Let me just say….. we’ve officially hit Spring Fever down here in Kinder-World….. please tell me I’m not the only one. Every.Single.Day feels like the first day of school all over again! I’m telling you…. this full moon and end of year crazy vibes has the kiddos forgetting every.single.thing that they had learned about following directions and behavior! Can I get an Amen?
With that being said…. we still have 6ish weeks left which is still full of content and learning for these kiddos!
Down in Kinder-Land… we are about to hit the lovely and favorite topic of “Main Idea” in our reading plans. You know…. that Main Idea that pops up in every state assessment in the older grades?! The Main Idea that has kids just guessing an answer because they ALL seem correct? Yep…. it’s THAT Main Idea!
A few years back our campus took a CLOSE look at our state reading assessments in 3rd and 4th grade and really wanted to hone in on what questions were most often missed. Guess which ones were most missed? Yep…. the Main Idea questions!
SOOOOOO…… the campus got together and really wanted to make sure that ALL grade levels were exposing their students to this main idea concept….. even the youngest of the young!
So…… what’s the easiest way to teach Main Idea to younger students?
Our main goal for our younger students is to understand that there is ONE big theme with smaller components that fit within that theme. We do NOT need to get technical with text just yet with our younger kiddos, at least not independently. Whole group discussions are GREAT with your shared reading time allowing for students to hear and share parts of the text and to hear the vocabulary being used.
One of the best things I have found is to use what our kids already know! THEMES they are familiar with!
I created these theme cards (Main Idea) with the smaller components (details) that fit with that theme that we can use and sort whole group and even independently!
The large title cards are the main idea….. the smaller cards are the details. Each main idea has 4 detail cards that go with it!
Want to have a little fun or take it a step further?
Try this:
WOW!! 🎉 Thank you so much for the awesome freebie. 🙌🏼🙌🏼 I cant wait to use it with my kiddos.
Jessica, this is such an amazing post! Thank you so much for sharing!!!