Mentor Texts to Help Students Master Main Idea in Elementary School
I love reading non-fiction books with my students so for many reasons! It is so fun to find books that appeal to their interests and spark discussions about learning new things. Also, I believe that the best way to teach main idea is through modeling think alouds in mentor texts.
What to think about when choosing mentor texts to teach main idea:
- your students’ interests
- topics that relate to current events
- topics that relate to science/ social studies curriculum and could build background knowledge
- books with short sections
- books you can use for multiple non-fiction reading skills *I revisit non-fiction books over and over
Main Idea Mentor Text Books:
- Animals That Change Color
- This Is How We Do It
- Shark Lady
- For The Right to Learn
- The Reasons for Seasons
- The Emperor’s Egg
- School Then and Now
- The Sugary Secrets Behind Candy
- She Persisted
It is important to teach main idea through think alouds and model how to find it before students do it on their own. Then, move into independent practice like the short passages shown below to apply the skill.
Read more about how I use interactive read alouds to teach main idea and other reading strategies!
More non-fiction mentor text idea posts:
Affiliate links are used in this blog post.
