reading to learn: grasping main ideas and text...

May be photocopied for classroom use. © 2015 by Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project from Units of Study for Teaching Reading (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH).

Reading to Learn: Grasping Main Ideas and Text Structures Grade 3: Nonfiction, Unit 2

Readers, today you will read three texts to learn more about roller coasters. Read texts 1 and 2, then answer questions 1 and 2 on a separate sheet of paper. Then read the rest and finish up.

1. Summarize the article, “Thrills and Chills.”When summarizing, remember to:

• write about the main idea• include supporting details• keep your summary ½ page or less• leave out what’s not important.

Main Idea(s) and Supporting Details/Summary

2. Both “Thrills and Chills” and “New Inventionsthat Make Steel Roller Coasters Even Scarier!” include information about an important subtopic—new inventions for roller coasters. Explain briefly what these texts teach about how inventors make roller coasters have even more thrills and chills.When synthesizing (fitting together information from both texts), remember to:

• focus on the subtopic• include information from each text that fits

with this subtopic.

Cross-Text(s) Synthesis

3. Summarize the story, “Super Fan/Rider: GaryColeman.”When summarizing a story, remember to:

• include important story elements (forexample, character, setting, problem)

• include important details from across thestory

• leave out unimportant parts.

Retelling/Summary/Synthesis (Narrative)

4. Write briefly about one idea you have grownfrom these texts.When writing about your idea, remember to:

• grow an idea about information or ideas inthe text

• explain your idea and include details fromthe text to support it.

Critical Reading: Growing Ideas


Thrills and Chills: Roller Coasters Are Not All the Same! ◆ page 1

Text 1

Thrills and Chills: Roller Coasters Are Not All the Same!

Slowly, the roller coaster’s cars click up the hill. The roller coaster reaches the very top of the track. It pauses for a minute. Then suddenly, the roller coaster zooms down. The people on the roller

coaster scream and yell. Roller coasters are made to give people thrills and chills.

There are two main types of roller coasters: wooden roller coasters and steel roller coasters. They are built in different ways. They also work in different ways. But all roller coasters are made to be crazy rides!

Wooden Roller Coaster

Photodisc/Getty Images

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giant support structure



Wooden roller coasters are mostly made of wood. In the wooden roller coaster in the picture on page 1, wooden beams hold the tracks up in the air. As the cars ride over the tracks, the wood sways back and forth a little. That makes the cars rattle and jolt as they move. The cars especially rattle when they ride over the places where the pieces of the tracks are connected. You get a bumpy ride on a wooden coaster!

Early on, roller coasters were wooden but today, wooden roller coasters are rare. This is because they are expensive to keep working well. They need to be fixed often. Also, people like loops, and most wooden roller coasters do not have loops. Inventors are trying to find ways to add more loops to wooden roller coasters. They have even made some wooden roller coasters that can go upside down!

Steel Roller Coaster

Steel roller coasters use steel beams to hold up their tracks. As the picture on this page shows, this is very different from wooden roller coasters. Steel is very strong, so steel roller coasters don’t need the giant support structure

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that wooden roller coasters need. Steel roller coasters are more popular than wooden ones because they can have more loops and go higher and faster.

Steel roller coasters are also more popular because they are less expensive to keep working. They last a long time. Inventors are working to make steel coasters even more thrilling. New steel coasters have been built that let people stand up and lay down when they ride. There are now steel roller coasters that can go even higher than the Statue of Liberty!

Ride the Ride!

Today roller coasters can be found all over the world. Although some are made of wood and some are made of steel, all roller coasters are made to give people thrills and chills!

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New Inventions that Make Steel Roller Coasters Even Scarier! ◆ page 1

Text 2

New Inventions that Make Steel Roller Coasters Even Scarier!

New inventions make steel roller coasters scarier than ever. Designers have made new tracks and new seats. Roller coasters are even wilder now!

Roller coaster tracks used to be flat like a piece of iron. Now tracks can be shaped like a straw or a tube. Tubular tracks can be bent in crazy ways. This lets roller coasters have many more loops. They also can have longer drops and tighter turns. The first roller coaster with tubular tracks was the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride at Disneyland.

Inventors have also changed the riders’ seats. Riders used to sit in cars. They sat on seats with their feet on the floor. Now, people can sit on swings with nothing underneath their feet!

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Super Fan/Rider: Gary Coleman ◆ page 1

Text 3

Super Fan/Rider: Gary Coleman

“Diamondback back half” by http:www.flickr.com/photo

It was a sunny day. Gary Coleman stood waiting to ride a roller coaster named the Diamondback Roller Coaster. Most people in line were kids. But Gary was 73 years old!Before reaching the roller coaster, he passed a sign: Danger. He looked

up. The rollercoaster rose 230 feet above him. That’s taller than ten houses, stacked on top of each other! Many people were afraid at the sight. But Gary wasn’t scared. This was a very big day for him.

This ride would be Gary Coleman’s 12,000 (twelve thousandth) ride on the Diamondback Roller Coaster. Gary had always loved roller coasters. He planned to keep riding the Diamondback Roller Coaster as long as he could. Gary was a kid at heart.

No wonder he sat in the front row!

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