CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.2

ELA7th GradeKey Ideas and Details

The Standard

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.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify at least two main messages in an informational text. They trace how the author builds each message with details across the text and write a brief, unbiased summary.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students state two distinct messages in their own words. They explain how details, examples, and sections build each message, then summarize the whole text without opinions or minor details.
Common Misconceptions: Students may name a broad topic, such as pollution, instead of stating what the author says about it. They may list details without linking them to larger ideas, or add opinions and minor facts to the summary.
How to Assess It: Give students a short article and ask: “State two main messages, give one supporting detail for each, and write a four-sentence unbiased summary.”

Lesson moves

Print an article, then have students color-code details supporting each of two main messages and arrange them from beginning to end.
Ask students to write: “What two messages does the author want readers to understand, and how does each grow across the text?”
Use a card sort where teams match evidence cards to two main-message cards, placing unrelated or minor details in a discard pile.
Read a school policy announcement, then identify its two main messages and write an unbiased summary for a student who was absent.

Free download