Students write a main idea on an umbrella's canopy, add three supporting details in the raindrops below, and sum it up in one sentence.
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Students pick any nonfiction text, write its main idea on the canopy of a large umbrella, and put one detail in each of the three raindrops underneath, so every detail sits under the idea it supports. A box at the bottom asks for one sentence, in their own words, joining the main idea and the most important details. The model uses a six-sentence paragraph about archerfish, which knock insects off leaves with jets of water, and shows why a true sentence about mangrove swamps still doesn't belong.
Before students use their own text, read the archerfish paragraph aloud and ask which sentence doesn't belong under the umbrella. Then show the "Doesn't fit" card.
The model's details are short notes, like "leaps up to grab bugs near the surface," not copied sentences. Show this first, since a copied sentence often won't fit the three lines in a drop.
Check the summary against the canopy: if it names only one detail, such as the water jet, it is a detail rather than a summary.
Ways to adjust the umbrella organiser for different readers.
Each one is checked against the official document. Where the resource covers only part of a standard, the note says so.
Students read a short text, write its main idea and three supporting details on an organiser, sum it up in one sentence, and the model shows a true sentence left out because it is off the main idea; other strategies such as predicting and evaluating texts are not practised.
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