Young students learning to read benefit from opportunities to practice comprehension skills in the real world. What better way to do that than when parents practice these skills with their children as they go about their day?
Here are 7 Main Idea and Detail activities to share with parents to help them do just that!
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Reinforce the Main Idea and Details by encouraging your child to look at the “Fruit” section (Main Idea) when grocery shopping and find as many different types of fruit (Details) as possible.
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When eating at a restaurant, have your child look for the “theme” of the restaurant and what details support that theme. Ask them, “What is the restaurant mostly about?”
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What’s your child’s favorite song? What is it mostly about? How do they know? What lyrics in the song support what it’s mostly about? These easy questions will help your child understand the song’s Main Idea and Details.
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Traveling or taking a trip? Ask your child if they know where you are going. Tell them that’s the Main Idea and the stops along the way, the time in the car, and the places you eat are all Supporting Details.
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When reading a story, have your child tell you the characters, the setting, the problem, and the solution. These are literary elements and can help your child understand the story.
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Check out a non-fiction book. Together, find the title, headings, index, and glossary. These are some of the Text Features in the book. When your child knows different text features, they can quickly identify the type of literature and what reading strategies are needed to understand the text.
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Ask your child to find the title of an article in the newspaper. Then ask, “Why is the title bold?”, and “What is the purpose of the title?” “Do you see any other parts that are bold?”
Shared with permission from LearningFocused.com.