What’s the Main Idea All About?

Grade Level: 3-5
Classroom Time: Two 45 minute periods

Skills Addressed:

ELA skill: identifying main idea
ELA skill: identifying supporting details
Visual Arts skill: identifying subject matter
Visual Arts skill: art elements
Visual Arts skill: art history; Navajo art

Process: Day One

Teacher introduces the skill of main idea, using the resource “Incredibly Touching”: http://www.4to40.com/story/index.asp?article= story_incrediblytouching
This story will be read, and the teacher will engage students in a discussion about the story, using the saying, “Never judge a book by its cover,” as the main idea. As students tell how this saying relates to the story, use chart paper to record their answers.
Through the resource, http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210124/ mouse click on “main idea: definition” on the lower right hand corner of the page. Refer back to the story, “Incredibly Touching,” to discuss why the main idea was a valid one for the story. Allow students to popcorn answers again to see if their answers support the definition. (To “popcorn” out answers simply means that students don’t raise their hands to be recognized to speak, they just automatically say their answers).
For interactive practice of identifying the main idea, use the “back” browser button/arrow to locate “skill practice” at the bottom of the page. When you click on this button, it will connect you to a story entitled, “The Navajo Indians.” Tell students to listen attentively, as you read aloud, because they will have to answer main idea questions at the end of the story. As students answer the questions, scroll back up to the story if they need to make sure their choice is correct. This will help them to understand the strategy of finding evidence for the answer.(Answers: 1-B, 2-A, 3-C)
Art Connection: Sand paintings are sacred images to the Navajo, and generally are not reproduced for sale. But some sand paintings have been made to sell that have a more secular theme. Generally the sand painting is made to reflect the main idea of the theme by simplifying or reducing to the most important details.

Go to http://www.hanksville.org/voyage/navajo/ sandpaintings.php where you will see a Navajo painting showing Mother Earth and Father Sky. (Scroll down the page until you see an image that looks like the small image on the right.)
Without telling your students the title of this painting (and covering up the text portion), let them try to guess the main idea.

Process: Day Two

Teacher reviews the meaning of main idea using the link from the first day’s lesson, http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210124/ . Click on the back browser button/arrow once. Find on this page the area that says “skill practice,” and click on it.
Let them know that today they will be learning about “supporting details” that support the main idea in the story “The Navajo Indians.”
Review the art connection portion from day one, discussing the main idea of the painting. Art supporting details are found in the use of art elements (color, line, shape, etc). The visual supporting evidence leads the viewer to understand what the artist is trying to show through their art.
Supporting details are sentences/phrases that make the main idea true. They are sometimes the when, why, and how of the main idea in a selection.
Give the students the three answers to the questions for “The Navajo Indians.” (Look at Day1 #3) Through the resource http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2983 students will use the graphic organizer “What’s the Main Idea?” It is located under the Reading Comprehension section of that page. Click on “What’s the Main Idea”. You will get a small graphic organizer but then click on the download/print link; this will take you to a larger version of the organizer. You can control the size of the image by clicking on the + or – button on top of that screen. The students can use this organizer to fill out the topic, main idea, and supporting details for the story. The teacher may want to distribute a copy of the story, and the graphic organizer so that students can work in their cooperative groups. Give students sufficient time to complete the graphic, and then have them check their answers from the interactive one that is filled out by the teacher.

National ELA Standards

Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g. sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g. libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g. for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

National Visual Art Standards Painter

Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes.
Using knowledge of structure and functions.
Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas.
Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.
Making connections between visual arts and other disciplines.

Art resources/extension activities: Painter

Navajo Nation: http://www.navajo.org/

To see other Navajo sand paintings (for sale) http://www.penfieldgallery.com/sand.shtml

Navajo textiles: Many of the Navajo textiles reflect sand paintings. You can usually find good visual sources at trading posts or shops that sell Navajo art. One reputable source that usually has a good weblink is the Heard Museum in Arizona: http://www.heardmuseumshop.com/

Another good source for visual references is the Utah Museum of Fine Arts Teacher Resource Center which has hands-on exhibits on Southwest Indians that one can view online: http://www.umfa.utah.edu/index.php?id=NDEw

Curriculum resources:

Downloadable information from the Arts of Native America from The Minneapolis Institute of Arts on different native Southwest peoples, including the Navajo (Dine)
http://www.artsmia.org/surrounded%2Dby%2Dbeauty/ curriculum/Southwest.pdf

(TEACHERS MAY NEED TO INSTALL QUICKTIME PLAYER FROM THE APPLE WEBSITE.) www.apple.com/quicktime

The mission of Project GRAD is to ensure a quality public education for all students in economically disadvantaged communities so that high school and college graduation rates increase.