The next day, we read The Biggest Christmas Tree Ever by Steven Kroll and then identified the main idea and three supporting details as a class. Since fictional texts are more challenging for little learners to identify the main idea, I asked my students to close their eyes and think deeply about what the entire story was all about. After recording their response, they shared three supporting details aloud and wrote them on their copy of the graphic organizer.
To transform the activity into a craftivity, I printed the graphic organizer onto Astrobright Green Paper, folded the sections of the tree, hole punched in the middle of the tree, and taught my students to loop their colorful straws through the tree. The students then shared their writing and then I hung their evergreen trees onto our display wall.
Click on the image below to download your free copy of the graphic organizer! Happy Teaching!!!
