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UNDERSTANDING MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS

E

Acknowledgments

Product Development Design and ProductionProject Developer and Editor: Dale Lyle Project Designer: Susan HawkWriter: Lois Markham Designer and Illustrator: Jamie RuhReviewer: Mary McNary

ISBN 0-7609-3479-7©2006—Curriculum Associates, Inc.

North Billerica, MA 01862No part of this book may be reproduced by any means

without written permission from the publisher.All Rights Reserved. Printed in USA.

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In FOCUS on Understanding Main Idea and Details, Book E, you will read passages and answer questions. You will practice using the reading strategy called Understanding Main Idea and Details. You will learn about the strategy on the Learn About pages. You will see a sample passage, sample questions, and sample answer choices on the Lesson Preview pages. Then you will practice using the strategy in twenty lessons.

Each lesson has a passage and five questions. After you finish reading the passage, answer the five questions. For the first four questions, fill in the correct answers on the Answer Form on page 53. Or, you may fill in the correct answers directly on the page. For the fifth question, write the answer on the lines provided on the page. Fill in the circle on the Answer Form to show that you have completed the fifth question.

Use the Tracking Chart on page 47 to show when you have finished each lesson and to show the number of questions that you answered correctly. After each group of five lessons, you will complete a self-assessment to see how you are doing.

So . . . FOCUS and enjoy!

To the Student

Table of Contents

Learn About Understanding Main Idea and Details ...................................... 2

Lesson Preview ............................................................................................ 4

Lesson 1 The Shade Seller .................................................................. 6

Lesson 2 Alice in Metroland ............................................................... 8

Lesson 3 Riverboat Pilot ................................................................... 10

Lesson 4 Help! ................................................................................. 12

Lesson 5 Yellowstone National Park ................................................. 14

Lesson 6 A New Home .................................................................... 16

Lesson 7 The Social Studies Report .................................................. 18

Lesson 8 Sadako and the Paper Cranes ............................................. 20

Lesson 9 Fruit + Air = Brown ........................................................... 22

Lesson 10 A Day of Fun ..................................................................... 24

Lesson 11 World’s Largest Lizard ....................................................... 26

Lesson 12 A Visit to the Past .............................................................. 28

Lesson 13 The Slave Who Freed Haiti ................................................ 30

Lesson 14 Revolutionary Women ....................................................... 32

Lesson 15 The Pilgrims’ First Feast .................................................... 34

Lesson 16 Oona Saves the Day ........................................................... 36

Lesson 17 When the Buffalo Roamed ................................................. 38

Lesson 18 Bringing Home the Woman, the Dog, and the Tent .......... 40

Lesson 19 A Woman with a Purpose ................................................... 42

Lesson 20 We Need to Recycle ........................................................... 44

Tracking Chart .......................................................................................... 47

Self-Assessment 1, Lessons 1–5 ................................................................... 48

Self-Assessment 2, Lessons 6–10 ................................................................. 49

Self-Assessment 3, Lessons 11–15 ............................................................... 50

Self-Assessment 4, Lessons 16–20 ............................................................... 51

Self-Assessment 5, Lessons 1–20 ................................................................. 52

Answer Form .............................................................................................. 53

The main idea is the most important idea in a passage, or piece of writing. The main idea tells what the passage is mostly about. Every passage has a main idea. Every paragraph in a passage also has a main idea.

Details are pieces of information that tell about a main idea. Details explain the main idea. They tell who, what, when, where, why, or how. Details can describe a person, place, or thing. Details can tell the order in which events happen or they can explain how to do something.

Read this passage. Find the main idea and the details that tell more about the main idea.

Learn AboutUnderstanding Main Idea and Details

2

Sociable weavers are small birds that build amazing nests. These birds make their home in Africa’s Kalahari Desert. What makes these birds so sociable is that they like living in large groups. One of their nests may hold up to 100 couples. The nest looks like an enormous haystack perched in a tree. Many couples cooperate to build the nest out of grass and twigs. The bottom of the nest has an opening for each pair of birds. Each opening leads to a cozy private chamber. There a couple sleeps, breeds, and escapes from the harsh midday sun.

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The main idea of the passage is that sociable weavers build amazing nests. It is stated in the first sentence. A main idea may be stated anywhere in a passage. Or it may not be directly stated at all. If the main idea is not directly stated, ask yourself questions like these: What is this passage mostly about? What is the most important idea?

The details in the passage about sociable weavers give more information about the amazing nests. One detail tells that a nest can hold 100 couples. Another detail tells that a nest looks like a haystack. Another tells that a nest is made of grass and twigs. Another tells that a nest has one chamber for each pair of birds.

The passage about sociable weavers has one paragraph. Other passages might have more than one paragraph. Still, the whole passage has a main idea, and each paragraph in the passage also has a main idea.

The main idea is what the passage is mostly about. Details are pieces of information that tell about the main idea.

Re

member:

Detailhold up to

100 couples

Detaillook like haystacks

Detailmade of grass

and twigs

Detailhave one chamber per pair

Main IdeaSociable weavers

build amazing nests.

3

Lesson

14

Read these travel diary entries about a trip to Yellowstone National Park. As you read, think about the main idea of the entries. Also think about what the details tell about the main idea.

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July 20, 2005This is the best vacation my family has ever had.

We are in Yellowstone National Park. We arrived yesterday and checked into the Old Faithful Inn. It’s named after the famous geyser, which is just a short walk from the inn. The geyser shoots off a column of boiling water and steam just about every 78 minutes. We dropped our suitcases in our room and ran over to Old Faithful because it was about to blow.

A park ranger told us that geysers happen because underground water is heated deep inside the earth, where it is very hot. As the water heats up, it expands. This creates underground pressure. When the pressure builds up to a certain point, the water boils up through cracks in the surface of the earth. Old Faithful blows for about three minutes. Water shoots up 100 feet in the air.

July 21, 2005Today, we drove to a different part of the

park. We wanted to see wildlife, especially bears. A ranger told us that bears used to come right down to the road and take food from people.

This wasn’t good for the bears because they forgot how to survive on their own. It wasn’t good for the people either because sometimes an angry bear would attack. Now there are laws about not feeding

the animals, and the bears don’t come that close to the road. If you know where to look, though, you have a chance of seeing them. There are two different kinds of bears—black bears, which are smaller and more common, and grizzlies, which are bigger and rarer. As we were driving, we spotted a mother black bear and two cubs in a small open area near a clump of trees. Fortunately, we had brought binoculars. Looking through them, we could see the bears quite well. The mother was just standing there, but the cubs

were rolling around in the grass. We didn’t have much hope of seeing grizzlies. The ranger had told us that they are most active

at night. As we were driving back to the inn, however, we saw a big furry animal walking through a meadow. Sure enough, it was a grizzly. We all got a chance to see it through the binoculars before it lumbered out of sight. This has definitely been one of the most exciting days of my life.

Yellowstone National Park

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1. What are the diary entries mostly about?

geysers in Yellowstone National Park a trip to Yellowstone National Park grizzly bears Old Faithful

2. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

It is very hot deep inside the earth. Old Faithful shoots water one hundred

feet in the air. Geysers happen when underground

water becomes very hot. Old Faithful is a famous geyser.

3. Why did bears stop coming close to the roads in Yellowstone?

because the roads became too crowded because they wanted to survive

on their own because people gave them bad food because people no longer fed them

4. Which of these details tells about grizzly bears?

They are most active in the daytime. They are bigger than black bears. They are smaller than black bears. They come to the roads to take food

from people.

5. Write three details about Old Faithful.

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Answer these questions about the diary entries.