Because we are a TAP school, I have "homework assignments" that help me learn new things each week. Right now the school is working on "Main Idea" in informational text. As an art teacher, I can use my own medium art to help students look for main idea. I also have them create main idea. The fifth graders are working on hurricane landscapes. These landscapes should have key details that support the main idea. Several students want their main idea to be that "Hurricanes are big storms," or "Hurricanes are destructive to property and people." I was surprised when all the students had gotten their "main ideas" then realized that working backwards as they do in art that makes sense. What I mean is that they brainstorm main ideas and key details, talk with partners and describe what they want to do, draw ideas on white boards, and finally start on a final drawing or painting. We don't start the way a student reading a text would. They look at key details, illustrations, table of contents, and bold print to infer a main idea. This is more difficult in general than working on main idea, then adding key details that support it. I'll add some drawings in progress.
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