Benchmark

 

 

 

 

LA.A.2.4.1

 

 

Main Idea, Plot, and Author’s Purpose

 

 

 

    

Benchmark Focus

 

 

·        Determines the main idea and identifies relevant details, methods of development, and their effectiveness in a variety of types of written material.

 

 

Benchmark Clarification

 

 

 

Comprehends the main idea or essential message of text and identifies relevant supporting details and facts.

Synthesis all or parts of the main idea and/or supporting details.

Analyzes how the organizational pattern supports or develops the main idea.

 

Item Types

 

 

Multiple Choice (MC);     Short Response (SR);     Extended Response (ER)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question Stems

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions for this benchmark would look like:

 

·        What is the main idea of…?

·        Why did the author entitle this text…?

·        What details in the text support the idea that…?

·        Based on all the information given, how does each piece contribute to the idea that…?

·        How do … and…suggest the central idea that…?

·        How does the writer use… to develop this text?

 

Support your answers with relevant details, facts, statistics or other information from the text.

 

 

 

 

 

Distractors

 

 

 

 

 

Incorrect answers that would "distract" students from identifying the correct answer would include, but would not be limited to, the following:

 

·        Facts and details that do not support the main idea or essential message of the passage

·        Incorrect interpretations of the main idea, essential message or theme

·        Incorrect interpretations of the method of development(organizational pattern)

·        Incorrect relationships between the main idea and method of development(organizational pattern)

·        Incomplete summaries

·        Incorrect order or sequence

SOURCES:

1.        FCAT Reading Test Item and Performance Task Specifications, Florida DOE, January 2001

2.        FCAT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes topic sentences and thesis statements are implied rather than stated directly in informational passages.

Methods of development could include but are not limited to, chronological order,flashback, bullets,foreshadowing,main heading/subheadings,journalistic/inverted pyramid,question and answer,argument and support,comparison and contrast,cause and effect,and main idea supported by details.

 

 

Types of Text

 

 

 

·        Passages may be literary text or informational text.

·        The passages will include a main idea(stated or implied) or an essential message and relevant details or facts.

·        Informational passages particularly suitable for assessing this benchmark may include, but are not limited to, essays, editorials, and articles with graphics.

·        Authors sometimes select specific methods of development to support main idea,i.e.,to clarify or focus on solutions to a problem or to create an emotional response or to chronicle events.

 

 

Signal Words

 

 

 

·        Time Sequence- First,second,always,then,next,later,soon,before,finally,earlier,afterwards,meanwhile,eventually,next week,tomorrow

·        Comparison-Similarly,likewise,in addition,like,than,as,neither…,nor,either…,or,by comparison

·        Contrast- However, by contrast,yet,but,unlike,instesd,nevertheless,as opposed to,on the other hand

·        Cause and Effect – Since, because,thus,therefore,so due to,as a consequence,accordingly,for this reason,if…then,as a result,owing to

·        Problem/Solution – The effect,one idea,the result,another,is resolved,question

·        Descriptive – In front,behind,next to,nearest,lowest,above,below,outside,underneath,on the left,on the right,in the middle

 

 

 

 

Top Three Strategies

 

 

 

·        SQ3R/ Split Page notes

·        Anticipation Guide

·        Concept mapping

 

 

 

Additional Strategies

 

 

 

 

·        Metacognition (Q,P,C,C,E)

·        Facts Chart

·        Herringbone Technique

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SOURCES:

3.       FCAT Reading Test Item and Performance Task Specifications, Florida DOE, January 2001

4.       FCAT