College of Education

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Standard:
RI.6.2: Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details;
provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgements
RI.6.10: Read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band
proficiently
Learning Target:
I can identify the main idea of a passage and recall key details.
I can comprehend an Informational Text at a 6th grade level.
Criteria for Success: The students will be able to identify the main idea of paragraphs with 80 % or
better accuracy with the use of at least 1 detail that supports their assertion.
Type of Lesson: Small Strategy Group
Standards w/Assessments Named-Write standard out and label it correctly!
Standard

Anchor

Reading
Standards for
Literature

Key ideas and Details

Specific
Standard

Assessment Tool-Tied to the Criteria for

Success

Craft & Structure

Integration of Knowledge
and Ideas
Range of Reading &
Level of Text Complexity
Reading
Standards for
Information

Key ideas and Details

RI.6.2: Determine a central idea of a

text and how it is conveyed through
particular details; provide a summary
of the text distinct from personal
opinions or judgements

Craft & Structure

Integration of Knowledge
and Ideas
Range of Reading &
Level of Text Complexity

Reading
Standards:

Print Concepts

RI.6.10: Read and comprehend

literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8
text complexity band proficiently

Foundational
Skills
Phonological Awareness
Writing
Standards

Text Types & Purposes

Production &
Distribution of Writing
Research to Build and
Present Knowledge
Range of Writing

Speaking &
Listening

Comprehension &
Collaboration
Presentation of
Knowledge & Ideas

Materials List and Resources Needed:

Scott Foresmans Reading Street, Grade 6: Unit 2
Include the title of your book with the reading level of the text you choose.
The Universe by Seymour Simon (this is a short expository fiction text within
Reading Street) According to https://readability-score.com/, the score is at about 8.5
grade level.

A. The Lesson:

Introduction (2 min)- (Think about the connection on pages 87-89 in your text)
Getting attention

Alright, lets get started. (The teacher has

already told the students that they will be
doing their small group lesson with me).

Relating to past experience

and/or knowledge

So, have you guys learned much about

planets and space in the past?
What are some of the things you remember?
What is one thing you learned from reading
this text?

Creating a need to know

We want to make sure we really understood the

passage because if we didnt really grasp it,
then we wont remember what we learned. Its
important that we 1. Understand what we are

reading and 2. Make a connection with it. If we

do these two things, it is so much easier to put
the information into our memory banks.
Sharing objective, in general
terms

So what should we do to make sure we

understood everything?
I think that we should talk about the main ideas
and details and go over vocabulary. You guys
agree?

1. Methods (12 min)

Before Reading
(Think about the
teaching phase on
pages 89-91 in
your text)

During ReadingList specific

questions and
pages you might
ask them
(Think about the
active involvement
phase from your
91 -94 in your text
book)

So with that in mind, lets go through the text again,

looking for main ideas and supporting details and making
sure we understand all the vocab. The main idea is a one
sentence summary of everything weve read. It is the big
picture look, or the detail that we need for the whole story
to make sense. Details explain the main idea further. A
author uses several details to support his/her main idea.
****[With each, reread, Ill have a student read aloud or
have the kids read silently to themselves]
[ In the case of the kids losing focus, the yellow highlighted
questions could be taken out]

1. Reread p. 152, paragraph 1. What is the main idea of

this paragraph? Identify one detail that supports this main
idea.
Paragraph 4 p. 152: According to the article, what are the
building blocks of planets?
2. Reread p. 155, paragraph 2. What are
generalizations? (broad statements or rules that apply to
many examples)
Which sentences in the paragraph are
generalizations? Explain your answer.
As stars age, which stage occurs firstred giant or
planetary nebula?
What is a nebula? (help them use the surrounding
words to get definition)
3. Reread p. 156, paragraph 1. Explain what the

photograph in the inset shows.

So on page 156 we see the word, particles. This
word has a Latin root of, partem. What other words can
you think of that contain this root? Ill have them help
me list some. (ex. Partial, partner, particular, partition,
party)
How is this selection like another expository nonfiction
story that youve read? How is it different? (have them
discuss)
4. Reread p. 159, paragraph 1: What is the main idea of
this paragraph? What supporting details do you have?
Is it possible that astronomers are discovering stars that
no longer exist? Why or why not?
Page 160, Paragraph 3: Why do you think the author
uses questions as he writes?
Page 160, Paragraph 4: What produces quasars?
Page 160, Paragraph 5: So how does what youve
learned affect the way you view the universe?

After ReadingWhat might

students practice
in their
independent
reading time

So, when youre reading your own independent reading

books, make sure to pause throughout and ask yourself
what the main idea is from what youve read. Also, be
sure you understand the vocabulary words. If you dont,
look for context clues first. If you still cant figure it out,
ask someone or go to a dictionary.

(Think about the

linkpgs 94-96 in
your text book)
Student Worktime:

I will give the students do a worksheet to complete.

Time Frame:

The worksheet is labeled, Main Idea and Details. It

includes an excerpt from a selection about NASA and then
has 5 questions drawn from it. For instance, it asks for the
topic in two/three words and what the main idea is.

4 min.
Describe what
students will be
doing to practice
what you have

taught. This
should be very
closely connected
to the after reading
component.

2. Closure What did the students learn from this lesson? Think about the follow-up pgs 96-99 in your text
book (3 min.)
I will go over the worksheet with them.
So if you could tell me in what sentence what we worked on today, what would
you say?
Ill listen to the different ideas, and then well agree on the best description

Backpocket Idea:
If the students are not able to fill out their worksheets independently, I will guide them through the
questions.
If I find that the kids are losing interest during the reading, I will ask less questions and simply
make those ones qualitatively better. [the yellow highlighted questions would be taken out before
the others]

References (websites, and other places you got ideas from):

Calkins, L. (2001). The Art of Teaching Reading. New York: Longman.

A. Reflection Part 1: To be filled out after teaching. Assessment-Did your students understand the
lesson? What was you evidence? Be Specific
Standard 1: Yes, they understood what the main idea. They were able to tell me
the difference between it and the details that support it. I know this because I
asked the students what the main idea was after rereading two of the
paragraphs and both students answered correctly. Also, the students were
successful at independently completing the worksheet I gave out that included
questions about the main idea and details of a short excerpt.
Standard 2: I could tell that the students could comprehend the text because
they were able to answer my comprehension questions accurately (questions
listed in the During Reading portion.
B. Reflection Part 2: To be filled out after teaching. Next StepsBased on how your lesson went, what did you do well, what could be improved? If you had
the
opportunity
teachjob
theof
same
group
kids tomorrow,
what would
you think
do? I asked good
I think
I did a to
good
trying
toofrelate
to the students.
I also
questions to be sure they understood the main idea. I went over a couple
vocabulary words that they had some trouble with. I also asked a couple times for
further elaboration on some of their questions. I like how I started it out by asking
what they knew about the topic, and I gave some of my own thought
processes/experiences throughout the time.
On the other hand, I felt like it was a lot of questioning and not a lot of them really
discussing. Neither of the students seemed very interested in the story. That
made it hard for me to be excited about teaching from it. Also, I forgot to state at
the beginning what our objectives were. I would want to do a better job at
specifically stating what our objective is. Also, I would try to find ways to be more
engaging.