The utilization of encyclopedias and the information they contain will be investigated by the students. At the end of the lesson, pupils are able to: 
- Review the process of using an encyclopedia to find information. 
- Sort the information they collect into a major theme and supporting details.

- How can literary and factual texts become meaningful to strategic readers? 
- What is the true purpose of this text? 
-How does interaction with text provoke thinking and response? 

- Research: A systematic inquiry into a subject or problem to discover, verify, or revise relevant facts or principles having to do with that subject or problem. 
- Text Features: Conventions used in texts to guide the reader and provide additional or supporting information.

- a variety of children’s multivolume encyclopedias that are at students’ reading level. Online encyclopedias may also be used, such as the following: 
www.kidsbritannica.com 
www.worldbook.com 
- a picture of an animal that may be unfamiliar to most students. (You can find examples at www.nationalgeographic.com or www.kids.nationalgeographic.com) 
- chart paper 
- markers (at least one per student) 
- Main Idea Cards (L-3-2-3_Main Idea Cards). You can use the cards provided or choose your own topics. 
- strips of chart paper 
- quick-assessment chart used in Lesson 1 
- one sticky note for each student 
- a passage from an encyclopedia for each student who is at or below his or her reading level 
- a variety of main ideas/supporting details graphic organizers

This lesson's objectives are to let students examine encyclopedias and demonstrate how to use them to locate the major topic and supporting facts. Evaluate each student's development using anecdotal notes and observation. To find out which students have achieved the objective, use the following exercise:
- Assign a topic for each pupil to research in an encyclopedia. Place a sticky note with the student's primary concept and two supporting information about his or her topic in his or her name square on the quick-assessment grid from Lesson 1. Examine the student's response to see if they comprehend the process of identifying the major theme and ancillary facts.

Explicit instruction, modeling, and active engagement
W: Show pupils how to use encyclopedias to research topics and introduce them to them.
H: Explain to the class why you are using an encyclopedia by showing them a photograph of an uncommon species and encouraging them to research it more in the guide.
E: Offer exercises that allow students to practice locating information in encyclopedias and determining the information's core idea and supporting elements.
R: Assign students to work in groups to discover the answers, then have them discuss and revise their solutions as necessary.
E: Assess each student's capacity to identify the major idea and supporting
T: Provide an example for the pupils by arranging data from an encyclopedia using a graphic organizer.
O: This lesson's learning exercises include large-group instruction and discussion, small-group inquiry, pair work, and individual application of the material.

Focus Question: What information can be found using an encyclopedia?

Present pupils with an image of an animal (such as a solenodon, platypus, kakapo, echidna, ghost frog, or dugong) that they are likely to be unfamiliar with.

Tell them you only know the animal's name and have no more knowledge of it. Ask your students, "Where can I look to learn more about this animal?"

Write down the pupils' responses on chart paper, using the following format:

Do an Internet search.
Consult your folks.
Visit a library.

Part 1

Present encyclopedias to the class. "What are the names of these novels, please?" (Encyclopedias)

"What is the purpose of the letters on the spines?" (To facilitate the identification of the subjects that start with those letters.)

Explain to them how to search the encyclopedia for the name of the uncommon animal. Describe how to obtain more information by using the index. Read the details you discovered about the animal out loud. Talk about the details that should be shared about this animal with someone. Ask, "What textual elements provide details about this animal?" (Images, descriptions, bolded text, video links, connections to further reference sources) Make brief notes about the animal on chart paper using point form. Point-form notes are notes that convey the essential points in a limited number of words. Using a bullet, you would write the following if the encyclopedia said, "Horse owners measure the height of their horses in hands."

The owners use their hands to measure height.

Talk about the "main idea" and the “supporting detail”. Write the definitions of each term on chart paper and hang the paper on the wall so that students can refer to it. Students will need to refer to the italicized words below when determining whether the information is a supporting detail or not. List the questions that the supporting details address. The document containing the information (either directly in the text or through various text features)

Main idea: This is the main theme of a passage. The main idea of a paragraph is expressed in the topic sentence.

Supporting details: Describe what, how, where, who, when, and why in order to bolster the main point. Assist students in identifying the primary concept and the specifics that provide support for the material they have acquired. Fill out the chart paper with them. Any material you wrote that is not a supporting detail should be crossed out. Students can decide what constitutes a supporting detail and what does not by using the following description as a guide. Ask, "Which question does this detail address? Does any textual feature's information provide credence to the main idea?"

Assign students to read the abstract and illustrative material for the unusual animal study. Invite students to pose inquiries regarding the primary concept and illustrative elements. Additionally, ask them to consider textual elements and explain how they can contribute to or clarify the text.

Part 2

Talk about how to choose which encyclopedia volume to utilize. Assign the pupils several themes and inquire as to which volume each one will appear in. Additionally, describe how to search for a person's name (by last name) in the encyclopedia. Make sure pupils fully grasp how to use the encyclopedia by giving them multiple examples.

Divide the class into smaller groups, then distribute a main idea card to each group. (L-3-2-3_Main Idea Cards)

Give a strip of paper and a marker to every pupil. Assign groups to research their subject in the encyclopedia. Give them a task: read the entry's opening page or section and identify the key idea (such as the habitats of giraffes) for that topic. Give the pupils a strip of paper and instruct them to write one supporting detail about their topic. To ensure that every kid can participate, you might need to pair up the students in the group.

Place the Main Idea Cards (L-3-2-3_Main Idea Cards) on the board and ask students to present their findings along with any supporting data. Raise a question: "Do you believe that each of these elements is a supporting detail for the main idea?" Talk about why or why not."

Check to determine if students are identifying pertinent details while they work by moving around the room. Take notes on who knows how to locate information in the encyclopedia and who comprehends the primary idea and supporting facts.

Talk about the reasons why encyclopedia content isn't always accurate. Talk about how knowledge gleaned from text features enhances comprehension of the subject.  Point out to pupils that since the book's publication, research may have turned up new material. Mention how encyclopedias available online might be updated more regularly than those in print. Advise pupils to confirm the credibility of internet sources. Teach students how to check the validity of an internet source by comparing information with other sources or looking at dates for graphic material in addition to the source information.

Extension:

Provide a range of main ideas and supporting details in graphic organizers to pupils who require further practice. Many websites, like the ones below, offer suggestions for creating visual organizers in various forms.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/mainsupportingideas 

Give students an encyclopedia to research, and then have them fill out a graphic organizer with the details they acquired. Urge pupils to report their findings to the class as a whole. Check to see if students were able to accurately identify the primary idea and supporting details.
When they are ready to go beyond the basics, students might also want to go over encyclopedias released in different years to see which subjects have seen substantial updates to the body of knowledge. An encyclopedia produced in the 1980s would have had very different information about computers than one released in the 2000s.