The Reading Teacher's Sourcebook - The Meadows Center for ...

State Objective/PurposeTeacher:Today we are going to learn how to complete a main idea log. Completing a main idea logwill help you understand what you read. You can also use this log as a study guide. You willpractice finding important information; writing the main idea of a passage in 10 words orless; generating questions; and making up test questions.Model and TeachGenre: ExpositoryGrouping: Whole class1. Provide an instructional-level passage to students. (See the Assessing Reading Fluency section ofChapter 2: Selecting and Administering Assessments to learn how to determine whether a text is ata student’s frustration, instructional, or independent reading level.)2. Preview the text: To determine the topic of the article or chapter, direct students to look at the:• Title/subtitle.• Headings/subheadings.• Boldface words.• Illustrations.• Charts.• Graphs.• Maps.• Diagrams.3. Prior knowledge: Ask questions about what students already know about the topic of the passage.4. Read the passage aloud with the students. There are several ways to read a passage with your class:a. Last word: Modeling fluent reading, the teacher reads the passage aloud and stops at thelast word of every sentence. Then, the students chorally read the last word of each sentence.All students are encouraged to follow along with a pencil or finger. It sounds like this:Teacher:Suddenly, the dog jumped over the…Students:…fence.Teacher:The little girl followed after…The Reading Teacher’s Sourcebook 131