Title It- Main Idea

When choosing a title for a passage, it is important that it is

• off topic

• random

• reflects the main idea

Getting vitamin D is very important because it helps our bodies absorb calcium which makes us have stronger, healthier bones. That’s where the sunshine comes in! The sun is the top source of vitamin D. Everyone needs some sun exposure, but it’s important to stay safe while enjoying some rays. Read on to get some tips to help you enjoy the sunshine in safety. First of all, you don’t want to get a sunburn! The sun has ultraviolet rays (UV rays) that can pass through air and clouds to get to your skin. When your skin has been exposed to too many UV rays, you develop what most know as a sunburn. You should always wear sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher. You will want to reapply sunscreen throughout the day. Even with sunscreen on, .you want to make sure to not be in direct sunlight for too long…try to move to the shade or take a break indoors if you feel your skin burning up. Also, your skin isn’t the only thing you want to protect from the sun. Your eyes are pretty sensitive to the UV rays, so you want to find a pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes from the bright sun. Drinking water will help you stay hydrated while you enjoy some time outside. After you’ve been sweating, you lose water that your body needs. You may not even feel thirsty, but you’ll be doing your body a favor by drinking plenty of water! Get outside, enjoy being a kid, and remember these safety tips!

What would be a good title for this passage?

• Vitamin D: It's good for you!

• Sun Safety

• Get a Tan

• Calcium: Stronger Bones

In my 30 years of being a reptile expert, I have heard many kids and adults talk about their fascination for alligators and crocodiles. Many of their conversations start with, “How can you tell them apart?” Over the years, I’ve recorded some similarities and differences between the two reptiles and compiled a short fact sheet for your viewing pleasure!’ Crocodiles & Alligators • They are BOTH reptiles. • Crocodiles have a lengthier, more V-shaped, whereas alligators have a shorter and wider head that tend to be more U-shaped. • Alligators prefer freshwater to live in, while more crocodiles fancy seawater. • Both reptiles come from the same order of animals called Crocodylia. • Crocodiles that are in the wild are found all over the world, but alligators are really only found in the US and China. • Believe it or not, crocodiles are more aggressive than alligators. • Alligators and crocodiles can hold their breath for nearly an hour! -Dr. Crocalley, 2015

What could be another title for this selection?

• Crocodiles and Alligators: Whats the difference?

• Reptiles

• Agressive Gators

In the 1400’s, sailors from central Europe were hesitant to travel across sea. They were scared of all the dangerous obstacles they thought they would come across based on the unknown parts of the world. The maps actually showed these unexplored regions as dangerous and frightening places. You see, back then, cartographers, or mapmakers, didn’t know what the world was really like, so they used their imagination to create maps. First of all, they showed earth as a circle with Europe and Asia in the center. The outer part of the circle was where swamps, deserts, and the ocean, which was called the Sea of Darkness, were located. Some mapmakers even said that one-eyed people and terrible monsters lived there! Secondly, sailors were nervous about sailing in any direction at this time because they truly believed that if they sailed north, they would land on mountains made of ice. If they traveled south, they would stumble into an ocean made out of fire and boiling water. Traveling east or west, in their minds, would lead the sailors to falling off the earth, completely! However, some of their concerns were based on real obstacles. For example, the ships were made of wood and not metal as they are today. This created some problems because the ships weren’t as durable and the possibility of breaking into pieces, leaving the ship and sailors to sink. Christopher Columbus changed this way of thinking when he set sail in 1492.

Which would be a good title for this paragraph?

• The Life of a Mapmaker

• Christopher Columbus takes on Unknown Regions

• One-Eyed People and Monsters

• Fears of Early Sailors

The main idea of a non-fiction selection is

• The message or moral of the story

• the topic

• What the author wants you to know about a topic

• the subject

The topic or subject is

• 1 to 3 words

• a sentence

• the main idea

• specific

If you were to turn on the weather channel today, you’d be able to hear about how much rainfall certain states or cities have had over the past couple days, weeks, or months. Nowadays, rain gauges are used to track how much rainfall a certain area has received during a storm. But what about how much rainfall a certain area has received in the past-before rain gauges or weather records? That’s where the study of tree rings comes in. A tree’s trunk grows each year, and beneath its bark, a tree adds a new layer of wood. These layers are called annual rings. On some trees, all of the rings are the same width, but on other trees, like the ponderosa pines (found in the American Southwest), the rings have different widths. This is because the soil in the Southwest is dry. The pines depend on rainfall for water. If there was a good amount of rainfall, the rings are wider, but if the rainfall is minimal, then they form narrow ones. Scientists are able to use a special tool that allows them to remove a narrow piece of wood from the trunk without actually harming the tree. The scientists then are able to look at the width of each ring to see how much rain was accumulated in the year the ring formed. Although not as easy as using a rain gauge, this method gives scientists a look into the rainfall patterns in the past!

What would be a good title for this selection?

• Extreme Weather

• Rain Guages

• Measuring Rainfall