Lessons & Units :: Main Idea 4th Grade Unit

Lesson 2: Distinguishing Main and Secondary Details

Lesson Plan

Learning Goal
Distinguish main details from secondary details in a paragraph.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Direct Teaching and Guided Practice Passage,“Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?;”Independent Practice Passage, “Seven Great Summits” and Worksheet
Not Provided: N/A

  • Teacher Modeling

    will identify the main idea of the first paragraph of “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” (provided in Books and Passages), using the strategy of identifying the topic sentence in the paragraph. I will model how to distinguish main details (or the most important details) from secondary details (or details that are less important) in the paragraph. For example, the first and second sentences are secondary details because they are not as important to the main idea of the paragraph, but the third and fourth sentences are main details. They strongly support the main idea of the paragraph.

  • Think Check

    Ask: How did I distinguish main details from secondary details? Students should respond that you used the topic sentence to find the main idea. Then you reread the other sentences and thought about whether they were important to the main idea.

  • Guided Practice

    will work together to determine the main idea of the remaining paragraphs in “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” and decide which details are main details and which are secondary details.

  • Independent Practice

    will read “Seven Great Summits,” identify the main idea, and determine which details are main details and which are secondary. (Student Independent Practice is provided below in Teacher and Student Materials.)

Build Student Vocabulary stumped

Tier 2 Word: stumped
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story Stumped? Those are just a few of the questions that have challenged adult contestants on the TV quiz show “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?”
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) Stumped means puzzled and confused. Someone who is trying to answer a question and gets stumped cannot figure out the answer to the question.
Students repeat the word Say the word stumped with me: stumped.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts Someone asked me the other day to multiply 2054 times 786 in my head, and I was stumped! My younger brother might feel stumped trying to figure out the best way to share 10 apples evenly between 12 students – he just wouldn’t be able to figure out the answer.
Students provide examples Can you think of a time recently when you were stumped? Tell me about it by saying, “I was stumped when _____________________.”
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? stumped
Additional Vocabulary Words contestants, premiere

Build Student Background Knowledge

Explain to your students that they are going to read a passage about a quiz show. Quiz shows became popular in the U.S. when America was in a technology race with Russia in the 1950s. The nation focused on the best and brightest minds in televised competitions that tested thinking skills and book knowledge. Many early quiz shows were rigged or fixed. When the public found out, the U.S. Congress passed a law outlawing the fixing of quiz shows.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

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User Comments

great lesson

Submitted by jrhill on 1/22/17

Awesome reading passages.

Submitted by TinaQ on 11/10/16

Great ideas for teaching reading.

Submitted by jpatrick_1132467 on 9/16/16

Thank you for this resource. It allowed me to strengthen their understanding and identification!

Submitted by elizabeth_sanford_1522773 on 12/3/15

Thank you for the reading passage. I am going to accompany it with a graphic organizer to separate the main idea from the secondary details.

Submitted by suzanne.george_1735788 on 11/20/15

Great passages and lesson plans. Thank you!

Submitted by amilovi_1282550 on 3/2/15

I love the help. Great lesson plans and easy to follow floor map. Thank You!

Submitted by sandra1181963_1702817 on 11/10/15

This is very helpful information. Thank you

Submitted by kiaravick7_1186287 on 1/20/15

The reading selections will keep students engaged.

Submitted by certifiedteacher_1099820 on 11/28/14

great infomation

Submitted by lauren donovan on 11/17/14

This is a great skill to teach and review before students are asked to explain their answers in writing (on assessments) and use supporting details.

Submitted by Nancy on 12/2/13

For Seven Great Summits, I plan to remind my students that a main idea can also be found using a title or subtitle. I will guide them to use the subtitle "A young mountain climber..." as the main idea. Then the main details and secondary details really start to be more clear.

Submitted by Carrie on 3/11/13