What's the Big Idea?

Students will be transitioning to Informational writing in the next trimester.  It is important for them to be able to identify an important idea and the details or evidence from the text that supports that idea.

Working with a graphic organizer from Jim Burke's book Reading Tools, Tips, and Techniques students listened to me read about two famous scientists.  

The first reading was for listening only. The second reading, students had their own text to follow along. They were encouraged to annotate the text as I reread the text.  Using a shorter piece of text helped keep the lesson focused.  This is the book where I focused on two individuals.

Then, students chose their own text and worked to find the most important idea about these groundbreaking people.

                 

These books have great stories about overcoming great odds. Each text highlights an individual who accomplished great things under extraordinary circumstances!