Main Idea

Last week, we started discussing the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts. Readers determined that in a fiction text, the author is usually trying to teach you a lesson. In nonfiction, however, the author is trying to teach you about a certain topic. We concluded that this is called the main idea! To begin our work on finding the main idea, students looked at pictures around the room and tried to determine the topic and main idea of the pictures; essentially, how the pictures go together. This week, we will be using the following chart to find the main idea in some high interest nonfiction articles!

At home, encourage your student to expand their reading diet to include nonfiction texts. While reading, go through this list of steps to finding the main idea and practice it together!