Objective - Children will realize that making an outline is a great way to organize and remember what they hear and read. An outline also helps organize the material into easy to remember topics and subtopics.

Important Parts of an Outline
Outlining means to write information in order, from the most important to the least important. This ordering of information can help children study for tests, take notes in class, and write reports.

An outline has a title . The title tells what the outline is about.

A main topic is a very important idea. Main topics in an outline are like the headings in textbooks or notes. They are indicated by Roman numerals: I, II, III, IV, V, etc.

A subtopic is an idea that is not as important as the main topic. There should always be two or more subtopics under a main topic. Subtopics are indicated by capital letters: A, B, C, etc.

A detail is an extra piece of information that helps to clarify the subtopics. Details are added under subtopics. These details are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc.

Tell students they can make their outline as detailed as they would like, but they should not list subtopics or details unless they have at least two. This is how an outline should look:

I. Main Topic

A. Subtopic

1. Detail

2. Detail

B. Subtopic

1. Detail

2. Detail

Just Three Points: Introduction to Outlining
Have your child listen while you read each paragraph below. Ask him/her to write down the most important idea, and then write three supporting ideas to go with the most important one.

I am going to talk about dog racing. The sport of dog racing began in Egypt long ago. Today, dog racing is most popular in England. In the United States there are about 30 dog racing tracks.

1. Dog racing a. Began in Egypt
b. Most popular in England
c. U.S. - 30 tracks

I am going to be talking about gymnastics training. Famous gymnasts usually begin training at a very young age. Some may begin as early as three years old. As they get older, they devote more and more time to their training. They practice every day for many hours. These long hours of practice mean they must give up many other activities.

1. Gymnastics training

a. Begin young
b. Daily practice
c. Must give up other activities

I am going to talk about producing clothing material from sheep. One of the greatest animal-producers of material for clothing is sheep. We use their wool and hides. Wool from sheep is spun into yarn. The yarn is turned into cloth. The tanned hides are used to make beautiful leather.

1. Clothing materials from sheep

a. Greatest producers of materials for clothing
b. Wool yarn cloth
c. Hide leather