MAR3 Central Idea

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Grade 4 Read/Write

Teacher Facing
March 4, 2025

Unit 6: Geology: The Changing Earth Part 1

MRS Icons

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Materials

Student

Teacher

● Student activity page

● Amplify Reader- Unit 7 Geology:

The Changing Earth

● Response Cards

● Slide Deck
● Amplify Reader- Unit 7 Geology:

The Changing Earth

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1. Read the sentence.

What change should be made to
the sentence?

A. Delete the comma after

Yesterday.

B. Change Tommy to tommy
C. Change run to ran
D. Change because to cause

2. Read the sentence.

What change should be made to
the sentence?

A. Change excited to excite
B. Change at to in
C. Change park to parks
D. Change catch to caught

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Do Now

Yesterday, Tommy run all the
way to school because he was
late for his morning class.

The excited puppy at the park
catch the tennis ball.

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LO:

SWBAT evaluate details read to recognize the central

idea of a text.

DOL: Given a text, students will correctly evaluate details
read to recognize the central idea of a text in at least 4 of 5
questions.

Unit 6: Geology: The Changing Earth Part 1

Ⓡ ELA 4.6G evaluate details read to determine key ideas

Ⓡ ELA 4.9D.i recognize characteristics and structures of informational text, including the central idea with supporting evidence

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central idea

(noun)

detail
(noun)

fact or idea that supports
or tells more about a key

idea or central idea

Academic Vocabulary

what the text is mostly

about

key ideas

(noun)

important ideas

throughout a work that
support the central idea,
message, theme, tone,

etc.

SWBAT develop an
understanding of the
Earth's composition

and different

geological processes

and how these
affect the Earth's
landscape and
environment.

Chapter 1: Earth's
Changing Surface

Chapter 2: Earth's
Layers and Moving

Plates

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includes details
about the central

idea

includes text and
graphic features

is organized in a

text structure

includes content-area
words that relate to

the topic

Informational

Text

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Central Idea

Key Idea

Key Idea

Key Idea

detail

detail

detail

detail

detail

detail

detail

detail

The central idea is what
the text is mostly about.

Key ideas are

important ideas that
support the central

idea.

Details support
both the central
and key ideas

You are going to read “Fossils.” While you are reading
underline words that the author repeats.

Then ask yourself - what is the author mostly saying
about the repeated word?

Fossils

Fossils form when minerals replace the original bone,
shell, or plant material over millions of years in
sedimentary rocks. Bones and shells are the most
common types of fossils. Scientists also find teeth,
feathers, eggs, and footprints preserved in stone.
Paleontologists study fossils and rock layers to learn their
age. These remains help us understand what ancient life
was like. Scientists make exciting fossil discoveries every
year.

Fossils

What is the central idea of the text “Fossils”?

Strategy: What is the author talking
about the most AND what is he saying
about it?

What is the central idea of the text “Fossils”?

A.Scientists discover many different types of fossils hidden

inside rock layers.

B.Fossils are made of different materials that turn into stone

over many years.

C.Fossils are preserved remains that help scientists

understand ancient life on Earth.

D.Paleontologists study ancient bones and shells to learn

about dinosaurs' lives.

What is the central idea of the text “Fossils”?

A.Scientists discover many different types of fossils hidden

inside rock layers.

B.Fossils are made of different materials that turn into stone

over many years.

C.Fossils are preserved remains that help scientists

understand ancient life on Earth.

D.Paleontologists study ancient bones and shells to learn

about dinosaurs' lives.

O

?

This answer is incorrect because it only talks about
fossil discovery.

This answer is incorrect because it only focuses on how
fossils form.

This answer is incorrect because fossils tell us about
many different kinds of ancient life.

This is the correct answer because it includes
both what fossils are and why they're
important.

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Chapter 2:

Earth's Layers

and Moving

Plates

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seismic wave

(noun)

theory
(noun)

basin
(noun)

Content Vocabulary

a surge of energy

traveling out from an
earthquake’s source

through the earth

a large area in the

earth that is lower than

the area around it

an explanation for

why something

happens based on

evidence

Read

Stop

Jot!

Read pg. 12-15

Stop and ask yourself:

●What is this section of the
text mostly about?

●How do the details connect
to form a key idea?

This is important!

Underline key words

or details

I don’t understand

Readers are expected to…

1

2

3

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PAGE 14

Around the time Alfred Wegener was thinking about continental drift,

scientists were studying Earth’s interior using seismic waves. How? Using
instruments called seismographs, they tracked seismic waves traveling through
the planet. Seismic waves move in slightly different ways as they move through
different materials. For instance, they travel faster through solids than liquids.
Studying seismic waves helped scientists identify Earth’s four main layers.

Strategy: Which details from the text support the key idea that
scientists learned about seismic waves? Select TWO correct answers.

Circle the key word in the question that will help you answer this
question correctly?

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Which details from the text support the key idea that scientists
learned about waves.
Select TWO correct answers.

Strategy: What is the author talking about the most? Circle it.
What is the author saying about that topic?

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Which details from the text support the key idea that scientists
learned about waves.
Select TWO correct answers.

A. Scientists learned that seismic waves move faster through solids

than liquids.

B. Scientists knew Earth had four main layers from the beginning.

C. Most scientists rejected Wegener's ideas about moving

continents.

D. Scientists used seismographs to track waves through the Earth.

E. Scientists found fossils and rock formations in different layers of

Earth's crust

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Which details from the text support the key idea that scientists
learned about waves.
Select TWO correct answers.

A. Scientists learned that seismic waves move faster through solids

than liquids.

B. Scientists knew Earth had four main layers from the beginning.

C. Most scientists rejected Wegener's ideas about moving

continents.

D. Scientists used seismographs to track waves through the Earth.

E. Scientists found fossils and rock formations in different layers of

Earth's crust

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PAGE 14 again

Earth’s deepest layer is a solid inner core of very hot metal. This metal

may be nearly as hot as the sun’s surface. The next layer, the outer core, is also
made of hot metal, but it’s liquid, not solid. The mantle surrounds the outer core.
The mantle is Earth’s largest and thickest layer and consists of very hot, very dense
rock. The rock is solid in the lower and upper parts of the mantle. In between,
however, is a region where the rock is neither liquid nor solid. Topsoil supports
plant life.
Strategy: Which details from page 14 support the key idea that Earth
has distinct layers with different properties. Select TWO correct
answers.

Circle the key word in this question that will help you answer this
question correctly?

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A.[...] scientists were studying Earth’s interior using seismic

waves.

B. Seismic waves move in slightly different ways as they move

through different materials.

C. Studying seismic waves helped scientists identify Earth’s

four main layers.

D. Earth’s deepest layer is a solid inner core of very hot metal.
E.The mantle is Earth’s largest and thickest layer and consists

of very hot, very dense rock.

Which details from page 14 support the key idea that Earth
has distinct layers with different properties.
Select TWO correct answers.

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A.[...] scientists were studying Earth’s interior using seismic

waves.

B. Seismic waves move in slightly different ways as they move

through different materials.

C. Studying seismic waves helped scientists identify Earth’s

four main layers.

D. Earth’s deepest layer is a solid inner core of very hot metal.
E.The mantle is Earth’s largest and thickest layer and consists

of very hot, very dense rock.

Which details from page 14 support the key idea that Earth
has distinct layers with different properties.
Select TWO correct answers.

Read

Stop

Jot!

Read pg. 16-19

Stop and ask yourself:

●What is this section of the
text mostly about?

●How do the details connect
to form a key idea?

This is important!

Underline key words

or details

I don’t understand

Readers are expected to…

1

2

3

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PAGE 17

The scientists concluded that mid-ocean ridges form along huge cracks in Earth’s

crust. Magma beneath the crust erupts through these cracks as lava. The lava cools into basalt,
creating new oceanic crust on either side of the rift.

As new crust is added, older crust gets pushed outward, away from the rift. Inch by

inch, year after year, oceanic crust spreads outward into ocean basins on either side of mid-
ocean ridges. Scientists called this process seafloor spreading. They theorized that as the
seafloor slowly spreads, continents bordering the ocean slowly move apart. Here was one
explanation of how continents could drift!

Scientists knew the earth wasn’t getting bigger. If new crust forms along mid-ocean

ridges, then old crust must be destroyed somewhere else. Scientists guessed that deep ocean
trenches are places where crust is sinking down into the mantle.

In the 1960s, scientists formed a new theory about how Earth’s surface changes.

They called the theory plate tectonics.

Strategy: Which details from the text support the idea that plate tectonics tell us how the
continents move? Select TWO correct answers.
Circle the key word in the question that will help you answer this question correctly.

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A.New ocean crust pushes older crust apart away from

the rift.

B.Earthquakes send seismic waves through Earth's

layers.

C.Heat and pressure from the mantle make plates move

slowly.

D.Earth has different layers from its core to its surface.
E.Different types of rocks form in ocean floor trenches.

Which details from page 17 supports the idea that plate
tectonics tell us how the continents move?
Select TWO correct answers.

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A.New ocean crust pushes older crust apart away from

the rift.

B.Earthquakes send seismic waves through Earth's

layers.

C.Heat and pressure from the mantle make plates move

slowly.

D.Earth has different layers from its core to its surface.
E.Different types of rocks form in ocean floor trenches.

Which details from page 17support the idea that plate
tectonics tell us how the continents move?
Select TWO correct answers.

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.

Moving Plates

Scientists are still learning about plate tectonics. The theory of plate tectonics
states that Earth’s crust, together with the solid top of the mantle, is broken up
into sections. These huge, rocky slabs are called tectonic plates. Tectonic plates
fit together. They aren’t fixed in place though; they can move. They move
because of heat and pressure in the mantle. As the material in the mantle slowly
moves, it exerts enormous pressure on the overlying plates. All that pressure
forces the plates to move as well—very, very slowly.

Earth’s tectonic plates have been slowly moving and interacting for
billions of years. They interact mostly along their edges, or boundaries.
Plate boundaries are where two or more tectonic plates meet.

Strategy: What is the author talking the most about AND what is it
doing?

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SCR

Look-fors in SCR responses:
❏ A complete response will provide

one of the possible responses.

❏ Evidence is accurately used to

support the response.

❏ The response and the evidence to

support it are based on the text.

1 point

2 points

What is the central idea of the text Moving Plates?

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The central idea of the text Moving Parts is that tectonic plates
play a large role in land changes by moving. In the text it states,
“

What is the central idea of the text Moving Plates?

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HOMEWORK

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HOT Question

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DOL: Given a text,
students will correctly
evaluate details read to
recognize the central
idea of a text in at least
4 of 5 questions.

RLW_3.4

When you finish your
DOL 3.4 -

IXL A1 – A3 Main Idea

10 MINUTE TIMER - COUNTDOWN TIMER (MINIMAL)

This 10-minute countdown timer is made for professional use and has some minimal sound effects in the last 5 seconds.

Demonstration of Learning