SL.7.2: Main Ideas and Details in Diverse Media and Formats
In plain English: SL.7.2 is the Common Core grade 7 ELA standard that asks students to analyze the main ideas and supporting details in sources such as diagrams, maps, tables, charts, talks and podcasts, and to explain how those ideas clarify the topic, text or issue under study. It builds on SL.6.2 and prepares students for SL.8.2.
Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy · Domain: Speaking and Listening Standards · Cluster: Comprehension and Collaboration · Official standard
Students learn to find the main idea and the supporting details in a source that is not an ordinary paragraph: a diagram, a table of numbers or something spoken aloud. The main idea is the most important point a source makes; supporting details are the facts, numbers and examples that back it up. The standard names three kinds of formats, visually, quantitatively (in numbers) and orally (spoken), and asks students to explain how the ideas in each clarify, or make clearer, the topic, text or issue under study.
The class question is a real one from a geography unit: Why would a drought matter to the Panama Canal? Students analyze a side-view diagram of the canal, a table of real canal numbers and the transcript of a podcast episode written for this page, then explain how each source's main idea helps answer the question. In Independent Practice they apply the same steps on their own to an invented school water audit: a data table, a bar chart, a spoken announcement and a poster.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
State the main idea of a visual source (a diagram or poster) and name the details that support it
State the main idea of a quantitative source (a table or chart) and support it with specific numbers
Identify the main idea of an oral source by listening for what the speaker states first, repeats and stresses
Explain how the ideas from each format clarify a topic or issue under study, and what each adds that the others do not
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Interpreting information in diverse media and formats and explaining how it contributes to a topic SL.6.2
Determining a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through details RI.6.2
Reading bar graphs and tables and comparing numbers (grade 6 math)
"Think of a time you learned something from a picture, a chart or a voice, not from reading a paragraph. What was the one big point, and how did you know it was the big point?"
Collect a few answers and sort them on the board into three columns: visual (pictures, maps, diagrams), quantitative (numbers, tables, charts) and oral (spoken). Point out that students already find main ideas in paragraphs; SL.7.2 asks them to do it in every format, and to back each main idea with details.
Direct Instruction20 minutes
Part 1: Where to look for the main idea. Give students the table below. Define two words first: a format is the form information takes (a diagram, a table, a speech), and to clarify is to make something easier to understand. Stress that a detail is not the main idea just because it is a striking number.
Finding the main idea and details in each format
Format
Look for the main idea in
Look for details in
Visual (diagram, map, photo, poster)
The title, the biggest or most central shape, what the arrows or colors point to
Labels, numbers on the picture, the key or caption
Quantitative (table, chart, graph)
The overall pattern: what is biggest, what changes, what the numbers add up to
Individual values, totals, comparisons you can compute
Oral (talk, podcast, announcement)
What the speaker says first or last, repeats, pauses before or stresses
Examples, numbers and facts the speaker gives along the way
Any format
Ask: what does this source add to the question we are studying?
Ask: which details prove it?
Part 2: The issue under study. The Panama Canal, which opened on August 15, 1914, is a waterway about 82 km (51 miles) long across Panama that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Ask the class question: Why would a drought (a long time with little rain) matter to a canal between two oceans? Show Diagram 1, then Table 1. A lock is a chamber with gates at each end that raises or lowers a ship by filling or emptying it with water.
Table 1: The Panama Canal by the numbers (real figures for the original locks)
Fact
Value
Length of the canal
About 82 km (51 miles)
Height of Gatun Lake above sea level
About 26 m (85 feet)
Lock steps for one passage
6 (3 up, 3 down)
Usable size of one lock chamber
1,000 feet long, 110 feet wide
Water to fill one lock chamber
About 101,000 cubic meters (26.7 million US gallons)
Fresh water needed for one ship's passage
About 200 million liters (52 million gallons)
Average time between the outer locks (2017)
About 11.4 hours
For comparison: a pool 50 m long, 25 m wide, 2 m deep
2,500 cubic meters
Visual: the main idea of a diagram (Diagram 1)
What is the main idea of the side-view diagram, and which details support it?
Result: Main idea: to cross the canal, a ship must climb up to a lake and then back down. Details: Gatun Lake is about 26 m above sea level; the Gatun locks raise a ship in 3 steps; Pedro Miguel (1 step) and Miraflores (2 steps) lower it, so 3 + 3 = 6 steps in all; the arrows show lake water flowing down into the locks. How it clarifies the issue: the diagram shows why the canal needs lake water at all.
Quantitative: the main idea of a table (Table 1)
What main idea do the numbers in Table 1 support?
Result: Main idea: moving ships through the locks takes an enormous amount of fresh water. Details: filling one original lock chamber takes about 101,000 cubic meters, which is about 40 pools of 2,500 cubic meters each (101,000 ÷ 2,500 = 40.4); a ship's passage needs about 200 million liters. How it clarifies the issue: the numbers show the scale of the water the lake must supply.
Ask: "What do we still not know?" Students usually notice that neither source says where the lake's water comes from or what happens when it runs short. The podcast answers both.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Read the podcast transcript aloud once while students listen with the page turned over; they jot down what they think the main idea is and any words the speaker repeats. Then pairs read it together. In a transcript, [pause] marks a pause and italics mark words the speaker stressed. The host and educator are invented, but the canal facts they give are real.
1Amara (host): This is the Hollis Geography Club podcast. Our class is studying how goods move around the world, and today's question sounds strange: why would a drought matter to a canal that connects two oceans? Our guest is Mr. Reyes, an educator at a maritime museum.
2Mr. Reyes: It does sound strange, because the Panama Canal has ocean on both ends, the Atlantic on one side and the Pacific on the other. But here's the key idea, and I'll come back to it: the canal runs on fresh water from a lake, and that lake is filled by rain.
3Amara: How does a lake fit into a canal?
4Mr. Reyes: The middle of the canal is Gatun Lake, which was made by building a dam across the Chagres River. The lake sits about 26 meters above sea level. So a ship can't just sail straight across. It has to climb up to the lake and then climb back down on the other side.
5Amara: How does a ship climb?
6Mr. Reyes: In locks. A lock is a huge concrete chamber with gates at each end. The ship moves in, the gates close, and water flows in from above until the ship floats up to the next level. In the original locks, a ship goes up three steps and down three steps. And here's the part people miss: [pause] no pumps. The water moves by gravity, from the lake down through the locks and on toward the sea.
7Amara: So every ship uses up some of the lake.
8Mr. Reyes: Every single one. Filling just one of the original lock chambers takes about 101,000 cubic meters of water. Picture about forty big swimming pools, each 50 meters long, 25 meters wide and 2 meters deep. And that water does not flow back up into the lake.
9Amara: And when it doesn't rain?
10Mr. Reyes: Then the lake drops. Panama has a dry season every year, and the lake runs lower then. In 2019 a drought pushed Gatun Lake to historic lows. The lake is also the main source of drinking water for Panama City, so the canal isn't the only thing that needs it. [pause] So remember the key idea: a canal between two oceans depends on rain.
11Amara: That's Mr. Reyes. Next week: how a port loads a container ship.
Written for this page (the podcast, host and museum educator are invented; the canal facts are real), Transcript 1: The Canal That Runs on Rain (a school podcast episode). Original passage written for this page.
Oral: finding the main idea by listening (Transcript 1, paragraphs 2 and 10)
How can a listener tell which of Mr. Reyes's sentences states his main idea?
Result: He announces it ("here's the key idea, and I'll come back to it"), states it early in paragraph 2, and repeats it at the end in paragraph 10 with a pause and stressed words: "a canal between two oceans depends on rain." Speakers signal a main idea by stating it first or last, repeating it, pausing before it and stressing it.
Oral: supporting details (Transcript 1, paragraphs 6, 8 and 10)
Which details in the podcast support the main idea, and which of them do the diagram and table not give?
Result: Details: the water moves by gravity with "no pumps" (paragraph 6); one chamber takes about 101,000 cubic meters (paragraph 8); Panama has a dry season, and a 2019 drought pushed the lake to historic lows (paragraph 10). The dry season, the 2019 drought and the lake's role as Panama City's drinking water appear only in the podcast.
Putting the formats together: how the ideas clarify the issue
How do the three sources, together, answer "Why would a drought matter to the Panama Canal?"
Result: The diagram shows that ships must be lifted up to a lake; the table shows how much water each lift uses; the podcast connects the lake to rain and gives a real drought. Together: less rain means a lower lake, and a lower lake means less water to move ships. Each format clarifies a different link in the chain.
Debrief: compare the main idea students heard with the one they found in print. Did anyone take a striking number, such as 101,000 cubic meters, for the main idea? Talk through why it is a detail: it supports the point about how much water the locks use, but it does not answer the question on its own.
Independent Practice15-20 minutes
Students work alone on a new, invented issue: a water audit (a careful check of where water is used or wasted) at Hollis Middle School. They study four sources: Table 2 (the audit data), Diagram 2 (a bar chart of the same data), the transcript of a morning announcement, and a description of the poster the classes made. Then they answer quiz questions 1-10 about these sources and questions 11-20 about new situations. One liter is 1,000 milliliters (mL), and a day has 144 ten-minute periods (24 × 6).
Table 2: Hollis Middle School water audit, water collected from each dripping faucet in 10 minutes (invented data)
Faucet
Water collected in 10 minutes (mL)
Gym locker room sink
62
Science lab sink 3
38
Cafeteria kitchen sink
90
Art room sink
25
Staff lounge sink
12
Restroom sink, 2nd floor
47
Total, all six faucets
274
1Ms. Greer: Good morning, Hollis. I'm Ms. Greer from the district facilities office. Last week Ms. Kim's seventh-grade math classes did a water audit: they held a measuring cup under every dripping faucet in the building for ten minutes. They found six drips. Here is what I want you to know: [pause] small drips add up.
2None of those faucets looked like a big problem. The smallest one dripped only 12 milliliters in ten minutes. That's less than a tablespoon. But a faucet drips all day and all night. Added up, the six faucets waste about forty liters of water every day.
3The worst one is the cafeteria kitchen sink. It wastes about thirteen liters a day by itself, about a third of the total. So that's the one my crew will fix first, this Wednesday. Most of these repairs are simple: we replace a worn washer, a small rubber ring inside the faucet.
4Now here's where you come in. If you see a faucet dripping, report it. Tell the front office, or tell any teacher. [pause] Please, report it. We can't fix a drip we don't know about.
5Thank you to Ms. Kim's classes for finding these. Their poster is up by the cafeteria. Have a good day.
Written for this page (the school, speaker and audit are invented), Transcript 2: Morning Announcement About the Water Audit. Original passage written for this page.
1The poster hangs on the wall next to the cafeteria doors and is about as tall as a seventh grader. Across the top, in large blue capital letters, is the headline EVERY DROP COUNTS.
2Under the headline is a drawing of a single water drop. Inside the drop are the words "12 mL in 10 minutes: our smallest drip." An arrow runs from the drop to a row of twenty drawn two-liter bottles, labeled "All 6 drips together: about 40 liters a day."
3Near the bottom is a small bar chart that ranks the six faucets from most to least water wasted. The kitchen sink's bar is colored red; the others are gray. The last line, in smaller print, says: "See a drip? Tell the front office."
Written for this page (the poster and school are invented), Media Description: The Every Drop Counts Poster. Original passage written for this page.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: "Name one idea the announcement gave you about the water audit that Table 2 could not, and one idea the bar chart made clearer than the table." Read a few aloud and point out how each format answers a different part of the question.
Teacher note. The Panama Canal facts come from published figures for the canal's original locks (a newer, larger set of locks opened in 2016 and works somewhat differently). The podcast host, the museum educator, Hollis Middle School, its audit, announcement and poster are invented for teaching, and each source says so.
Homework. Tonight students collect a visual, a quantitative and an oral source about a topic from another class, find each one's main idea and details, and explain how each clarifies the topic. Show them the directions and the rubric before they leave.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give students the "where to look" table as a card and have them fill in a three-box organizer (main idea, detail, detail) for each source
Read the podcast aloud twice, and on the second reading have students raise a hand at each repeated or stressed phrase
Pre-teach the key words (format, clarify, lock, drought, audit, milliliter) with a quick sketch or example for each
For Advanced Students
Write a one-sentence main idea for each source that uses no numbers at all, then list the three numbers that best support it
Explain which of the three canal sources would matter most to a ship captain, and which to a family in Panama City
Design a poster like the one in Independent Practice for the canal sources, and explain which main idea it makes clearest
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Strong work states each source's main idea as a complete sentence that answers "what is the point?", not as a topic ("the canal") or a single number ("101,000"). It backs the main idea with two or more specific details from that source, and it explains what the source adds to the question being studied. Watch for students who copy the most striking detail as the main idea, who repeat the same idea for every source without noticing what each adds, and who ignore spoken cues such as repetition and stress. In written items, look for correct computations, details that really come from the named source, and an explanation that links the idea back to the issue.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Main Idea or Detail? Card Sort
12 minPairs
Pairs sort 12 cards from the three canal sources into three main ideas, each with the three details that support it. Every card names its format.
The 12 Cards
Visual: "Ships must climb up to a lake and back down to cross the canal"
Visual: "Gatun Lake is about 26 m above sea level"
Visual: "The Gatun locks raise ships in 3 steps"
Visual: "The Miraflores locks lower ships in 2 steps"
Quantitative: "Moving ships through the locks takes an enormous amount of fresh water"
Quantitative: "About 101,000 cubic meters to fill one chamber"
Quantitative: "About 40 pools of 2,500 cubic meters"
Quantitative: "About 200 million liters for one ship's passage"
Oral: "The canal depends on rain"
Oral: "Gatun Lake is filled by rain"
Oral: "Panama has a dry season, and the lake runs lower then"
Oral: "A 2019 drought pushed the lake to historic lows"
Procedure
Pairs first pull out the three cards they think are main ideas, then place three details under each. For each detail, one partner says aloud how it supports the main idea above it. Check answers against the worked examples.
Discussion Questions
Which card was hardest to place? Why could it look like a main idea?
Could any detail support more than one main idea? Which one, and why?
2
Listen First, Then Read
15 minGroups of 3
One student reads the podcast transcript aloud while the other two listen without the text, taking notes on a three-column sheet: main idea, details and cues. Then the group compares the notes with the printed transcript.
Procedure
The reader practices once silently, then reads Transcript 1 aloud, pausing at each [pause] and stressing the words in italics
Listeners write the main idea in one sentence, at least three details, and every cue they hear (a repeated phrase, a pause, a stressed word)
The group opens the transcript and checks: did the listeners find the same main idea? Which details did they miss?
Switch readers and repeat with the announcement in Independent Practice if time allows
Discussion Questions
Which cue helped you most to find the main idea by ear?
What does a spoken source make easier to notice than a printed one, and what does it make harder?
Variation for Online Classes
The reader records the transcript as a short audio file, and listeners post their three columns in a shared document before opening the text.
3
How Each Source Clarifies the Issue
15 minWhole class (teacher-led), then pairs
The class builds a three-column chart (format, main idea, what it clarifies), then pairs write a paragraph answering the class question with an idea from every format.
Build the Chart (7 minutes)
The teacher draws three columns on chart paper. For each source, one volunteer states the main idea and another says what part of the question it clarifies. The class agrees on the wording before the teacher writes it down.
Write (8 minutes)
Pairs answer "Why would a drought matter to the Panama Canal?" in four or five sentences, using one main idea and one supporting detail from each format and naming the source of each.
Discussion Questions
Which source could you drop and still answer the question? Which one could you not do without?
What question about the canal do these three sources still leave open?
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: A Side View of the Panama Canal
A side view of the original canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Heights are to scale: Gatun Lake sits about 26 m above sea level, Pedro Miguel lowers ships about 9.5 m to Miraflores Lake (about 16.5 m), and Miraflores lowers them the last 16.5 m in two steps. Lengths are not to scale, and the steps within each set of locks are drawn equal. The arrows show lake water flowing down into the locks by gravity.
Diagram 2: The Water Audit as a Bar Chart
An invented bar chart of the Hollis Middle School water audit, drawn to scale from Table 2 in Independent Practice. Each bar shows how many liters a day one dripping faucet wastes, found by multiplying the milliliters collected in 10 minutes by 144 and dividing by 1,000.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
SL.7.2 Homework: Three Formats, One Topic
Directions: Choose a topic you are studying in another class (for example, a science, history or health topic). Find one visual source, one quantitative source and one oral source about it; for the oral source you may use a video, a podcast, a news report or a short interview with an adult. Write the title and where you found each source. Answer in complete sentences.
Part 1: Analyze Each Source (Problems 1-3)
Visual source (a map, diagram, photo, poster or infographic): state its main idea in one sentence and list two details from the source that support it.
Quantitative source (a table, chart or graph): state its main idea in one sentence and support it with two specific numbers from the source, including one comparison or total you compute yourself.
Oral source: state the speaker's main idea in one sentence, list two supporting details, and describe one cue (a repeated phrase, a pause, a stressed word or the first or last thing said) that helped you find the main idea.
Part 2: Explain How the Ideas Clarify (Problems 4-6)
For each of your three sources, write one sentence explaining how its main idea clarifies your topic and what it adds that the other two sources do not.
A class is studying the question "Should our school hold a walk-to-school day?" A survey of 200 students (invented) shows how they get to school: car 96, bus 58, walk 30, bike 16. Write the main idea of this data in one sentence, give two supporting details (one should be a percent), and explain one way the data clarifies the question.
Write a short paragraph (four or five sentences) that answers a question about your topic, using at least one idea from each of your three formats and naming the source of each.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Main Ideas
Each main idea is a complete sentence that states the source's point, not a topic or a single number
Some main ideas are topics or details
Main ideas missing
Supporting Details
Two accurate details per source, including a correct computed comparison and an oral cue
Details vague, inaccurate or not from the named source
No details
How the Ideas Clarify
Clear explanations of what each source adds to the topic and question
Explanations repeat the main idea without linking it to the topic
Missing
Survey and Paragraph
Correct main idea, percent and link in Problem 5; a paragraph that uses all three formats
Minor errors or one format missing
Missing
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 1-10 are about the Hollis Middle School water audit in the Independent Practice phase of the lesson plan: Table 2, Diagram 2, the announcement (Transcript 2) and the poster description. Questions 11-20 ask you to use the standard in new situations. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything so you or your students can try again.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Using Table 2, about how many liters does the gym locker room sink waste in 30 days?
Answer: C
The sink drips 62 mL every 10 minutes, and a day has 144 ten-minute periods: 62 × 144 = 8,928 mL, or about 8.9 liters a day, so 30 days is 8.928 × 30 ≈ 268 liters. Choice A multiplies by 24 (hours) instead of 144 (ten-minute periods): 62 × 24 × 30 = 44,640 mL, about 45 liters. Choice B is the amount for one day, not 30. Choice D uses 100 mL in a liter instead of 1,000 (267,840 ÷ 100).
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence states the main idea of Diagram 2, the bar chart?
Answer: B
The chart's overall pattern is the spread of the bars and the one that is longest: the kitchen sink's bar reaches almost 13 liters, while the staff lounge bar is under 2. That is the main idea. Choices A and D are single details read from one bar each. Choice C goes beyond the source: the audit covers only the six dripping faucets, and the announcement says most repairs are a simple washer.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Using Table 2, about how much water do all six faucets waste in one week?
Answer: C
All six drip 274 mL in 10 minutes. Per day: 274 × 144 = 39,456 mL, or about 39.5 liters; per week: 39.456 × 7 ≈ 276 liters. Choice A multiplies 274 mL by 7 but forgets the 144 ten-minute periods in a day (1,918 mL is about 2 liters). Choice B is the daily amount, not the weekly one. Choice D multiplies 274 by 7 and calls the milliliters liters.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
What does Diagram 2 show more clearly than Table 2?
Answer: D
Bar lengths let a reader compare the six faucets instantly: the longest and shortest bars stand out without any reading of numbers. Choice A is what the table shows better, since the chart has no exact labels. Choice B comes from the announcement (Wednesday), not from either data source. Choice C appears in no source; the audit measured each faucet only once.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
What is Ms. Greer's main idea in Transcript 2?
Answer: A
She announces it ("Here is what I want you to know"), pauses and states it in paragraph 1: "small drips add up." Paragraph 2 then supports it. Choices B and C are details from paragraph 3 about the repairs. Choice D is from her closing thanks in paragraph 5.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which detail from the announcement best supports Ms. Greer's main idea?
Answer: B
Choice B shows small drips adding up: a tiny amount from one faucet becomes about 40 liters a day from six (paragraph 2). Choice A explains who did the audit but does not show drips adding up. Choice C is her request to students, a second point, not support for the first. Choice D tells where to find the poster.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 4, Ms. Greer says "report it" twice, stresses it and pauses before the second time. What does this oral cue tell a listener?
Answer: C
Repeating and stressing a phrase is how a speaker marks what matters most to her. Here it marks the action she wants: "We can't fix a drip we don't know about." Choice A mistakes a deliberate repetition for a slip. Choice B reverses the cue: stress makes the request stand out. Choice D is wrong because paragraph 5 still follows.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The poster shows twenty two-liter bottles labeled "All 6 drips together: about 40 liters a day." How does this picture clarify the audit?
Answer: A
Twenty two-liter bottles hold 20 × 2 = 40 liters, close to the 39.5 liters a day computed from Table 2, so the picture makes a large number concrete. Choice B misreads the bottles as a unit of measurement. Choice C is false: the kitchen sink wastes about 13 of about 39.5 liters, about a third. Choice D describes Table 2, not the poster.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why does the poster put the smallest drip, "12 mL in 10 minutes," inside the big water drop?
Answer: D
The arrow runs from the smallest drip to the row of bottles showing the total, so the poster's design makes the same point as the announcement: small drips add up. Choice A is wrong because the kitchen sink is fixed first. Choice B reverses the poster's message. Choice C is wrong because the drop names only one faucet; the bar chart at the bottom shows the six.
Question 10 of 20 · Short Answer
Using at least one idea from Table 2 or Diagram 2, one from the announcement and one from the poster, explain in three or four sentences how the sources together clarify the issue: "Is fixing the drips worth it, and which faucet should be fixed first?"
Model answer: Table 2 shows that the six faucets drip 274 mL every 10 minutes, which is about 39.5 liters a day (274 × 144 ÷ 1,000), so the drips are worth fixing. The bar chart makes it clear that the cafeteria kitchen sink wastes the most, and the announcement confirms the crew will fix it first, since it is about a third of the total. The poster clarifies the size of the problem by showing the daily total as twenty two-liter bottles, and it adds what students can do: tell the front office. Rubric: full credit for correct ideas from all three kinds of sources, each named, and a clear answer to both parts of the question; partial credit if one source is missing or a number is wrong; no credit for an answer with no sources.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A bar graph (invented) shows the number of books checked out from a school library: September 310, October 285, November 240, December 190. Which is the graph's main idea?
Answer: B
The overall pattern is a steady drop: 310, 285, 240, 190, so each month is lower than the one before. Choice A is one detail. Choice C predicts a month the graph does not show. Choice D is not about the data at all; the graph counts checkouts, not books owned.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
An invented map of the town of Millbrook shows all five bike lanes on the east side of the river and none on the west side, where two of the town's schools are. What is the map's main idea?
Answer: D
The map's point is the gap it shows: the bike lanes are all on one side, and the side without them has two schools. Choices A, B and C are each true details, but none of them states the point the map makes by putting them together.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In an invented speech to the student council, Kai says: "The music room sits empty from 12:00 to 12:40 every day. Last month, 47 students signed a sheet asking to practice there at lunch. We already have a teacher who will supervise. So I'll say it plainly: the music room should open at lunch." What is Kai's main idea?
Answer: A
Kai signals the main idea at the end ("So I'll say it plainly") and the other sentences support it. Choices B, C and D are the three supporting details: the demand, the supervision and the empty time (12:40 - 12:00 = 40 minutes).
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The main idea of an invented report is "The town pool is busiest on hot afternoons." Which detail supports it best?
Answer: C
Choice C gives numbers that compare hot and cooler days, and 410 is more than 2.5 times 150. Choices A and B are facts about the pool that say nothing about when it is busy. Choice D is vague and does not mention heat or afternoons.
Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A class is reading a novel (invented) about a farm family during a dry summer. The teacher shows a bar chart: the town's normal July rainfall is 4 inches, and that year's July rainfall was 0.5 inches. How does the chart clarify the novel?
Answer: B
The chart shows July rain at 0.5 of the normal 4 inches, one-eighth of normal, so readers can see why the characters are worried. That is explaining how an idea clarifies a text under study. Choice A is about the author, which the chart does not show. Choice C contradicts the chart, since 4 inches is normal. Choice D goes beyond the source.
Question 16 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A speaker is giving a talk about a science fair project. Which sentence most clearly signals that she is about to state her main idea?
Answer: C
A speaker who announces "the one thing I want you to remember" is telling listeners that the main idea comes next, a spoken cue like repetition or stress. Choice A introduces a story, which may be a detail or a joke. Choice B is a detail about the project. Choice D is a closing courtesy.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
An invented table shows attendance at the after-school homework club: Week 1, 14 students; Week 2, 19; Week 3, 23; Week 4, 30. The club's room holds 24 students. Write the main idea of the data, give two supporting details (one should be a computation), and explain how the data clarifies the issue "Does the club need a bigger room?"
Model answer: Main idea: attendance grew every week and is now more than the room holds. Details: attendance more than doubled, from 14 to 30 (30 ÷ 14 ≈ 2.1); in Week 4, 30 students came to a room for 24, which is 6 too many. The data clarifies the issue because it shows the problem is real and growing, so a bigger room is needed now, not later. Rubric: full credit for a main idea that states the trend and the space problem, two accurate details with one correct computation, and a link to the issue; partial credit for a main idea that is only a number or a missing computation; no credit for an answer that does not use the data.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
An invented principal's announcement says: "Our new bus loop opens Monday. Buses will now stop behind the gym, not in front. Parents dropping off students should use the front circle only. Let me say that again: buses behind the gym, cars in front." State the main idea, list two supporting details, and name the oral cue that helps a listener find the main idea.
Model answer: Main idea: starting Monday, buses and cars use different drop-off areas, buses behind the gym and cars in front. Details: the new bus loop opens Monday; parents must use the front circle only. Cue: the principal repeats the key point ("Let me say that again") and restates it in short words at the end. Rubric: full credit for a main idea that covers the change, two accurate details and a correctly named cue; partial credit for a main idea stated as only one detail or a missing cue; no credit for an unrelated answer.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
For the question "Where in our school do students lose the most belongings?", which format would clarify the question best: a map, a table or an interview? Explain your choice in two or three sentences and give an example of a main idea that source might show.
Model answer: A map would clarify it best, because the question is about where. A map of the school marked with a dot for each lost item would show at once where the dots cluster, for example "Most lost items are left in the gym and the cafeteria." A table of counts could support it with numbers, and an interview with the office staff could add why. Rubric: full credit for a reasoned choice tied to what the question asks, and a plausible main idea stated as a sentence; partial credit for a choice with a weak reason or no example; no credit for no choice.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
A classmate says, "The poster is just decoration. Table 2 has all the real information." Write two or three sentences explaining what the poster adds that the table does not, using details from both.
Model answer: Table 2 gives exact milliliters for each faucet, but it does not say what the numbers mean or what to do about them. The poster turns the total into something you can picture, twenty two-liter bottles for about 40 liters a day, and puts the smallest drip (12 mL) next to that total to show that small drips add up. It also tells students what to do: "See a drip? Tell the front office." Rubric: full credit for at least one accurate detail from each source and a clear statement of what the poster adds; partial credit if one source is missing; no credit for agreeing that the poster adds nothing.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does SL.7.2 mean?
SL.7.2 means that seventh graders can find the main idea and supporting details in sources that are seen, counted or heard, such as diagrams, tables, charts and spoken talks, and explain how those ideas help them understand what the class is studying. "SL" stands for Speaking and Listening, and the "2" marks the second standard in that strand.
How is SL.7.2 different from SL.6.2?
Grade 7 asks for analysis of main ideas and details, not only interpretation of information. In SL.6.2, students interpret information in different formats and explain how it contributes to a topic. In SL.7.2, they must separate the main idea from its supporting details in each source and explain how the ideas clarify the topic, text or issue under study.
What is the difference between a main idea and a supporting detail?
The main idea is the source's most important point; a supporting detail is a fact, number or example that backs it up. A quick test: a main idea answers "What is the point?", while a detail answers "How do you know?" In a table or chart, a single striking number is almost always a detail, even when it is the biggest number on the page.
How do you find the main idea in something spoken?
Listen for what the speaker states first or last, repeats, pauses before or stresses. Speakers often announce it, with a phrase like "here's the key idea." In a written transcript, stage notes such as [pause] and italics for stressed words help readers hear those cues on the page.
What counts as "diverse media and formats" in SL.7.2?
The standard's own examples are information presented visually, quantitatively and orally. Visual sources include maps, diagrams, photos, posters and infographics; quantitative sources include tables, charts and graphs; oral sources include talks, podcasts, interviews, announcements and the spoken part of a video.
Why does this SL.7.2 lesson use transcripts instead of audio?
A transcript lets every student reread, quote and cite the exact words, and the stage notes keep the spoken cues visible. Teachers can still make the practice oral: in Activity 2 one student reads the podcast aloud while the others listen without the text and take notes, then everyone checks the notes against the transcript.
Are the Panama Canal facts in this lesson real?
Yes. The canal's length, the height of Gatun Lake, the six lock steps, the chamber size, the water to fill a chamber and the 2019 drought are published facts about the canal's original locks. The podcast's host and guest are invented, and so is everything about Hollis Middle School's water audit; each source says so.
What does "clarify a topic, text, or issue" mean for students?
It means explaining what a source makes easier to understand about the question being studied. A good explanation names the part of the question the source helps answer and what it adds that other sources do not, for example "The diagram shows why the canal needs lake water at all, which the table's numbers do not explain."
How can parents practice this at home?
Use everyday sources. After a weather report, a sports graphic or a news clip, ask two questions: "What was the main point?" and "What proved it?" Then ask what the source added that a written article would not. Short, regular practice with real sources helps more than long worksheets.
What comes after SL.7.2?
SL.8.2 comes next. In grade 8, students analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats and evaluate the motives behind its presentation, such as social, commercial or political motives. In high school, SL.9-10.2 asks students to integrate multiple sources and evaluate the credibility and accuracy of each.
07
Related Standards
6 standards
These standards connect to SL.7.2: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
SL.6.2Prerequisite
Interpret information in diverse media and explain how it contributes to a topic
