 233 to provide additional practice.

If… students are unable to complete Write on p. 582,

Main Idea

Antarctic Journal: Four Months at the Bottom of the World

and Details

Supporting details give small pieces of
information about the main idea.

The main idea is the most important idea
about the topic. Think about the overall
idea of a paragraph, section, or article.

A topic is what a piece of writing is about.

Main Idea

Strategy
Text Structure

Skill
Main Idea
and Details

Skill The main idea
of a paragraph tells
the most important
idea. Which sentences
could be taken out
and still leave an
important idea?

Strategy Which text
structure is used in
this paragraph? How
can you tell?
A. sequence
B. compare and
contrast
C. problem and
solution

Skill Is the last
sentence of this
paragraph a main
idea or a supporting
detail? How can
you tell?

Strategy How
did the text headings
help you understand
this article?

Icebergs Some glaciers or ice sheets go all
the way to the seashore. As the ice reaches the
shore, a part of it may break off and fall into the
sea. This huge piece of ice, now floating in the
ocean, is called an iceberg. About 10,000 icebergs each year come from the glaciers that cover Greenland.

Types of Glaciers There are two types of
glaciers. Mountain glaciers move down the sides
of mountains. Ice sheets, on the other hand, form
on level ground and spread out in all directions.
The continent of Antarctica is covered by a huge
ice sheet.

Glaciers Glaciers are huge
pieces of ice that are on land.
They are found in areas where
there is steady snowfall. Glaciers
form when more snow falls than melts
away over the years. The leftover snow
slowly recrystallizes to form ice.

Glaciers and icebergs
are both made of ice and
are both very large.

Strategy: Text Structure

Supporting
Detail

Main Idea

2. Use your graphic organizers to
help you write a summary of
“Glaciers and Icebergs.”

1. Read “Glaciers and Icebergs.”
    Make a graphic organizer
    like the one above for each
    paragraph.

Good readers use the text structure, or the
way text is organized, to help them understand
what they read. For example, a nonfiction
article may compare and contrast two things,
put events in sequence, or be a series of clear
main ideas. When you preview, look for text
features such as titles, heads, and underlined
words to help you know what to expect.



	Close
	Access Content Beginning/Intermediate For a Picture It! lesson on main idea and supporting details, see the ELL Teaching Guide, pp. 162–163. Advanced After reading "Glaciers and Icebergs," have students create a Venn diagram to compare the two formations. Main Idea Organize students into three groups and assign each group a different paragraph of the article "Glaciers and Icebergs." Ask students to determine the main idea of each paragraph. Have groups present and explain their findings. Skill Transparency 24 Practice Book p. 233 with \| without Answers