CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2
The Standard
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
What This Standard Means
Students need to name what a text is mostly about, or the theme it develops, and support that answer with details from the text. They also need to explain how that idea grows across the text, not just spot it at the end.
Mastery looks like a clear central idea or theme, backed by the best details, with a short summary that leaves out minor events and personal opinions. Students often get stuck by choosing a topic instead of a message, retelling everything, or picking details that are interesting but not central.
Ways to Teach It
- Give students sentence strips from a short text and have them sort details into central, supporting, and extra piles.
- Ask students to write, “The text is really about ___ because ___,” using two details from different parts of the text.
- Use an exit ticket with one central idea, two supporting details, and one sentence explaining how the idea develops.
- Connect the skill to movie trailers by asking which scenes reveal the main message and which are just exciting moments.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.2
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific detai...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.2
Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.2
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective...