Teaching Main Idea and Supporting Details with a Circus Theme

 I love incorporating themes into my instruction.  I have been wanting to come up with a lesson that incorporated a CIRCUS theme, and I though why not use main idea?!  You can transfer your room into the Main Idea Show!  The greatest show on Earth!   The main idea is like the big top of the circus.  Students train to be Main Idea Masters (a fun little take on ringmaster of the circus).  These activities would be just enough to get your students excited and keep them engaged in learning about identifying the main idea of a text.  The main idea of a text is the overall idea that the text is mostly about.  Students begin identifying the main topic orally in kindergarten of an informational text.  By third grade, they transition into identifying the main idea and supporting details.  These activities would be most appropriate for third and maybe even fourth grades.  Let's take a look at some tips and resources for teaching main idea!

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Room Transformation Decorations

Transform your classroom into a full on CIRCUS!  All you have to do is print some signs if you want to go simple!  There are some other cute ideas on Pinterest if you want to go BIG!  The colors associated with a circus are just so fun!

I printed all of the signs and decoration on cardstock.  You could also laminate them to use them year after year.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

I print this anchor chart in poster size and laminate it so that I can reuse it throughout the unit as I model main topic and key details.  There are also two other anchor charts included.  You could use them all or choose your favorite.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Opening Activity (Main Idea Magic Trick)


To kick off the unit, I made a Main Idea Magic top hat template to attach to a bag.  If you have a top hat, use that.  Inside the bag, you will put in an item.  You could do something related to the circus or to the texts you will be reading.  Do not tell students what is in the hat.  On these clue cards, write clues that all point to the secret item in the hat.  Pull out the clues like you are pulling out bunnies.  Ask students what all of the clues have in common.  These all point to the item, or the main idea!  No, it's not an actual magic trick, but you get the idea!  The main idea!

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.


Main Idea Master Training


Model, model, model!  This is always key when introducing a new comprehension strategy or skill.  One way you can model to students is with this Main Idea Master Training activity.  You can do this after the opening activity.  Inside the envelope is their first task!  Read the informational text inside to them.  Explain to them that they will be training to be Main Idea Masters by identifying the main idea and three key details that support the main idea.  I would do this with them at first.  Later, you can use this again as a cooperative group activity or even at learning centers.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Once students' training papers have passed inspection by you, they will receive these badges and bookmarks.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main Idea Practice

Lots of practice with many different informational texts is also beneficial to mastering identifying main idea and supporting details.  Students can begin gaining independence by identifying the key details in a text.  Be sure to explain what makes a detail from the text a key detail.  They will then create a list of the key details.  Afterwards, you could give them an exit ticket asking what idea all of those key details have in common or support.  

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

I like to use many different forms of practice throughout the unit related to the theme.  As students practice, you can have them begin gaining more independence by beginning with partner work and then transitioning to completing the graphic organizers independently over the whole group read aloud.  These are even great for small groups or centers!  I have also included DIGITAL versions of the graphic organizers that are already uploaded to Google Slides TM.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Crafts

If you know me, you know I love to have students create!  Incorporating art activities activates different areas of the brain.  They engage different senses and help wire neurons for successful learning!  They're also really fun!  

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

This circus peanut craft will give students a good visual for identifying main idea.  The supporting details are the peanuts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Another craft is this juggler one!  I love the fun colors!

Closing Your Lessons


Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.


You always want to have different forms of assessment throughout your lesson.  I usually include teacher observation, the daily task, and an exit ticket.  For an exit ticket, you can use these mini printable ones.  Sometimes, I will just have them write their response on their whiteboards and do a quick check of their responses.  I would use these with a short passage.  This will give you quick data on how to provide your instruction the following day and for small strategy groups.

I also have students share with their partner what we learned during the lesson, and I give them a preview for what we are learning or doing the following day.

If you are interested in any of these resources, you can find it HERE or by clicking on any of the photos.  I would love to see your room transformations on Instagram if you choose to do one!  Just tag me @thelemonadestandteacher.  Thank you so much for stopping by and reading!

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

Main idea and supporting details anchor chart, activities, and crafts.

























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