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A little about me and the purpose of this blog. I am a licensed high school teacher (Language Arts 6 - 12) in the state of Tennessee going on 13 years now.  I have 7 children and drive a school bus.  Love me or hate me, none of my students will tell you that I am a typical school teacher.  I, like many, believe that education is woefully equipped to keep pace with technology.  As a technology enthusiast and educator publishing on a crypto website, I am trying to do my small part to bridge this gap for as many people as I can.  Recently, the development of AI has created an accelerated urgency for education to take its head out of the sand and teach relevant skills in the classroom.  The resources, lessons, and philosophy I publish here, I use in my own classroom, and anyone (especially homeschoolers) can use this blog as a resource to supplement their own instruction.  If you are new to my blog, I suggest starting at the beginning as I will be structuring my lessons here the same way I would for my classroom.  Tips are appreciated.  Questions and feedback in the comments are welcome. So if you are a teacher, student, or homeschooler that is motivated to learn about, teach, or utilize all available technology in education (or know someone who is), I encourage you to give me a follow:  https://x.com/TheRealMrE09

And to view  my entire blog:  //https://www.publish0x.com/education-and-ai-resources-and-instruction

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English Lesson 4:  Using AI to Master Main Idea Questions

Reading Informational Text (RI) 11-12.RI.KID.3

Reading Informational Text (RI) 11-12.RI.KID.2

There is a very good strategy in choosing which questions to answer and when on the ACT Language Arts section

There are two types of questions on the ACT Language Arts Exam:  short and long.  Short questions ask about punctuation, word choice, or phrasing.  They have no directions over them; they are simply asking how/if a numbered underline portion of a sentence from the passage should be modified.  These questions should be answered FIRST.

The other type of question is considered a “long question.”  It has special directions over the top of the multiple choices that asks for a certain Idea or Job concerning a sentence, paragraph, or the essay as a whole.  These questions should be answered LAST at the end of the test with any time remaining after all of the short questions are answered.  When taking the test, every time you come across a “long” question, bookmark it, click A or F, and move along until the end.  The reason for this strategy is because the long questions take a long time to answer.  Most students who take the test linearly (or go from 1 to 75 in sequential order) run out of time, and they leave many of the easier short questions unanswered.

I CANNOT stress the importance of the above paragraph.  Read it again! Read it three times if you have to.  I say this to my students at least once a day.  Every student that I have that does poorly on their first take of the ACT does so because they didn’t finish in time; oftentimes, they fall short by as many as 10-15 questions :(  These long questions can be answered, but they simply take too long for most students to get them all.  If there are any questions that a student runs out of time on, it needs to be these.

Of the long questions, there are 3 types:  Main Idea, Specific Job, and Sequencing.

This article will cover Main Idea Questions.

There are 3 primary ways that the ACT will ask about the Main Idea; they are as follows:

1. Author's Purpose would ask something like "suppose the author's goal had been to write <insert subject>. Would this paragraph/sentence accomplish that goal?
2. Adding/Deleting would ask "The author is considering adding/deleting the following statement ____________. Should the statement be kept or deleted?
3. The final type of main idea question will ask "The author is considering deleting the preceding sentence ______ What would the paragraph primarily lose?"

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Example passage:

Renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, are increasingly being recognized as vital alternatives to fossil fuels. These sources are considered renewable because they are naturally replenished and have a minimal environmental impact compared to traditional energy sources. Solar energy, for instance, harnesses the power of the sun through photovoltaic cells, converting sunlight directly into electricity. Wind energy utilizes turbines to capture the kinetic energy of moving air, while hydroelectric power generates electricity by harnessing the energy of flowing water. The adoption of renewable energy offers numerous benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, decreased reliance on finite fossil fuel reserves, and the potential for energy independence. However, the transition to renewable energy is not without challenges. Intermittency, or the fact that renewable sources like solar and wind are not always available, poses a significant hurdle. Additionally, the initial costs of installing renewable energy infrastructure can be prohibitively high, although these costs are decreasing over time. Government policies, such as tax incentives and subsidies, play a crucial role in promoting the adoption of renewable energy by making it more economically viable for both individuals and businesses.

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The first type of question is simply asking if you understand the main idea of the entire passage.  The main idea on informational ACT passages is normally either contained in the title or stated plainly in the first few sentences.  If the paragraph or sentence in question is relevant to the entire passage, it should be kept.  If it is going down a rabbit hole and completely separated from the main idea contained in the title or first few sentences, then the answer is to remove it.  Also, the appropriate yes or no must be accompanied by the correct explanation.  The correct explanation will say to keep or remove because of its relevance to the correct main idea.  

Examples of “Long” Main Idea Questions: 

Question 1: Author’s Purpose Question

 Suppose the author's goal had been to persuade readers to invest in renewable energy technologies. Would this passage accomplish that goal?

1. Yes, because it highlights the environmental and economic benefits of renewable energy.
2. Yes, because it provides detailed technical explanations of how renewable energy sources work.
3. No, because it focuses more on describing renewable energy sources than on persuading readers to invest.
4. No, because it does not address the potential risks associated with renewable energy investments.

(The answer here is C because it restates the actual main idea and points out that investing is not the main idea.  The answer is not D because the main idea is not restated; it is simply a criticism of something the article did not do)

Author’s goal = main idea.  This example question is just another way of asking:  Is the main idea of the article about investing in renewable energy?  Answer:  No.  It's about describing types of renewable energy.

Question 2: Adding/Deleting Question 

The author is considering deleting the following sentence: "Additionally, the initial costs of installing renewable energy infrastructure can be prohibitively high, although these costs are decreasing over time." Should this sentence be kept or deleted?

1. Kept, because it provides a balanced view by acknowledging a challenge associated with renewable energy.
2. Kept, because it introduces a counterargument that strengthens the author's position.
3. Deleted, because it undermines the main idea that renewable energy is beneficial.
4. Deleted, because it is not relevant to the discussion of renewable energy sources.

(The answer here is A because the sentence is relevant to the overall paragraph being surrounded by other sentences that address the current difficulties of renewable energy.  The answer is not B because this article is not making an argument; it is illustrating two sides of a subject without judgement.)

Keep = This sentence is similar to others around it and relevant to the main idea.  It does not introduce a new topic or frivolous detail.

Delete = This sentence is a red-headed step child.  It resembles nothing around it, and comes in suddenly out of nowhere.

1. Question 3: "What would the paragraph lose?"

The author is considering deleting the following sentence: "Government policies, such as tax incentives and subsidies, play a crucial role in promoting the adoption of renewable energy by making it more economically viable for both individuals and businesses." What would the passage primarily lose if this sentence were deleted?

1. An explanation of how renewable energy sources work.
2. A discussion of the environmental benefits of renewable energy.
3. An illustration of the role of government in supporting renewable energy adoption.
4. A comparison between different types of renewable energy sources.

(The answer is C because that is the only accurate description of the quote which I have underlined.  All other answers in no way describe the underlined quote)

I absolutely detest the way that these questions are worded.  If ACT had called me before they decided to write these godawful questions, I would have told them to reword it or scrap it, but (alas) no such phone call was made.

What would the passage primarily LOSE? = What does this sentence actually DO.

It is much more difficult to think in the negative than it is in the positive, so I encourage you to memorize my little rhyme above.  

With the quote in question underlined and with me asking, “what does that underlined sentence DO?” or “what does it mean?” the correct answer becomes glaringly obvious.

A final note:  This type of question does not require rereading or even initially reading the article in order to answer correctly.  If you can immediately identify it for what it is, it will save you a great deal of time.

With a little practice these questions will become easier and easier, but I want to stress one more time that these “long questions” should be your last priority.  Here is the AI prompt to create multiple practice questions.  This prompt is long and complicated.  I highly recommend that you dedicate an entire conversation with your AI dedicated solely to this type of problem.  I had to rewrite this prompt many times in order to achieve a satisfactory result.  Also, I had to use Grok’s Deep Think in order to get exactly what I wanted.  If you do not have access to Deep Think or a similarly powerful AI tool, you may have to tweak the results yourself by hand before giving them to students.  It takes a few steps before you can begin producing practice questions.  They are as follows:  

• I am preparing practice questions for the ACT. I need to explain a type of question to you and then have you create several examples of those questions for students to practice. Do you understand?

• The type of question is called a Main Idea Question of which there are three types. After reading a paragraph, the ACT will ask a question related to the author's purpose, adding/deleting, or "what would the paragraph lose?". Author's Purpose would say something like "suppose the author's goal had been to write <insert subject>. Would this paragraph accomplish that goal? The student would then be given 4 multiple options: 2 yes and 2 no along with accompanying reasonings. Only one would be correct. Adding/Deleting would ask "The author is considering adding/deleting the following statement ____________. Should the statement be kept or deleted? They will then be given 4 options: 2 yes and 2 no along with an explanation. The correct answer will either add a sentence that is in line with the main idea or delete a sentence that is not relevant to the main idea. The final type of main idea question will ask "The author is considering deleting the preceding sentence ______ What would the paragraph primarily lose?" The student will then be given 4 multiple choice options. The correct answer will be an accurate description of the sentence that has been identified. These are the three types of main idea questions. Create a lengthy paragraph and an example of each type of question so that I can see that you understand what I want you to do.

At this point check the result, and the logic behind the correct answers very carefully.  If they are sound, then continue on.  I currently use Grok for all of my work, and this prompt generated exactly what I wanted (after rewriting it several times), but each AI is different, so check carefully if you are using another.  

After it produces a correct result, and you have checked that the logic is sound, use this prompt to produce practice questions.

• Now create a large passage with 3 accompanying questions (one of each type) so that my students can practice.  Do not provide the correct answer or an explanation until asked to do so.

Again, check the result carefully and make any modifications necessary.  Once finished, type in the final prompt to lock in the AI’s understanding of its function.

• Perfect. This entire conversation will be dedicated to creating this type of question for my students to practice. I want you to solidify what you have created above as a Main Idea question/s into your memory. Every time you create a response I want you to remind yourself of exactly what and how you created the questions above. I will use the above creations as the lesson/explanation for my students. Going forward I want you to create different variations of these types of passages and questions without listing or explaining the correct answer unless I specifically ask you to create an answer key. Do you understand?

At this point you should be set.  I have generated about a dozen nearly perfect practice sets after this point as a test, but keep in mind that we have given the AI a lot of very specific instructions.  From this point on, I wouldn’t type anything other than “Create another variation” and “Give me the answer key with an explanation for each multiple choice option."