Main Idea Mysteries
A few weeks ago we finished up our study of main idea, so I thought I'd share with you a few of our favorite activities and lessons that went on during our unit! To introduce main idea, my students became DETECTIVES. Let me just tell you how thrilled they were. We even pulled out the magnifying glasses. Were they necessary? No. Did it result in increased student engagement? Yes. To prep our very first lesson, I put picture clues into mystery envelopes. Each envelope contained four cards with a common theme (space, birthdays, fishing, etc). Students worked in small groups of 3-4, pulled out each clue card, and determined the "Main Idea" of each envelope. My kiddos loved figuring out the main idea of each envelope. I encouraged them to work very quietly so that the other tables of detectives wouldn't hear them, too. They recorded their findings on a worksheet, where they wrote the four clues and what their group had decided was the main idea. After introducing main ide