Reader Cards

The past several weeks, we have been really narrowing down our thinking and discussing the MAIN IDEA of a reading passage.  It is important for children to be able to read a long book, and tease out the very main idea of what the book is about.  The Main Idea is not a summary (although it often is found at the beginning of one), it is also not a book review.  It is a way to very carefully understand what a book is fundamentally about.  This past week, I asked the students to SPOTLIGHT a book.  Choose a book that they liked, and that they think someone else may be interested in.  I asked them to write the main idea of the book on a card and add an illustration.  These are posted around the room for other kids to see.  They did an excellent job of thinking about just the Main Idea of their book.    It has been fun for the other kids to go and read other cards to check out books that may be new to them.  It has sparked a new interest in some of our books that were just waiting on the shelf just waiting for a 3rd grader to pick it up and read it  (poor sad books!).  Look at their wonderful work!