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To have students “determine the central ideas and themes of a text,” do the following:

 Ask students to generate all possible ideas and themes after skimming and scanning the text; then determine which of them the text most fully develops.

 Tell students to figure out which words, phrases, or images recur throughout the text that might signal they are the central idea?

 Have students consider what hints the title, subheadings, bold words, graphics, images, or captions offer to the central ideas.

 Complete a think-aloud with students when working with new or complex texts to model the questions you ask and mental moves you make as an experienced reader of this type of text to make sense of it.

To have students “analyze the development” of central ideas or themes, do the following:

 Direct students to underline, label, or somehow code all the words, images, or other details related to the central ideas or themes throughout the text; then examine how their use evolves over the course of the text.

 Provide students with sentence frames (“Early on the author says X about __________, then suggests Y, finally arguing Z about _________ by the end.”) or graphic organizers that help them map an idea from the beginning to the end of the text to better see how it develops (through word choice, imagery, figurative speech).

 Ask how one set of images, allusions, or ideas builds on or is otherwise related to those that precede it.

 Use a graphic organizer (e.g., one with two or more columns) to jot down the details related to each key theme, looking for patterns across the columns as you go.

 Have students monitor the author’s diction and tone as they are applied to the central idea(s) over the course of the text to note when, how, and why they change.

To have students “provide an objective summary of the text,” do the following:

 Create for (or with) your students an objectivity continuum (i.e., that goes from objective at one end to subjective at the other end, with gradations and descriptors in between); then ask them to put a word, phrase, or idea on there to measure its objectivity, taking time to discuss how they might increase objectivity by rephrasing it.

 Develop with students a continuum of importance to help them learn to evaluate which details are most important to include in a summary.

 Clarify the difference between objective and subjective by giving examples of each about a different but similar text before they attempt to write an “objective summary” of other texts.

 Have students study models of effective (and ineffective) summaries.

 Provide sentence stems typical of those used to summarize this type of text (In ______, Author X argues that _________).

To have students “determine two or more central ideas in a text,” do the following:

 Have students skim a text to get the gist and discover what ideas the text treats most seriously and thoroughly from beginning to end; then ask them to make a list of those ideas, determining by some criteria you provide or they develop those few ideas that merit scrutiny as a result of the author’s treatment throughout the text.

 Show students how to use the search function of a web browser or an ebook reader to determine (by frequency of reference, repetition of the word) how central an idea is within a text.

To have students determine main ideas in a primary or secondary source, do the following:

 Have them first determine whether it is a primary or secondary source so they can figure out the type of questions they should ask.

 Guide them through the features and context of such a text to show them how to determine the ideas and information most important to the original context in which it was written.

To help your English Language Learners, try this one thing:

 Make a point of confirming that they know the key concepts—themes, analyze, summarize, and supporting details.