Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

Third grade is the first time that students will be working with the "main idea of a text." Before, they've only had to describe what a text is about in a handful of words (such as "how marshmallows are made" or "Superman"); now, students will have to describe it using a whole sentence (such as "The factories that make marshmallows are really clean" or "Superman is a superhero who does a lot of good"). Students will also have to connect the answers to the who/what/where/when/why/how questions to what a text's about.