Learning Commons
In this section:- Test Resources
- Success Coaching
- About Us
- Learning Commons Awards
- Information For Faculty
- LC Frequently Asked Questions
- Meet the Staff
- Boot Camp
Tutoring
Get Help With:
- Identifying and integrating main ideas or details
- Paraphrasing main ideas or details
- Tackling difficult vocabulary
- Learning various strategies to read or listen more fluently
Reading Resources
Main Idea
The main idea expresses the central point or the most important idea and gives the paragraph focus, purpose, and direction.
- Main Idea Study Sheet provides instructions, examples, and practices on how to find the main idea in a paragraph.
- Main Idea Practice allows students to choose the sentence that expresses the correct topic sentence in each of the selections.
- Main Idea and Supporting Details is a video that assists with explaining this topic in a fun way.
Supporting Details
Supporting details are reasons, examples, facts, steps, or other kinds of evidence that back and explain the main idea.
- Supporting Details Study Sheet explains what supporting details are and how to use them.
- Supporting Details Practice 1 helps students identify supporting details in a paragraph.
- Supporting Details Practice 2 helps students identify major supporting details.
Patterns of Organization
Effective communication begins with a clearly organized set of ideas following a logical, consistent pattern.
- Patterns of Organization Study Sheet provides instructions, examples, and practices on using supporting details in paragraphs.
- Patterns of Organization Practice 2: In this practice, students choose the correct pattern of organization in each sentence.
Facts and Opinions
Facts are statements that can be verified or proven true or false; whereas, opinions cannot be verified.
- Facts and Opinions Practice 1 and Facts and Opinions Practice 2 provide statements that need to be identified as either facts, opinions, or both.
Inferences
Inferences are ideas that are not stated directly, but are implied by the content of the material.
- Inferences Study Sheet provides instructions, examples, and practices on how to identify and make accurate inferences.
Vocabulary
Paying attention to words and phrases within a sentence can help students figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words.
- Vocabulary in Context Study Sheet provides instructions, examples, and practices on using clues to figure out the meaning of the unknown.
- Vocabulary in Context Practice 1 and Vocabulary in Context Practice 2: For these practices, students use context clues to find the best meaning for each word.
- Context Clues video
External Resources
Fluency and General Reading:
Online Encyclopedias:
Online Dictionaries:
Visual Dictionaries:
Word Maps:
Learning Commons Communications Calendar