Focus Calendar: Weeks 1-4 Main Idea FCAT Testing Cluster 2 Strand A LA.A.2.2.1: Grades 3, 4, and 5 Standard 2- The student constructs meaning from a wide range of texts.

Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours. -John Dewey

Clarifying the FCAT Benchmarks Grade K, 1, and 2 Benchmark- LA.A The student determines the main idea or essential message from text and identifies supporting information.

Clarifying the FCAT Benchmarks Grade K, 1, and 2 GLE- LA.A K: knows the main idea or essential message from a read-aloud story or informational piece. 1 st : knows the main idea or them and supporting details of a story or informational piece. 2 nd : summarizes information in texts (including but not limited to central idea, supporting details, connections between texts).

Clarifying the FCAT Benchmarks Grade 3, 4, and 5 Benchmark- LA.A The student reads text and determines the main idea or essential message, identifies relevant supporting details and facts, and arranges events in chronological order from text and identifies supporting information.

Proficient Readers Determine What is Important in Text They identify key ideas or themes as they read. They distinguish important from unimportant information in relation to key ideas or themes. They use text structure (cause & effect, comparison & contrast, sequence/order, description/list) and text features to help them know what’s important. They synthesize or summarize text for others.

Use Various Resources to Show the Different Text Structures Pattern/Organization : Example: Cause and Effect Weather patterns that explain why a snowstorm occurs. Comparison & Contrast The qualities of two paintings representing different artists. Sequence/Order Narrative of the events leading to the American Revolution. Description/List Types of stress-reducing activities.

What Does It Look Like on FCAT? 3 rd Grade Item Type – Multiple Choice Passage Attributes Passages may be literary text or informational text. The passage will include one or more of the following: - a stated or strongly implied main idea, - a stated or strongly implied essential message, - details or facts that support the main idea or essential message, - chronological order or other sequence of events.

3 rd Response Attributes Multiple Choice- Distracters may include, but or not limited to, the following: facts or details that are drawn form the passage but are not main ideas, events that are drawn from the passage and presented out of order, plausible but incorrect responses based on the text.

What Does It Look Like on FCAT? 4th Grade Item Type – Multiple Choice, Short & Extended Response Passage Attributes Passages may be literary text or informational text. The passage will include one or more of the following: - a stated or strongly implied main idea, - a stated or strongly implied essential message, - details or facts that support the main idea or essential message, - chronological order or other sequence of events.

4 th Response Attributes Multiple Choice- Distracters may include, but or not limited to, the following: facts or details that are drawn from the passage but are not main ideas, facts or details that are drawn from the passage but are mot significant, events that are drawn from the passage and presented out of order, inferences not supported by the text, plausible but incorrect responses based on the text.

Short Response/Extended Response- items will be scored with a holistic rubric that identifies the performance criteria for each score point. 4 th Grade Short Response (SR) 2 Points The response indicates that the student has a complete understanding of the reading concept embodied in the task. The student has provided a response that is accurate and complete and fulfills all the requirements of the task. Necessary support and/or examples are included, and the information given is clearly text based. 1 Point The response indicates that the student has a partial understanding of the reading concept embodied in the task. The student is provided a response that includes information that is essentially correct and text-based, but the information is too general or too simplistic. Some of the support and/or examples may be incomplete or omitted. 0 Points The response is inaccurate, confused, and/or irrelevant, or the student has failed to respond to the task.

Extended Response (ER) 4 Points The response indicates that the student has a thorough understanding of the reading concept embodied in the task. The student has provided a response that is accurate and complete and fulfills all the requirements of the task. Necessary support and/or examples are included, and the information given is clearly text-based. 3 Points The response indicates that the student has an understanding of the reading concept embodied in the task. The student has provided a response that is accurate and fulfills all the requirements of the task, but the required support and/or details are not complete or are not clearly text-based. 2 Points The response indicates that the student has a partial understanding of the reading concept embodied in the task. The student has provided a response that includes information that is essentially correct and text-based, but the information is too general or too simplistic. Some of the support and/or examples and requirements of the task may be incomplete or omitted. 1 Point The response indicates that the student has very limited understanding of the reading concept embodied in the task. The response is incomplete, may exhibit many flaws, and may not address all requirements of the task. O Points The response is inaccurate, confused and/or irrelevant, or the student has failed to respond to the task.

What Does It Look Like on FCAT? 5th Grade Item Type – Multiple Choice Passage Attributes Passages may be literary text or informational text. The passage will include one or more of the following: - a stated or strongly implied main idea, - a stated or strongly implied essential message, - details or facts that support the main idea or essential message, - chronological order or other sequence of events.

5 th Response Attributes Multiple Choice- Distracters may include, but or not limited to, the following: facts or details that are drawn from the passage but are not main ideas, facts or details that are drawn from the passage but are mot significant, events that are drawn from the passage and presented out of order, inferences not supported by the text, plausible but incorrect responses based on the text.

What Does It Look Like on FCAT? Multiple Choice Questions What is the main idea of the main idea of this story or article? (3-5) What is the best title for the story? (3-5) What is this story mostly about? (3-5) What is the most important lesson…? (3-5) What would be a good summary of this story? (3-5)

What Does It Look Like on FCAT? Multiple Choice Questions 3rd Grade (from Peter, Peaches, and the Porch Swing, pg.24) Which sentence BEST tells what the story is about? a. Peter writes a letter from a cat. b. Peter makes Mrs. Casey happy. c. Peter likes to play with animals. d. Peter takes a letter to Mrs. Casey. 4th Grade (from Crater Lake, pg.26) This article is mostly about a. the biggest mountain in Oregon, b. a famous photographer of nature, c. a beautiful place formed by nature, d. the first volcano found in North America.

What Does It Look Like on FCAT? Multiple Choice Questions 5th Grade (from The Anything Art of Jimmie Lee Sudduth, pg. 6) If the article needed a new title, which would be BEST? a. “A Brush and a Canvas” b. “A Typical Artist at Work” c. “A Visit with the President” d. “A Little Earth and Imagination”

Short and Extended Response Prompts: GRADE 4: Read the description by the picture. What might happen to baby turtles confused by streetlights? Use details and information from the article to support your answer. (SR: Short Response) GRADE 4: What are the things Chris does to help the turtles? Use details and information from the article in your answer. (ER: Extended Response) What Does It Look Like on FCAT? Con’t

Sample Extended Response : Grade 4 What are the things Chris does to help the turtles? Use details and information from the article in your answer. Chris patrols the beach during the turtle___ nesting season. He checks the nests to be sure the eggs are safe. Sometimes he digs up the_ eggs and buries them in a safer place. He___ protects the eggs from high tides that might bury the nests and drown the turtles. He___ rescues baby turtles that are trapped under their eggshells. He puts them in the ocean so dogs can’t eat them.___________________

Sequence for Teaching Main Idea Step 1: Decide what is the topic of the reading. Tell what we are learning about in 1 or 2 words. First, determine the general subject of the reading. What is it about? Is it about a person, place, event, or thing? Often, the title or first paragraph will tell you the topic of the reading. Think of the topic as an umbrella. It should be large enough to cover everything discussed in the reading.

Step 2: See what the writer is saying overall about the topic. Once you have decided on the topic, focus on what he writer has to say about it. Look for an overall message or idea about the topic. This will be the author’s main idea. Often the main idea is placed in the first paragraph or the conclusion of the reading. Sometimes, however, it is not directly stated. You must figure it out from details in the reading. It is the central thought that ties all these details together. Sometimes the first sentence is the main idea but not very often.

The Supporting Details To help the reader understand the main idea, a writer includes examples, details, and illustrations. These are known as supporting details. These details help to support the author’s main idea. Read a sentence. Then tell what you see in your head. Read the next sentence and tell what you see in your head. Read the rest of the sentences one at a time in the same way.

Step 3: Practice In one sentence, tell what we learned about the topic. Be sure it is a short sentence. Be sure it is a summary of the details, but not any one specifically. Now put it all together by having students picture the main idea as the top of a table and the details as the legs that support it. Define main idea as the author’s “big idea” or message about the topic, the point the author wants you to remember the most. Do this for paragraphs having either a stated main idea or an implied main idea that students can create.

Sea Otters are interesting animals. They spend almost every moment in the water. They eat and sleep while floating on their backs. While on their backs, they often move about by pushing their paddle-like hind feet to push themselves through the water. It is in this position that sea otters crack open shellfish with their powerful paws or teeth. The otters may also pound one shellfish against another or hammer the shellfish against a rock, using their stomachs as tables. SUPPORTING DETAIL MAIN IDEA STATEMENT TRY FILLING IN THE TABLE FOR THIS PARAGRAPH:

Teaching What’s Important 1.Before Reading, Set a purpose for reading by providing a topic sentence/main idea statement. 2.During Reading, Invite readers to list 5 important facts/details from their reading, using one idea per sticky note. 3.After Reading, Sort the facts/details into two columns: Relevant and Irrelevant based on the original purpose for reading.

Tips for Teaching Main Idea After reading a selection, ask, “What was the story about?” Try to sum up your answer in a single sentence. Don’t confuse a story detail with the main idea. Details help tell you about the main idea. Look out for a “lesson for life” that the story teaches. This “lesson for life” is the theme that the story teaches. Don’t choose a theme that sounds good but has nothing to do with the actual story. Use selective underlining to underline key ideas in a text. It helps with organization and remembering information.

Graphic Organizers SQ3R Main Idea Pyramid Semantic Mapping Numbering Notes Get the Gist- Reading First

Get the Gist (Just Read, Florida! K-3 Reading Academy, Comprehension) The “get the gist” strategy can be practiced cooperatively by pairing a less proficient reader with a more proficient reader. Text is selected that both readers are able to read. It maybe instructional level text that the less proficient reader has read before in a supported reading group. The more proficient reader reads first. The first reader reads a paragraph, then stops and asks his/her partner the three questions on the cue card. Who or what is the paragraph about? Tell the most important thing about the who or what. Tell the main idea in 10 words or less. Reader One continues this procedure until the teacher tells him/her to stop and switch roles. After a specified time or pages read, the main idea is identified for each paragraph. As students state the main idea in 10 words or less, they can count the words on their fingers. This procedure helps them limit the number of words and focus on important ideas rather than details.

Other Resources/Support:

The relationship between a student and teacher is one of the formative relationships of our young lives. It can be fraught with challenges, but is more often overflowing with rewards for the giver and the receiver of knowledge.