Focus Lesson Planning Sheet
Focus Lesson
Topic
Good readers decide what is important in a picture and use this information to find
the main idea.
Materials
Photograph, illustration, diagram, or piece of artwork displayed on overhead or
SmartBoard
Short text you feel will be challenging for the class on overhead or Smartboard
Connection
1 minute
Explicit
Instruction
5-10 minutes
We have been immersed in a unit of study about ____________. During this unit,
we have learned a number of strategies that help us read and understand texts
within this genre. Sometimes, you will be asked to demonstrate how you use these
strategies with _______ texts on tests like MCAS. Today, I’m going to show you
how I use a strategy to make MCAS test questions in this genre easier.
When good readers encounter texts on the MCAS, they know that they will be asked
to answer some questions about their reading. Good readers know that they are
often asked to describe what they learned from the passage. This is called “finding
the main idea.” Sometimes readers are asked to find the main idea of a paragraph.
Other times, readers are asked to find the main idea of a story or article. Watch me
as I think aloud about deciding what is important for me to learn, or the main idea.
I’ll show you using a picture.
Post a sample photo, illustration, diagram, or piece of artwork on the Smartboard or
overhead projector. Title an anchor chart “What does the author want me to think is
important?”
Sample: Pilgrims Going to Church by George Henry Boughton
Hmm…Based on this picture, I wonder what the author wants me to think is
important? I can tell from the title that these are Pilgrims and that they are going
to church. I can see that the women and girls are wearing dresses…but that
doesn’t seem like the main idea. I see that there is snow on the ground and no
leaves on the trees. It must be winter…but I don’t think that is the author’s main
point. I can see that the men are wearing hats…but that’s not really important. I
notice that the men are carrying guns and seem to be protecting the women and
children. Their faces seem nervous or cautious. I think the author of this painting is
trying to tell me that going to church was dangerous for Pilgrims. I think the
author might also be telling me that it must have been very important to go to
church, to risk being in such danger.
Guided
Practice
5 minutes
Send Off
[for Independent
reading]
There were a lot of things I noticed when I looked at this painting, but I used clues
to try and figure out the main idea. Just like a painting, a text will have many
details that make it interesting. Usually, however, there is one or two main ideas
the author is trying to tell you. Try to answer the question, “What is the author
really trying to tell me?”
Display another painting or illustration from a text.
Now you try with a partner. Turn and talk to your partner about the main idea of
the picture. Answer the question, “What is the author trying to tell us?”
Provide one of the following for students to practice with during independent
reading:
 A generic set of open-ended questions (e.g., What is the main idea of the
passage?) that can be used in conjunction with any illustration in a just-right
text students are already reading
 A piece of short text with accompanying illustrations and specific multiple
choice and/or short answer questions about the main idea of the illustration
 A series of illustrations (without text) and accompanying questions about main
idea that students can choose from
Confer with individual students or pull small groups based on need.
Group Share
Can anyone share an example of how they answered the question, “What is the
main idea the author is trying to convey in a picture I viewed?”