Lesson Plan Title : Clouds of Main Ideas

Age Range: Grade 3 through Grade 5 (Elementary Level)

Overview and Purpose : When it rains, it pours! Once students get the hang of the following activity, the ideas and details about the story will flow like water.

Objective: The student will be able to write the main idea and supporting details found in a story.

Resources:

Clothesline

Clothespins

Large laminated clouds

Laminated raindrops

Activities:

Hang the clothesline across a corner of your classroom. As you read a story, have a student write the main idea on a cloud and clip it to the clothesline. Other students can write the supporting details on the raindrops as the class finds them and clip those to the cloud.

This activity can also be done individually by having students read an assigned selection and then create their own clouds and raindrops.

Closure:

If you do not have space to hang a clothesline, you can cut the shapes out of felt and use a felt board, cut the shapes out of construction paper and pin them to a bulletin board, or just have the students draw the images on the whiteboard.