Scott Foresman Reading Street

SKILLS

STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Main Idea Monitor and Fix Up

Test

Selection Test:
Unit 2 Benchmark Tests: Units 2, 6

Reteach/
Review

TE: 3.2 173b, 223b, 233, 241, DI•52,
DI•54; 3.6, 303b, 339, 391, 397,
DI•52

PB: 3.1 53, 57, 58, 73, 77, 78, 86; 3.2
103, 107, 108, 126, 146

Practice

TE: 3.2 150–151, 198–199,
3.6 284–285

Introduce/
Teach

Main Idea and Details

	Recognize main idea and supporting details.
	Use monitor and fix up reading comprehension to identify main ideas and details.

INTRODUCE

Write the topic "Sports" on the board, and add the following details: Baseball is played on a diamond-shaped field. Football is played on a large rectangular field. A soccer field is similar to a football field. Ask what might be the main idea of a selection with this topic and details. (Possible response: Some sports are played on fields.)

Have students read the information on
p. 198. Explain the following:

When we read, we want to know what the story or article is about. Little pieces of information, or the details, can help us understand what it is about.
As we read, we should stop and ask ourselves if we understand what we are reading and fix what we don't understand. Looking for details and thinking about what a story is about can help us do this.

Use Skill Transparency 8 to teach main idea and monitor and fix up.

TEACH

STRATEGY Model monitoring

reading comprehension and using
details to fix problems with
comprehension.

MODEL I've read the first four paragraphs, and I think, "What is this story about?" So far,

I know that there are two characters: Carlos and Rosa. Carlos collects stamps, and Rosa thinks that's boring. She wonders why anybody would want to. This story must be about stamp collecting.

SKILL Model identifying several

details from the story that point to the main idea.

MODEL The first important
detail is that Carlos collects
stamps. Later in the story, I

learn how he gets the stamps and what he does with them. Then I read how he and Rosa are excited about a certain stamp. I think this story is about how Rosa discovers that collecting stamps can be interesting.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

STRATEGY Summary of the fourth

paragraph: Carlos collects stamps. Rosa thinks that's boring. She wonders why anybody would want to collect stamps.

SKILL Students should point out

details that help them frame the main idea in the story so far.

WRITE Have students complete steps

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

then… use Practice Book 3.1, p. 73, to provide additional practice.

If… students are unable to complete Write to Read on
p. 198,

Main Idea

Available as Skill Transparency 8

Strategy
Monitor
and Fix Up

Skill
Main Idea

Main Idea

When you read a story, ask yourself,
“What is this story all about?”

Details are small pieces of information.
Look for details in the story that help tell
what it is about.

Detail

What the story is all about

Detail

Strategy: Monitor and Fix Up

Good readers stop when they are confused
and figure out what’s wrong. Summing up
can help. As you read, ask yourself, “What
are the important details in this story so
far?” That will help you make sure you
understand what is happening. It will also
help you tell what the story is all about.

Strategy If you’re
having trouble, this
would be a good
place to stop and
do something about
it. Sum up the story
so far. That might
help.

“No,” Carlos laughed. “You said looking at stamps is boring.”

That evening Carlos cut a stamp from a
postcard he had bought at a yard sale. It was a
30¢ stamp with a picture of George Washington
on it. He looked it up in a stamp catalog. Carlos
carefully matched his stamp with the picture in
the catalog. Suddenly he began jumping around. “One of my stamps is worth between 100 and
300 dollars!” Carlos exclaimed.

“I don’t collect them. I make beautiful bead
jewelry,” Rosa said. “People can wear my jewelry.
What good is a book of stamps?”

“Let me see that!” Rosa demanded.

1.  Read “The Stamp Collector.”
    Make a chart like the one
    above. Write details and then     a statement of what the story
    is about.

2. Use your chart to write a short
summary of the story “The
Stamp Collector.”

Skill You’ve read
several details so
far. What would
you say is the main
idea of this story?

Carlos grabbed the envelope from
Rosa’s hand.

“Don’t tell me,” said Rosa. “You want the
stamp. Is there anything more boring than
collecting stamps? You put them in a book
and then what? You can’t even play with them.”

“What do you know?” replied Carlos. “You
collect beads.”



	Close
	Access Content Beginning/Intermediate For a Picture It! lesson on main idea, see the ELL Teaching Guide, p. 51. Advanced Before students read "The Stamp Collector," have them discuss the different kinds of things people collect and why. Encourage students to tell about any collections they have. Main Idea Tell students that when we read and talk about stories, the first thing we want to know and understand is what they are about. Details in the story help us figure this out. Write down the name of a story everyone is likely to know, such as a story you've recently read in class. Draw a rectangular box under the title and ask students what the story is about. Then have them call out details that tell what the story is about. If students are unable to identify what the story is about, work backward—elicit details from the story and write them down; then ask students to write a sentence that tells what the story is about. Practice Book 3.1 p. 73 with \| without Answers