1. Main Idea
LA : The student will determine the main idea or essential message in grade-level or higher texts through inferring, paraphrasing, summarizing, and identifying relevant details

2. Lesson 2: Guided Practice
Review Lesson 1
Stated, Implied, and Inferred Main Idea
Supporting Details
How to Find the Main Idea (stated & implied)
Main Idea Graphic Organizer
Visual Clues for Main Idea

3. Strategy
A good strategy is to read the questions before reading the passage. This will ensure that you are clear about the task at hand before you actually read the selection. Let’s look at question 1.

4. What is this question asking?
1. What is the main idea of paragraph one?
Before pumpkins, people used to carve things like potatoes, turnips, and beets.
Stingy Jack carved a pumpkin and placed a flame inside to help him see has he wandered in the darkness.
Stingy Jack was doomed to roam in darkness forever because he played tricks on everyone.
The Jack O’ Lanterns we carve today, originated from an old Irish folklore.

5. Question 1
The reader is being asked to determine the main idea of paragraph 1.
This is something that you, the reader, will be looking for in the article.
As you find this information, underline it.

6. What is this question asking?
2. What is the main idea of paragraph two?
In Ireland and Scotland, they called their lanterns Jack O’ Lantern after Stingy Jack.
It was believed that spirits could return to the land of the living on Halloween.
Jack O’ Lanterns were carved and lit to keep wandering spirits from entering their homes and towns on Halloween.
Lanterns with scary faces were carved and a hot piece of coal was placed inside them.

7. Question 2
This question asks the reader to find the main idea of paragraph 2.
As you read, look for clue words that indicate the answer to this question. Circle the details that seem related to question 2.

8. Let’s Read!
Look for information in question and try to find the main idea, as well as answers to the questions we read.
I will read the article with you now, modeling how a good reader would attack this challenge.

9. Underline the main idea.
Did you know that before people began carving pumpkins to make Jack O’ Lanterns, they used to carve other things like potatoes, turnips, and beets? It all began with an old Irish folklore about a man called Stingy Jack who played tricks on everyone. Because of his trickery, Jack’s soul was doomed to roam in the darkness forever. Jack supposedly carved a turnip and placed a flame inside it to help him see as he wandered through the dark. The Irish called him Jack of the Lantern.

10. Underline the main idea.
Did you know that before people began carving pumpkins to make Jack O’ Lanterns, they used to carve other things like potatoes, turnips, and beets? It all began with an old Irish folklore about a man called Stingy Jack who played tricks on everyone. Because of his trickery, Jack’s soul was doomed to roam in the darkness forever. Jack supposedly carved a turnip and placed a flame inside it to help him see as he wandered through the dark. The Irish called him Jack of the Lantern.

11. Circle details that seems related to the main idea.
In Ireland and Scotland, people believed that spirits could return to the land of the living on Halloween. To keep wandering spirits like Stingy Jack from entering their homes, people made their own lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing a hot piece of coal inside to light them. They called their lanterns Jack O’ Lanterns after Stingy Jack. People in England also carved their own versions of Jack O’ Lanterns out of beets to keep spirits away on this night. They believed that the lanterns would light the way for the spirits to move out of their town, keeping them safe until next Halloween.

12. Circle details that seems related to the main idea.
In Ireland and Scotland, people believed that spirits could return to the land of the living on Halloween. To keep wandering spirits like Stingy Jack from entering their homes, people made their own lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing a hot piece of coal inside to light them. They called their lanterns Jack O’ Lanterns after Stingy Jack. People in England also carved their own versions of Jack O’ Lanterns out of beets to keep spirits away on this night. They believed that the lanterns would light the way for the spirits to move out of their town, keeping them safe until next Halloween.

13. Question 1
What is the main idea of paragraph one?
A. Before pumpkins, people used to carve things like potatoes, turnips, and beets.
B. Stingy Jack carved a pumpkin and placed a flame inside to help him see has he wandered in the darkness.
C. Stingy Jack was doomed to roam in darkness forever because he played tricks on everyone.
D. The Jack O’ Lanterns we carve today, originated from an old Irish folklore.
A: is stated in paragraph 1, but is not about the main idea.
B: is not the main idea of the paragraph.
C: a fact stated about Stingy Jack in the article, but it is not the main idea of paragraph 1.
D: is the main idea of paragraph 1.

14. Question 2
2. What is the main idea of paragraph two?
A. In Ireland and Scotland, they called their lanterns Jack O’ Lantern after Stingy Jack.
B. It was believed that spirits could return to the land of the living on Halloween.
Jack O’ Lanterns were carved and lit to keep wandering spirits from entering their
homes and towns on Halloween.
D. Lanterns with scary faces were carved and a hot piece of coal was placed inside them.
A: is an accurate statement, but not the main idea of paragraph 2.
B: is an accurate statement, but it is a supporting detail.
C: is a main point being made in the paragraph, but let’s check out “D” to be sure.
D: is also a supporting detail.