Learning About the Main Idea

We're learning how to tell about the main idea of a book.  There are a few clues we can use to help us.  One clue is to look to the title.  What does the title tell us . . .  what the book is about!  Another thing we can do is ask ourselves:  what is this book mostly about?

We've read many books so far to talk about the main idea.  One of the books we read to help us understand the main idea is Kevin Henkes' Wemberly Worried.  What was this book mostly about? Wemberly worried about everything!

Not only did we determine the main idea, but we noticed the clues, or details, to help us figure it out. Take a look at the chart we made to help us show our thinking:

Another book we read is titled Gio and His Family.  What was this book mostly about?  Gio and his family and what they like to do together!  How did we know that?  Both the title and the events of the book told us!  You may have seen a similar chart come home with your child that looks similar to the Wemberly chart (I forgot to take a picture of us completing it in action!).

When reading at home, see if your child can help determine the main idea of the book!