Design-Based Learning Online Learning in a Never-Before-Seen World
Design-Based Learning ACTIVITY #3 Never-Before-Seen Three-Dimensional Symbolic Object as a Book Report
Identifying and Summarizing the Main Idea(s) of a Book ©Doreen Nelson
Students learn to identify the main idea(s) of a story by reading picture books.
What is a picture book really about? Why did the author write it?
Kiera was 10 and she wasn’t at all interested in the books read by her younger siblings. She would read to them from time to time only if she had to. She liked the drawings in those “baby books” and sometimes wondered why “grown- up” books didn’t have pictures. A project at school had her 5th grade class reading to the little kids in a way that she will never forget. She had to select a book, read it and then reread it to see if she could figure out the message that the main idea that the author was presenting. Then she had to reread it again and name three details that supported the main idea she had identified.
Kiera’s favorite picture book was “Crazy Hair Day,” by Barney Saltzberg, about a little boy who is excited because it was “crazy hair day” at his school. He styles his hair with gel, rubber bands and orange and blue spray, but when he gets to school, he finds out that it’s not “crazy hair day” at all. It’s school picture day. Stanley’s best friend teases him in front of the class, everyone laughs, and Stanley is so embarrassed he hides in the bathroom. When he finally decides to go back to class, he sees that everyone has given themselves crazy hair, too.
Kiera was bewildered trying to understand what the author was really telling “little” kids. She had seen it as just a funny story “Oh,” she finally said, “this story is teaching kids that when someone is different, they shouldn’t be made fun of and that everyone should be nice to each other.
Kiera's interest grew as she tried to find three supporting details that explained the main idea she had identified. In the end, she wrote, “ ‘Crazy Hair Day’ is mainly about teaching kids to understand what it is like when someone feels different.” Kiera said that the author showed this by:
Having Stanley accidentally make himself look different from the other kids when he came to school with crazy hair.
Having Stanley’s best friend apologize for teasing him.
Having the rest of the kids make Stanley feel even better by giving themselves crazy hair, too.
Kiera wrote her conclusions, and to lock in what she had learned about naming a main ideas and its supporting details, she came up with an idea for her Never-Before- Seen Three-Dimensional Book Report. She made a tree trunk out of a rolled-up piece of brown paper, and for the branches, Kiera used three toilet paper rolls, drawing pictures or pasting things on them to illustrate each of the three small topics she had identified to support her big topic.
“The trunk of a tree is the strongest part,” Kiera said. “Kids have to be strong to understand how someone else feels, and they have to remember to be nice to each other instead of making fun of someone because they are different.”
Kiera said that a tree trunk grows branches that look different so each of the branches she put on her tree show that there are lots of ways to make somebody feel good about themselves. One of Kiera’s branches represented the strength Stanley showed when he returned to class. Another showed how his best friend helped him. On the other branch Kiera pasted several green leaves, saying they represented the kids in Stanley’s class making him feel better.
Purpose: To teach students how to identify and summarize the main idea(s) and the supporting details of a book.
The Never-Before-Seen Three-Dimensional Symbolic Object as a Book Report Activity: Have your students choose a picture book to read. After they read it, have them identify and say or write the main idea(s) and three supporting details that support the main idea. Then have them make a Never-Before- Seen three-Dimensional Book Report to symbolize their conclusions.
Essential Question: How can the message of a book be understood?
Problem: How to get students to comprehend that books are written about a theme or main ideas and that smaller details within the story support the main idea.
Design Challenge for Kid: Make a Never-Before-Seen Three-Dimensional Book Report
(Teachers: have your students say or write a summary of what they learned, then have them make a physical object to represent why they think the author wrote the book).
Criteria List
This Criteria List is given as a guide for making a Three-Dimensional Book Report. Have your students read or listen to the list and check to see if they do everything.
