Lessons & Units :: Main Idea 4th Grade Unit

Lesson 1: Topic Sentence

Lesson Plan

Learning Goal
Identify the main idea of a paragraph using the topic sentence of the paragraph.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Direct Teaching and Guided Practice Passage,“Buckle Up?;” Independent Practice Passage, “Hawaii Quakes, Then Shakes” and Worksheet
Not Provided: N/A

  • Teacher Modeling

    will explain that strong paragraphs have a topic sentence. This topic sentence is what the paragraph is mainly about. Often, it is the first or last sentence in a paragraph but sometimes it is in the middle of the paragraph. I will model the strategy of finding the sentence that the paragraph is mainly about in order to identify the main idea. I will read the first two paragraphs of “Buckle Up?” (provided in Books and Passages) and identify the sentences that are the main idea (or the topic sentence) in the paragraphs.

  • Think Check

    Ask: How did I find the main idea of the paragraph? Students should respond that you looked for the topic sentence in the paragraph that summarizes what the paragraph is mostly about.

  • Guided Practice

    will continue reading the passage “Buckle Up?” and use the strategy of identifying the sentence that tells us what each paragraph is mostly about. Students will work with partners to identify and underline the main idea of each paragraph. We will discuss how we determined the main idea of each paragraph.

  • Independent Practice

    will use the strategy of reading all the sentences in a paragraph to identify the main idea of each paragraph in “Hawaii Quakes, Then Shakes” You will identify and underline the main idea of each paragraph and explain how you did so. (Student Independent Practice passage and worksheet are provided below in Teacher and Student Materials.)

Build Student Vocabulary fraction

Tier 2 Word: fraction
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story Though the numbers are higher than thought, they represent a small fraction of kids.
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) A fraction is a part of a whole. When the article says that the number of kids who get injured on buses is “a small fraction,” it means that it’s only a small group of kids compared to the total number of students who ride buses.
Students repeat the word Say the word fraction with me: fraction.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts A large fraction of my allowance goes to books. We only finished a fraction of our homework on time – we didn’t finish it all. We use fractions in math, too – when we talk about “one half” or “two thirds,” we’re talking about parts of a whole!
Students provide examples On weekends, what do you spend a large fraction of your time doing? Why? Students should say, “I spend a large fraction of my time__________________.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? fraction
Additional Vocabulary Words jostled, occur

Build Student Background Knowledge

Before reading the passage, explain that you are going to read a passage about seat belts (also known as safety belts). Tell your students that seat belts were introduced to most automobiles in the 1950s. Most seat belts have a three point design; the belts are connected to the seat by your shoulder and hip, and buckle on the other side, forming a triangle. Originally, belts were not required in cars by law, but after several large studies, scientists found that wearing seat belts reduced injuries in car accidents by 40%. Seat belt laws are not required by the nation, or federal government, but by the state. New York was the first state to pass a seat belt law, and now the only state that does not have a seat belt law is New Hampshire.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

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