C Understanding Main Idea and Details
To the Student In this book, you will learn how to use the reading strategy called Understanding Main Idea and Details. With your teacher s help, you will practice using this strategy to better understand what you read. Acknowledgments Product Development Product Developer: Dale Lyle Book Editor: Joan Krensky Book Writer: Barbara Fierman Design and Production Product Designer: Susan Hawk Cover Designer: Susan Hawk ISBN 978-0-7609-4978-8 2009 Curriculum Associates, Inc. North Billerica, MA 01862 No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without written permission from the publisher. All Rights Reserved. Printed in USA. 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents In t ro d u c t i o n... 2 Instruction and Practice Lesson 1 Part One, Modeled Instruction... 4 Part Two, Guided Instruction... 6 Part Three, Guided Practice... 12 Part Four, Independent Practice... 20 Lesson 2 Part One, Modeled Instruction... 26 Part Two, Guided Instruction... 28 Part Three, Guided Practice... 34 Part Four, Independent Practice... 42 Lesson 3 Part One, Modeled Instruction... 48 Part Two, Guided Instruction... 50 Part Three, Guided Practice... 56 Part Four, Independent Practice... 64 Application Lesson 4... 70 Lesson 5... 74 Lesson 6... 78 Lesson 7... 82 Lesson 8... 86 Tr a c k i n g Ch a r t... 91 Self-Assessments 1 8... 93 Gr a p h i c Or g a n i z e r... 101
In t ro d u c t i o n Understanding Main Idea and Details The main idea is what a passage or paragraph is mostly about. Details are pieces of information that tell about the main idea. Graphic Organizer Main Idea Detail Detail Detail Key Points 1 A whole passage has a main idea. The main idea tells what the whole passage is mostly about. 2 A paragraph also has a main idea. The main idea tells what the paragraph is mostly about. 3 The main idea is sometimes stated in the first sentence. Or the main idea may be in the last sentence. 4 Details explain the main idea by telling who, what, where, when, why, or how. 5 Sometimes the main idea isn t stated in a sentence. Then you ask yourself, What is the paragraph or passage mostly about? What do the details tell about? 2 Introduction
Ex a m p l e As you read a paragraph, look for the main idea. Also look for the details that tell about the main idea. main idea detail The rafflesia is an unusual plant. For one thing, it has the largest flower of any plant in the world. The flower can be 3 feet across and weigh up to 15 pounds. Also, the rafflesia doesn t have its own roots. It lives on the roots of vines. And it gives off a nasty odor of rotten meat. detail detail The main idea of the paragraph above is that the rafflesia is an unusual plant. The main idea is the first sentence. The details in the paragraph tell why the rafflesia is an unusual plant. Remember The main idea is what the passage or paragraph is mostly about. The details tell more about the main idea. Introduction 3
Lesson 1, Part Two, Guided Instruction This passage is a science lesson. As you read the science lesson, think about main ideas and details. Zo o m In Find the title of the science lesson. Remember that the title tells something about the whole passage. It is found at the top of the passage. J Underline the title of the science lesson. The Sun and Its Planets 1 Are you curious about outer space? Have you ever wanted to travel in a spaceship? Maybe you d like to see how Earth looks from space. Maybe you d like to explore Mars or another planet. As you read, try to imagine seeing each object from a spaceship. Sun The Sun 2 The sun and its planets make up our solar system. The word solar means of the sun. The sun is in the center of the solar system. Eight planets travel around the sun. 3 Our sun is a medium-sized star. It spins like a top as it moves through space. The center of the sun is very, very hot. Some of this heat travels out into space and reaches Earth. 6 Lesson 1, Part Two, Guided Instruction
Mercury Zo o m In Venus Mercury 4 Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It gets much of the sun s heat, so it is very hot. Mercury travels around the sun faster than any other planet. This planet got its name from a very fast messenger in ancient Roman myths. The messenger s name was Mercury. Look at paragraph 7. The main idea is the first sentence of the paragraph. J Underline the sentence in paragraph 7 that tells the main idea. 5 The surface of Mercury is covered with holes. These holes are shaped like bowls. They are called craters. They were made when objects in space crashed into Mercury. Venus 6 Venus is known as Earth s sister planet. It is the closest planet to Earth. It is also just about the same size as Earth. 7 Venus is different from Earth in several ways. There is no water on Venus. Venus gets very hot because clouds surround it and hold the heat in. Also, Venus travels around the sun in a different direction from Earth and the other planets. Lesson 1, Part Two, Guided Instruction 7
Zoom In Earth Paragraph 8 gives reasons that people can live on Earth. The last sentence tells the main idea of the paragraph. J Underline the sentence in paragraph 8 that tells the main idea. Mars Earth 8 Earth is just the right distance from the sun. So, it is not too hot and not too cold. Water covers more than half of Earth s surface. The air surrounding Earth contains gases that people can breathe. Life can exist on Earth for all of these reasons. 9 Earth has one moon. The moon is made of gray-black rock and dust from volcanoes. There is no air on the moon. In 1969, astronauts flew from Earth to the moon. They stepped out of their spaceship and walked on the moon. They had to wear special spacesuits that contained air to breathe. Mars 10 Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is cold on Mars most of the time. There is some air on Mars, but not enough for people to breathe. Scientists think that there may have been water on Mars long ago. But today, Mars is a desert. 11 Scientists from the United States have studied the soil on Mars. They learned that the soil is a red dust. The red color has given Mars the nickname the Red Planet. 8 Lesson 1, Part Two, Guided Instruction
Jupiter Zo o m In Saturn Jupiter 12 Jupiter, the fifth planet, is one of the planets made of gases. It is the largest planet. It is so large, in fact, that all the other planets could fit inside it. The Great Red Spot can be seen on Jupiter s surface through a telescope. The spot is a huge storm. Look at paragraph 15. One detail tells how most people recognize Saturn. Look in the last sentence of paragraph 15 for this detail. J In paragraph 15, underline the detail. 13 Orange and white clouds travel around Jupiter. Wind blows the orange clouds in one direction. It blows the white clouds in the opposite direction. This makes it look like Jupiter has orange and white stripes. Saturn 14 Saturn is the sixth planet. It is also a large gas planet. Saturn has at least 30 moons. 15 More than 1,000 rings surround Saturn. The rings are made of rock, dust, and ice. Some of the rings are thick, while others are thin. Most people recognize Saturn in photographs because of its rings. Lesson 1, Part Two, Guided Instruction 9
Zoom In Uranus Paragraph 17 has three details that tell about how Neptune and Uranus are alike. These details are in the second, third, and fourth sentences. J In paragraph 17, underline the three details. Neptune Uranus 16 Uranus, another gas planet, is the next planet after Saturn. It is small for a gas planet. But it is still 64 times bigger than Earth! Cold gases in Uranus give it a blue-green color. Sometimes the planet looks as though it is covered with blue-green fog. One unusual thing about Uranus is that it spins on its side. Neptune 17 The planet Neptune is very similar to Uranus. It is a gas planet, too. Its gases also give it a blue-green color. It is about 60 times larger than Earth as well. 18 Neptune is a very windy planet. Winds on Neptune blow as fast as 1,200 miles per hour. Scientists believe that Neptune may be the windiest planet in the solar system. 10 Lesson 1, Part Two, Guided Instruction
Pluto Zo o m In Pluto 19 At one time, Pluto was considered a planet. It is farther from the sun than Neptune, so it was the last planet. Then, in the year 2000, scientists realized that Pluto is not like the other eight planets. It is more like dozens of other objects that are far out in the solar system. They are called dwarf planets. In 2006, scientists named Pluto a dwarf planet, too. Paragraph 19 tells about Pluto. The first sentence tells the main idea of the paragraph. J In paragraph 19, underline the sentence that tells the main idea. 20 One way that Pluto is like the other dwarf planets is that it is very far from the sun. It is also very far from Earth. The U.S. government sent a spaceship to Pluto in 2006. It will take about 15 years for that spaceship to reach Pluto! Objects in the Solar System 21 Our solar system includes many other space objects. Some of them are made of rock. Others are made of ice and dust. Sometimes bits of these objects break off and land on the planets. When they do, they make craters. Lesson 1, Part Two, Guided Instruction 11