Episode 278: A Simple Hack for Helping Students Find the Main Idea in Informational Text

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On this episode of the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast we're diving into the topic of making informational texts your students' new favorite genre!

Navigating through the complexities of analyzing informational texts can often be a daunting task for our middle school students. In today's episode, we discuss the simple yet powerful trick we used time and time again to actually empower our students when tackling a new informational text.

This innovative tool was crafted to guide students through the intricate process of summarizing, analyzing, and reflecting on their reading. Tune in as we break down each component of analyzing informational text by using the visual of an inverted triangle. We start with the expansive top section where students craft a tag and summary of the text, then transition to the middle section, where students condense their summary using the SWBST method, and finally, we arrive at the pinnacle of the triangle, where students distill their analysis into a succinct main idea!

You'll also grab great classroom discussion starters and thought-provoking questions to encourage students' critical thinking through each stage of the process! (So be sure to grab a pen and paper to take quick notes!)

Whether you've taught informational texts for 1 year or 30 years, this episode will leave you with fresh tools and strategies to invigorate your classroom instruction!

Tune in for an episode full of actionable takeaways!

Link mentioned: https://www.ebteacher.com/infotext

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