We finished our taco main idea project! As mentioned in an earlier post, I am working
to improve reading comprehension skills among my 6th graders by
working on close reading strategies. To
further strengthen these skills, I decided to put together a unit focusing on
main idea and details. The lesson was broken
up into four days.
On day one, we used the SMARTBoard to discuss the differences
between a topic and a main idea. Next we
talked about how the main idea is supported by details, just as a table top is
supported by legs. Without legs your table
will fall…without details, your main idea isn’t credible! We also used analogies such as tacos with
lots of yummy toppings! The same way
food tastes great with extra toppings, writing becomes stronger with more
details. You get the picture…
On day two, the class was broken up into four small
groups. The children were given short passages
to read. Independently, the students
used the five close reading strategies to make notes about the text and help
them determine the main idea and details of the passage. After working independently on the text, the
group members began to think-pair-share with one another about the main idea
and details.
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| Underlining and circling with a purpose (key information) is one of our close reading strategies. |
Day three the students continued to work in their groups to finalize
their thoughts and draft them down on paper.
I used this time to conference with each group and support their
learning. I used inferential questioning
to further student thinking and encourage the class to cite textual evidence in
their writings.
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| The first stages of brainstorming and collecting our ideas. |
Day four was used to put all of these pieces together. Check out our yummy tacos hanging outside our
classroom! I am so proud of how hard all
of the students worked together to make this project a wonderful success. As we move forward, we will continuously refer
back to the strategies we used in order to close read books, articles, and
journals within the classroom. We will also
use our main idea table and taco organizers to help collect our thoughts.
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| I'm hungry... |
Ms. Vince
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