Research-Based Lesson Planning and Delivery Guide
Teacher:
Course:
Grade Level:
Date:
Mini-Lesson Planning for UNRAVEL strategy
Benchmark(s)/Standard(s): What is the next benchmark(s) on my course curriculum guide or IFC?
LA.910.1.7.3; LA.910.1.7.8; LA.910.3.1.3; LA.E.2.2.1: Determine the main idea in text through
summarizing; use strategies to repair comprehension of text; and use organizational strategies and tools to
develop a personal organizational style; identifies the main idea or essential message, relevant details, and /or
methods of development (organizational patterns); recognizes cause-and-effect relationships in literary text
(applies to fiction, nonfiction, major events, problems, conflicts, and resolutions).
Essential Question(s): How will I determine the main idea of the passage?
What are the supporting details?
How does recognizing and understanding the main idea and supporting details help me comprehend what the
author is trying to say?
Materials/Resources: What do I have or need to teach this lesson objective(s)?
Copy of appropriate text piece for each student, highlighter, pen or pencil, student copies of UNRAVEL miniposter, electronic copies of smartboard activity, related questions
Lesson Agenda: How will I deliver this lesson to help my students answer the essential question(s)?
FCIM Mini-Lesson: Sequencing
Part One: Explicit/Modeled Instruction (15 min)
Part Two: Modeled Instruction (15 min)
Part Three: Guided Practice with Teacher(15 min)
Part Four: Guided Practice with Peer (15 min)
Part Five: Independent Practice/ Mini-Assessment & Review Student Responses (25 min)
Mini-Lesson Delivery for UNRAVEL
(lesson may be presented over the course of a single day or over a series of days—whatever best suits group to be instructed)
Part One: Explicit/Modeled Instruction: How will I focus my students on what they need to learn?
Which
important vocabulary will I introduce/review?
Activate Prior Knowledge by using the smartboard activity (slide 1) on the webpage. Explain that UNRAVEL is
an important strategy to acquire to help readers determine the main idea of a passage. Have students put the
steps in what they believe to be the correct order.
Direct Explicit Instruction should start with displaying the UNRAVEL explanation on the smartboard (slide 2)

Underline the title. What does it tell you? Make some predictions about the text based on the title.

Number the paragraphs. **Teacher Note: It is important that you number first. There is usually
confusion about this step as there are usually unique text features, such as bullets, that confuse students
when they try to number the paragraphs.

Read the questions first. Reading the questions first sets a purpose for reading and can help the reader
focus on important details, especially when dealing with difficult text.

Are you circling the important words in the questions? Are you underlining text? Important
information in questions might include dates, names, or reasons. Important words in the text may be bold
or in a different color. Are there bullets or bolded paragraphs? Is there repeated information? Such
examples are generally important and should be noted, or text-marked, during reading.

Venture through the text and READ it thoroughly. Take your time, re-read as needed.

Eliminate the wrong answers.

Let yourself answer the question. Write the paragraph number if the answer is in the text.
Part Two: Modeled Instruction: How will I show my students how to find main idea and supporting details?
Read aloud an appropriate content area article/text/passage to model UNRAVEL. Model each step together as
for the class. Remember to point out words that appear in both the questions and the text. Projecting the text on a
smartboard and giving each student a copy is helpful. Ask the questions: Who is the story/article/paragraph
about? and What is the Who doing?
Part Three: Guided Practice with Teacher: How will I help my students practice UNRAVEL?
Choose text that is high-interest when learning a new comprehension strategy. This keeps student focus where
it needs to be. Together with the class, go through the text using each step of the UNRAVEL strategy.
Part Four: Guided Practice with Peer: How will I help my students practice finding main idea and supporting
details? How will I incorporate Teacher-Led Question and Answer, Student Accountable Talk, and Collaborative Structures?
Use the appropriate content area article/text to practice UNRAVEL. Pair the students together to work
collaboratively on this activity. During this portion, focus on “venturing” through the text, circling and underling
information that relates to the main idea or that serves as supporting information for it.

identify the main idea; students should be able to explain where it was found and why they believe it to be
the main idea

provide at least 3 supporting details about it; students should be able to explain where details were found
and how the information supports the main idea

write a gist statement that incorporates the main idea and the most important supporting detail. The gist
should be written as a complete sentence.

answer text-related questions using complete sentences
Part Five: Independent Practice/Mini-Assessment & Review Student Responses: How will
my students practice finding main idea and supporting details?
Use a related piece of high-interest text (with questions) that is appropriate to the content area to assess
student independence in using the UNRAVEL strategy. Ask each student to independently read the passage. On
the back of the question sheet, have students identify the main idea, provide at least three supporting details about
it, and write a gist statement in complete sentence form. Review the student responses as a whole group to
reinforce the concept and strategy. Students should also answer questions related to the text during this
portion.
**Have students use the UNRAVEL strategy during the course of daily instruction when reading new or unfamiliar
texts.