ALEX Classroom Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 19 :

19. Determine the explicit or implied main idea and supporting details of a text.

a. Explain how supporting details contribute to the main idea, using textual evidence.

b. Recount or summarize the key ideas from the text.

[ELA2021] (3) 23 :

23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.

[ELA2021] (4) 21 :

21. Explain how relevant details support the implied or explicit main idea of a text.

a. Determine the central idea or theme of a text.

b. Explain the difference between implied and explicit details.

c. Summarize the key supporting details by citing evidence from a text.

[ELA2021] (4) 23 :

23. Evaluate how text features and structures contribute to the meaning of an informational text.

a. Identify and describe the structures within a text, including description, comparison and contrast, sequence, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

b. Interpret information from text features in both print and digital formats.

[ELA2021] (5) 22 :

22. Determine the implied and/or explicit main idea in literary and informational texts.

[ELA2021] (5) 24 :

24. Determine and evaluate the effectiveness of digital and print text features and structures, including comparison and contrast, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

a. Identify various text features used in diverse forms of text.

b. Compare and contrast the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in multiple texts.

Save the Earth from all kinds of waste and trash. Rap with Mister C, read charts with a landfill rat, break the code for recycling symbols, then share this dirty, rotten, self-paced lesson with your friends.

This resource guides students as they identify the main idea and support details of a text.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (4) 21 :

21. Explain how relevant details support the implied or explicit main idea of a text.

a. Determine the central idea or theme of a text.

b. Explain the difference between implied and explicit details.

c. Summarize the key supporting details by citing evidence from a text.

[ELA2021] (4) 28 :

28. Write clear and coherent responses to texts, using explicit or implicit evidence that supports a particular point.

[ELA2021] (5) 22 :

22. Determine the implied and/or explicit main idea in literary and informational texts.

[ELA2021] (5) 27 :

27. Review the key ideas expressed in a text and draw conclusions, using facts to support them.

Students take notes to determine the most important information given in a video segment and written text. They compare the information and draw written conclusions about the importance of studying the pig frog and the Everglades.

This resource supports students as they discover explicit and implicit meaning from an informational text.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 19 :

19. Determine the explicit or implied main idea and supporting details of a text.

a. Explain how supporting details contribute to the main idea, using textual evidence.

b. Recount or summarize the key ideas from the text.

[ELA2021] (4) 21 :

21. Explain how relevant details support the implied or explicit main idea of a text.

a. Determine the central idea or theme of a text.

b. Explain the difference between implied and explicit details.

c. Summarize the key supporting details by citing evidence from a text.

2018 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, Randi House, shows students how to look for clues in a text to support answers and gives students several examples of sentence starters they can use to introduce evidence from the text. Ms. House tells students a short story about Milly Hilly and then asks questions that require students to make inferences that must be supported by story details. The accompanying activity gives students an opportunity to practice making and supporting inferences with the short story “The Fisherman and His Wife.”

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 22 :

22. Describe literary elements within a story, including setting, plot, characters, and themes.

a. Describe in detail the characters' behavior, emotions, and traits and explain how their actions influence events in the story.

b. Explain how the characters' actions and dialogue contribute to the meaning of the story.

c. Identify the central message, theme, or moral in a story, including myths, fables, and folktales, and explain the meaning conveyed in the passage.

d. Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots from two texts.

[ELA2021] (4) 21 :

21. Explain how relevant details support the implied or explicit main idea of a text.

a. Determine the central idea or theme of a text.

b. Explain the difference between implied and explicit details.

c. Summarize the key supporting details by citing evidence from a text.

[ELA2021] (6) 3 :

3. Explain how authors use setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view to contribute to the meaning and purpose of prose and poetry, using textual evidence from the writing.

[ELA2021] (7) 3 :

3. Explain how the author's choice of setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view contribute to and/or enhance the meaning and purpose of prose and poetry, using textual evidence from the writing.

Learn how to identify theme in a literary work in this short animated video from WNET.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (4) 13 :

13 ) Plan and carry out investigations to examine properties of soils and soil types (e.g., color, texture, capacity to retain water, ability to support growth of plants).

[ELA2021] (4) 21 :

21. Explain how relevant details support the implied or explicit main idea of a text.

a. Determine the central idea or theme of a text.

b. Explain the difference between implied and explicit details.

c. Summarize the key supporting details by citing evidence from a text.

Dig into reading practice and meet a cute little mole who loves dirt. Learn about finding the main idea in an informational text about the components that make up soil and get the dirt on how details can support the main idea.