Main Idea and The Important Thing -- Freebie

We've been working on finding the main idea of passages and paragraphs within a text. We've also been writing sentences and are ready to write an informative/explanatory paragraph on a topic (Common Core W.2.2 and W.3.2). I'm going to use Margaret Wise Brown's The Important Book as a model for our writing.

The kiddos will pick a topic and write their own "Important" paragraph using the handout below. 

I've also used this as a model for writing an opinion paragraph.

Click on the pic above to download the doc.

Main Idea and Details - Freebie

A big part of understanding informational text is determining the details that lead to the main idea and being able to restate that information in a summary. This graphic organizer will help your kiddos organize their thinking.

Just click on the pic above to download the worksheet.

All Things Informational

Understanding informational text is such a big part of Common Core. My kids usually choose a informational text over fiction when they visit my library, so it's easy to build on their interests when reinforcing using text features.

I've pulled all my old resources into one post. 

Hope you find something you can use! Just click on each picture to get the info!
Check back during the week to see what new things we did with informational text.

This is one of my most popular posts. Pull out just the parts you need or let your students complete the entire packet in pairs or alone.

This is similar to the Super Hero activity. You can use it in the same way.

I pull out this activity several times a year for reinforcement. The kids love scavenger hunts.

Students have to use text features in the book Cats vs. Dogs to complete these activities.

 Cash in on your students' love of sharks. These activities are all based on National Geographic Kids Sharks!

Practice determining the main idea and using content-specific vocabulary introduced in text with these activities based on Ugly Animals.

I love the Smart Words Readers. This station activity is based on one of the titles in the series, Volcanoes.

 These task cards are based on the text exemplar Seeds, by Gail Gibbons.

If you have some fun resources for using informational text, please leave a comment.