main idea 2nd grade lesson

Fun Ways to Teach Main Idea and Key Details

1. The Mini-Lesson

2. Center Activity

3. Independent Practice

4. Writing Task

5. Assessment 

Interested in these fun ways to teach main idea and key details in your own classroom?

I like the method with the help of which you teach your students! May I still the idea? I am joking, of course! But I really love it!

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This lesson is designed to help students' comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level Appropriate Text.

Grade Level: 2 - 4th

Length of time: about 45 minutes, sponsored school(s), common core alignment.

CCSS: ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.2 - Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

Objectives & Outcomes

Students will be able to distinguish the main idea and supporting details in expository text.

Materials Needed

• main idea and supporting detail worksheet (can be made or found online)
• computer and projector with internet access

Opening to Lesson

The teacher will activate prior knowledge and connect the content to the students by asking, “what are things you do at recess?” As students brainstorm ideas aloud, the teacher will write their answers into a large bubble map outlined on the board.

The teacher will connect this content to the new information they will learn today by explaining, “Students, you’ve just listed many details that support our topic “Things we do at recess.” A topic is used to create a sentence that tells what a paragraph is about. We call this sentence the main idea. Today, we will identify main ideas and supporting details.”

Body of Lesson

Direct teaching.

The teacher will promote the concept development by explicitly stating “the main idea is the one idea that the passage is mostly about. A supporting detail explains, or tells more about, the main idea.”

Guided Practice 1

The teacher will then show a short 1 minute video on a computer, tablet or television that uses singing and rhyming to explain examples of the main idea and supporting details in a creative way. The teacher will ask the students questions about the story in the video. “What was the main idea, what was a detail that supported the main idea?” The teacher will then provide the students with a printed copy of the lyrics. The teacher will ask the class to read the short rhyming lyrics together as a class. The teacher will play the video one more time, asking the students to sing along.

Independent Practice

The teacher will give each student one worksheet of 6 different variations. The teacher will promote skill development by asking the students to silently read the passage, to circle the main idea and underline the supporting details of the passage.

The teacher will ask select students to state their answers following the prompt: “The main idea is …” and “One supporting detail is…”

Assessment & Evaluation

Through guided questions, close monitoring and informal observation; the teacher will be able to assess student’s ability and understanding of the subject being introduced. Through individually assessing during independent practice and reviewing during guided practice the teacher will be able to evaluate students.

Modification & Differentiation

Students can work in groups or with a partner. Teacher can provided one-on-one instruction as needed.

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Main Idea (Grades 1-2)

With our Main Ideas lesson plan, students learn what a main idea is, how to identify them, and why they are important in a text. Students will practice identifying the main idea and supporting ideas in a text. This lesson is for students in the 1st grade and 2nd grade.

This lesson includes a very detailed, step-by-step lesson plan and outlines what parts of the lesson can be taught on which day. You can find these suggestions in the “Options for Lesson” section on the first Classroom Procedure page.

Description

Additional information, what our main idea (grades 1-2) lesson plan includes.

Lesson Objectives and Overview: Main Idea for grades 1-2 introduces young students to the concept of main ideas, how to identify them, and why they are important to understand. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to correctly identify the main idea of informational and literary texts. Students will also be able to explain how details support the identification of the main idea.

Classroom Procedure

Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the green box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand.

The supplies you will need for this lesson are chart paper or poster board, tape, art supplies, markers, a whiteboard, dry erase markers, the handouts, paper, and writing utensils. To prepare for this lesson ahead of time, you can copy the handouts, gather the supplies, prepare visual aids, and make sure students have access to shorts texts to use during the lesson.

Options for Lesson

Included with this lesson is an “Options for Lesson” section that lists a number of suggestions for activities to add to the lesson or substitutions for the ones already in the lesson. The suggestions for this lesson provide a guide for which parts of the lesson you can administer on which of the four days scheduled for the lesson. For example, for day one, it suggests having students learn the general concept of a main idea and practice identifying the main idea and supporting details as a group.

Teacher Notes

The teacher notes page includes a paragraph with additional guidelines and things to think about as you begin to plan your lesson. It notes that learning to identify the main idea is an important skill for students, as standardized tests place a lot of importance on this skill. It’s also useful for students to be able to refocus on the main ideas while reading and writing. This page also includes lines that you can use to add your own notes as you’re preparing for this lesson.

MAIN IDEA (GRADES 1-2) LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES

The Main Idea (Grades 1-2) lesson plan does not include any content pages. Rather, it provides a very detailed lesson plan, found on the three Classroom Procedure pages.

MAIN IDEA (GRADES 1-2) LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS

The Main Idea (Grades 1-2) lesson plan includes four worksheets: two activity worksheets, a practice worksheet, and a homework assignment. You can refer to the guide on the classroom procedure page to determine when to hand out each worksheet.

ACTIVITY ONE WORKSHEET

For this activity, students will read a short passage, complete the provided chart, and answer questions about the text. The chart is intended to help students identify the main idea of the passage. Students should fill out the first part of the chart before reading. They will read the title and use just the title to guess what the passage might be about. During reading, they should fill out the second part of the chart, which asks students whether the text is fiction or nonfiction, and directs them to look for any repeated words or phrases. After reading, they should fill out the final part of the chart. Students will ask themselves what the story was mostly about and what details support one major idea. They must then identify the main idea and three supporting details.

ACTIVITY TWO WORKSHEET

The second activity worksheet asks students to read another passage and complete the same chart that they completed for the first worksheet. They must also, again, identify the main idea and three supporting details.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE WORKSHEET

For the practice worksheet, students will complete the same reading chart and answer the same questions as both activity worksheets. However, they will be able to choose their own passage to analyze.

MAIN IDEA HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

The homework assignment asks students to read a longer passage and answer two questions about it. They must identify the main idea of the passage and list three supporting details that prove that they have identified the main idea.

Worksheet Answer Keys

This lesson plan includes answer keys for the two activity worksheets, the practice worksheet, and the homework assignment. The answer key for the practice worksheet notes that students’ answers will vary based on their reading selection. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.

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Lessons and activities for teaching main idea and main topic.

I’m back with another blog post in the  Exploring ELA blog series . This blog post will give background knowledge and teaching ideas for the main idea and main topic standards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-grade students.

Main topic and main idea can give students a tough time. This may be a standard that you introduce in seclusion but should be practiced continuously with nonfiction texts. This is what we would consider a foundational skill that will be spiraled in content throughout the year.

Additionally, after teaching students how to identify main topic or main idea, you’ll also need to teach key details to support it. Then they can practice that skill throughout the year. Here is a breakdown of the Common Core standards for kindergarten through fourth grade.

• Kindergarten- With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
• 1st grade- Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
• 2nd grade- Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
• 3rd grade- Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea .
• 4th grade- Determine the main idea of a text and explain how key details support it; summarize the text.

In a nutshell: 

Kindergarten and 1st Grade simply require students to identify the topic. Then, in 2nd grade is the same, but with higher level texts. Next, 3rd grade is where the standard transitions from main topic to main idea. This will require more thought processes from the student, which is how CCSS functions. They add more difficult skills within the same standard through the elementary years.

And this is where I can try to help you! Here are a few guidelines or tips for tackling this tricky standard… Read below to get more details on each!

• Introducing Main Topic
• Teaching It With and Without Texts
• Focus on Key Details
• Comparing Main Topic and Main Idea

1. Introducing Main Topic

For 1st and 2nd graders, finding the main topic of a text is the first essential skill they will need for this standard thread.

[Source:  Joyful Learning in KC ]

To start, you can practice identifying overall topics or ideas with non-text materials. Above, you will see a straightforward activity that gives a very early glimpse at main idea and main topic. Draw pictures of things that go together or you snag some pictures on Google if you want to make them apply to informational texts, too. This is great for showing images and having a Mix-Pair-Share activity with students to identify and compare main topics.

(Source:  Creative Colorful Classroom )

You will need an anchor chart with the terms defined (and possibly the steps for practicing the skill). This can be as simple as writing the definition of main topic and key details. And, remember can always add to anchor charts later with sticky notes!

Making Your Anchor Charts Interactive

Having one anchor chart to refer to over and over again through your main topic/main idea lessons is a great tool for reinforcing learning. In this example, the teacher involved her students in the creation of the anchor chart, which really appeals to me.

Next, here are two other examples of anchor charts that you can use with your whole group. First, split the page into four squares and have students write the main topic on a Post-It note. As they learn about key details, come back to this text and activity, and add the newly learned key details. Or, create a visual that is easy for students to remember, like an ice cream cone! Both of these will help students when they are identifying the main topic/idea and key details on their own.

2. Teaching Main Topic With and Without Texts 

Students need many, many opportunities to get their hands on texts to practice finding the main topic. However, texts are not the only way they can practice this skill.

Scaffolding Your Lessons

(Grade level resources:  RI.K.2 ,  RI.1.2 ,  RI.2.2 ,  RI.3.2 ,  RI.4.2 )

Start simply and then scaffold your instruction to build upon your students’ skill progression. So, using pictures or physical objects is a great place to begin! The idea below is great as a visual to help reinforce the idea of Main Topic/ Main Idea and key details.

(Source: Unknown on  Pinterest )

You can also transfer this idea to skill applications with texts when students are ready. Students can use crayons to decode their nonfiction text, underlining the main idea and details. This concept can also be used when teaching informational writing.

Using Graphic Organizers

Additionally, graphic organizers are great tools for students to learn about main topic and main idea. They will help students organize their thoughts and ideas and eventually, students will begin to think about the skills in a compartmentalized way.

Give the students many opportunities to read texts and answer questions about main topic or main idea. They will need to get their hands on real informational texts in book form to practice with, but they will also need many opportunities to use text that they can write and mark all over. Underlining their texts and marking their text where they found their answers are excellent practices for students to do.

Finally, don’t limit the kids to only learning about main topics with informational texts. Matching topics with photographs, partner talking, and personal writing are all ideas to practice main topic without using books or texts. Let them pretend to be the author. Depending on the level of writing experience, have students either write one paragraph about a given topic or have them write their own entire passage on the main topic.

3. Focus on Key Details

Once students have found the ability to identify the main topic (or main idea), they need to be able to support that main topic or main idea with text evidence or key details.

Allow them to practice with passages, as I showed you in step 2, or nonfiction texts such as these National Geographic books. On the left, you will see a nonfiction text about books and a printable worksheet that focuses on main topic, key details, and text evidence. On the right, you will see an interactive notebook activity where students work independently to read about solar systems and planets, then fill out the three key details for the main topic.

4. Comparing Main Topic and Main Idea

In 3rd grade, learning begins to change from topic to idea. This requires a bit more skill from the students because they’re not only finding a topic; they’re now finding the argument or idea from the author.

(Source:  Brain Pop Jr. YouTube )

This free video will help your third graders set up the difference between main topic and main idea. Stop the video throughout and have students turn and talk with partners to discuss their new knowledge. Refer back to the video throughout your unit, trying to trigger any knowledge they picked up from the video.

Students will need multiple ways of practicing main topic vs. main idea because coming up shortly; the main topic will not be something they’re asked to identify. It will eventually be phased out in the progression of this informational standard. Meaning, once they’ve mastered the main topic skill and truly learned the difference between the two skills, they won’t need to focus on it anymore. And once they’ve mastered comparing the two, focus on continuous main idea practice during the unit. And don’t forget to incorporate main idea lessons throughout the year to cycle the skill and keep it fresh in their minds.

5. Suggested Read Alouds

Read alouds and mentor texts are incredibly important to model the skill of main idea and main topic. I’ve listed six possible book titles to use while teaching main idea and main topic, however, almost all informational texts are great to use to test the skill. All the books that are linked in this blog post are affiliate Amazon links.

My Recommendations:

Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport Who Has These Feet? by Laura Hulbert I Am Amelia Earhart by Brad Melzer Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca The Museum Book by Jan Mark Ivan: The Remarkable Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate

Grab some resources to help you!

If you’re looking for Main Topic or Main Idea lessons that are ready to go, these grade-level units have everything you need! From lesson plans to assessments, task cards to comprehension passages, click your grade level for a closer look!

Looking for activities without the prep? Go Digital!

I have also created two digital activity sets that cover Main Topic and Main Idea. As I said throughout the blog post, main topic is for K-2 and main idea is for 3-4.

Want a free Main Idea activity to get you started?

FREE MAIN IDEA ACTIVITY

This free digital activity comes with links to Seesaw and Google Slides for your students. They will practice their main topic or main idea skills.

Do you want more explicit instruction? Watch my tutorial!

Interested in reading more ELA blog posts?

• Main Idea and Main Topic Anchor Charts
• Mastering Author’s Point and Reasons
• Point of View Teaching Tips
• Understanding the Tricky Making Connections Standard
• Read more about: Common Core Aligned , Reading Blog Posts

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5 Engaging Ways to Teach Main Idea so that Students Understand {freebie}

Teaching main idea to your students doesn’t have to be a challenging or frustrating experience.   With a little creative thinking and a few fun activities, your students will be on their way to mastering this important reading comprehension skill. We all know that learning to find the main idea is a concept that can be difficult for students to grasp.  Over the years I’ve found some activities that have really helped my students and I’m excited to share those with you.  Here’s 5 of my favorite engaging activities for teaching main idea.  

5 Engaging Ways To Teach Main Idea

1. Main Idea Bag

• What do these items have in common?
• What activity could I do with all of these items?
• What do you think the Main Idea of this bag is?

2. The Main Idea Hand

3. Main Idea and Mentor Texts

• A Bad Case Of Stripes by David Shannon
• After The Fall by Dan Santat
• A Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams
• A Nest Is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Atson
• Animals Nobody Loves by Seymour Simon

4. Practice, Practice, Practice

If most of your class is ready to work independently, then I add this skill to my small group reading instruction.  This way I can continue to work with those students that need a little extra guided practice without holding up the entire class.  

Here’s some of my favorite main idea and supporting detail practice activities. All of these have been used and approved by students!

A-Z Animals: Reading Passages For Main Idea And Supporting Details

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Get DIGITAL with Main Idea and Supporting Details Boom Cards

5. Connecting Main Idea to Writing

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If you are ready to jump in and use these resources with your students you can find the complete resource in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Just click on the image below for each of these engaging main idea activities.

Save these Main Idea Teaching Ideas

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Main idea mini lessons.

It doesn’t matter what grade you teach, main idea is always on your lesson plans sometime in the year.  This reading skill is important as it helps students take important facts or events from a text, summarize them, and understand the author’s most important message.  But teaching main idea can be hard and many students aren’t successful at this skill right away.  One problem is that teachers can only think of certain ways to break down and teach the skill and then run out of ideas.  I’ve got you covered!  I’m sharing 5 main idea mini lessons just for you!

Mini-lessons are a great way to teach reading skills just like main idea.  You can also use these tips and tricks or mentor texts too!  Make sure to check them out!

Want to watch the video instead  check it out below  make sure to subscribe to get updates on all new content.

Main Idea Mini Lesson #1

Objective :  I can match the pieces of an article based on its main idea.

One great thing about teaching main idea, is that it is helpful not only in reading but also in writing. This little mini lesson supports both! Create two article titles, two article headings, and 3-4 facts to go under each heading. Write each of them separately on sentence strips or index cards. Mix them up and place on the front board. Read through all of them with students and then guide the students to unmix them and match up the title, heading, and facts or each ‘article’. While doing this, discuss main idea and supporting details and how by matching the pieces they were finding commonalities amongst the text.

Main Idea Mini Lesson #2

Objective :  I can determine the main idea of a puzzle based on the details of its pieces.

Sometimes, making main idea click for students is as simple as finding a way to make it concrete. Take a puzzle for instance. We can think of the individual pieces as details and the main overall image in the puzzle as the main idea. For this mini lesson, that’s exactly what we are going to do! Go through puzzles that you have at home or in your classroom. Pick out 2-3 pieces per puzzle that show a good amount of detail on the individual pieces. Then with your students, discuss the commonality between main idea and puzzles. Show the students one of the puzzle pieces and have them brainstorm or draw out what they think the rest of the puzzle would be. Discuss details vs. main idea while students share their examples.

Want to snag a printable copy of all of these main idea mini lessons?  Grab it for FREE below!

Main Idea Mini Lesson #3

Objective :  I can create a main idea statement from the details in a photograph.

By allowing students to do more creating than reading when working with main idea, they pick up on the relationship a lot easier and faster. In this mini lesson you’re going to use photographs to allow students to create main idea statements and supporting details. Find photographs off Google to print. The photographs need to be about experiences and situations the students can relate to. Then have the students work in pairs or groups to create 3 detailed statements first. Share these out loud with the group and discuss. Then as a group create a main idea statement to overarch the details the students created. Repeat with 1-2 more photos.

Main Idea Mini Lesson #4

Objective :  I can identify supporting details in a nonfiction text.

Many times, students become overwhelmed with identifying details because there are so many sentences in the text to choose from. We need to provide a lesson that shows them how to analyze each sentence one at a time. In this mini lesson, find a nonfiction article that’s 1-2 paragraphs in length. Read the article together as a class. Together, identify the main idea of the text and write it on the front board. Then lead the class in finding supporting details for the main idea. Reread each sentence one at a time and stop to discuss it. Does this support the main idea? Why or why not? By doing this sentence by sentence it gives the students the opportunity to truly see HOW we analyze all the details and determine which support, and which do not. Cross out the non-supporting details and highlight the supporting ones.

Need MORE than just mini lesson ideas or don’t have time to create the lessons yourself?  I’ve got you covered!  Check out my entire Main Idea unit filled with full whole group lessons, exit tickets, assessment, reading center, craft, and more! Click the button below to check it out!

Grab the Main Idea Unit

Main Idea Mini Lesson #5

Objective :  I can write out the main idea of a fiction and nonfiction text

Students sometimes comprehend a story very well but putting the main idea into words is challenging. A strong and simple way to support students like this is to give them sentence stems! A simple nonfiction and fiction sentence stem helps the student think through the text they read and put their thoughts into the blanks. By using the sentence stems over a period, they will have the gist of how to word a main idea statement and won’t need them anymore! In this mini lesson, have 2 fiction paragraphs and 2 nonfiction paragraphs ready. Write the sentence stems on the board: (Fiction) The story is about (character) who (details) and then (detail). (Nonfiction) The main idea is about how/who (detail). Practicing using the stems after reading the texts to create main idea statements.

I hope you found some new and unique ideas to help teach main idea to your students.  If you want to save this post for later, make sure to pin the image below!

• Read more about: Guided Reading , Nonfiction , Reading , Reading Comprehension , Small Groups

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Teaching Main Idea and Details in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th grade

Raise your hand if you dread teaching main idea and details to your elementary students. I think it’s one of the trickiest things for kids to grasp. However, teaching main idea and details is simple once you have a solid understanding of the literacy concept and a systematic approach to teaching it. This blog post will support you in developing an understanding of what it is by providing definitions, comparisons, and examples. In addition, it will recommend lesson ideas, teaching strategies, and resources to help you deliver excellent research-based instruction to your elementary students. This post is helpful to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers.

This blog post will answer the following questions about teaching main idea and details:

• How do you explain main idea to a child?
• What is an example of main idea?
• What is the difference between main idea and central idea?
• Is main idea the same as theme?
• What is the difference between a topic, the main idea and key details?
• Why is finding the main idea of a story important?
• How do students identify the main idea in fiction and non-fiction texts?
• What are some lesson ideas for teaching main idea?

How Do You Explain Main Idea to a Child?

Students focus on finding the whole text’s main idea many times throughout the school year in upper elementary. It is also one of the most challenging standards for students to grasp because it is not always stated directly. 

The main idea is what the whole text is mostly about. This main idea is elaborated with supporting details that make texts organized and easy to read. In upper elementary, students learn this critical reading skill through the eyes of authors and as readers. 

There are several ways to explain main ideas and details to students. I love using food analogies, so I use a nacho analogy for teaching main idea and details! 

• The bowl or plate that the nachos are served in: The topic or the text’s general subject. 
• The chips of the nacho dish = the main idea. The main idea explains what the text (nachos all together) is MOSTLY about. 
• All of the toppings on the nachos = the supporting details. Details are the parts that make the text (or nachos) more flavorful for the reader (eater). They SUPPORT the main idea by providing extra information like facts and examples that add to the main idea.

What is an Example of Main Idea?

It can be helpful to have an example when you are learning about teaching main idea and details. There are tons of main idea examples out there, but here’s a very simple example of main idea that you could use when you model for students: 

My Favorite City

My favorite city is Austin. Austin is located in the center of Texas. The weather in Austin can get very hot during the summertime, so I enjoy swimming at Barton Creek when I can. I love Austin because it has many things to do, like kayaking, hiking, and eating fun foods. My favorite thing to do in Austin is listen to live music. 

Topic: My Favorite City

Main idea: My favorite city is Austin.

Supporting Details: 

• Austin is located in the center of Texas. 
• The weather in Austin can get very hot during the summertime, so I enjoy swimming at Barton Creek when I can.
• I love Austin because it has many things to do, like kayaking, hiking, and eating fun foods. 
• My favorite thing to do in Austin is listen to live music. 

You could create a similar paragraph about anything you’d like to model for your students on an anchor chart. You could even color-code each sentence as the topic, main idea, and supporting details. 

What is the Difference Between Main Idea and Central Idea?

There is no considerable difference between the main idea and the central idea meanings. The main idea is typically used for fiction texts, and the central idea is generally used for nonfiction texts. Students must know both in case any questions are phrased differently. They may encounter it phrased either way. 

Is Main Idea the Same as Theme?

Students commonly confuse the main idea and theme even though they are very different. The theme of a text is the lesson or main takeaway from the text. It is the message the author is trying to tell or teach.

Common themes in upper elementary texts include: be prepared, actions speak louder than words, money doesn’t buy happiness, cheating does not pay off, the importance of being a good friend, and don’t procrastinate. 

The main idea is specific to each text and tells what it is mostly about, not the lesson the author was trying to share. 

What Is the Difference Between a Topic, the Main Idea and Supporting Details?

The text’s topic is what it is generally about. Some examples are sharks, favorite city, and springtime. Thinking about the nacho analogy from earlier, the topic is the dish the nachos are on. The topic is usually a word or phrase and is very general.

The main idea is slightly more detailed. The main idea represents what the whole text is mostly about. It identifies the most important information about the who or what from the text. This should be one or two sentences.

The supporting details, also commonly called the key details, are “all of the toppings on the nachos.” They support the main idea.

Why is Finding the Main Idea Important? 

Students need to be able to find the main idea in all texts so they can fully comprehend the text. It is one of the most important comprehension skills because you will use it with every text every time. When reading, students need to identify the most important parts to understand the story or article fully. That’s why it’s so important for teachers to master how to teach main idea.

How Do Students Identify the Main Idea?

Usually, the main idea is the first sentence of a passage or paragraph, but not always. Sometimes it is stated in the concluding sentence as well. However, it may not be directly said, and students will need to have a good understanding of what the whole text is about before making any guesses.

• First, students should use the title and any text features to determine the topic of the text. I love letting students do a “book walk” to examine the text features before deciding on the topic.
• Next, they will first have to read the WHOLE text. Then, students can get a better idea of what the whole text is about. Frequently, students may look at the first sentence, but as they get older and go on to the upper grades, finding the main idea gets more challenging. It is important for students to know that the main idea will not always be stated in the first sentence of each paragraph or section! For this reason, it is crucial to read the whole text. 
• Lastly, students need to ask themselves what the text is MOSTLY about. They identify the most essential information about the who or the what of the text. Then, students answer in a complete sentence. 

How to Identify the Main Idea in Fiction

Finding the main idea in fictional stories can be tricky. Ask students these questions to help them identify the main idea in fiction texts: 

• What is the story mostly about?
• What do I notice over and over?
• Can I state the main idea in one sentence?

How to Identify the Main Idea in Nonfiction

Finding the main idea in nonfiction texts can be tricky. Ask students these questions to help them identify the main idea in nonfiction texts: 

• What does the author want me to notice?
• Are there any clues in the first or last sentences?

6 Mini-lessons for Teaching Main Idea

Teaching main idea and supporting details can be challenging, especially if you do not have a formal curriculum program. Even if you have a program, it can be boring for students. Here are 6 fun ways to teach main idea!

• Finding the topic of a text: cut off or cover the topic of a text and have students come up with their own. Compare as a class and discuss. 
• Use graphic organizers: have students read a text and fill in the organizer as they read. Discuss as a class. 
• Have students color code the topic, main idea, and details with highlighters. Give each a color and compare answers after.
• Cut apart a text and have students reorganize the parts or sort the elements into categories: topic, main idea, or supporting details. 
• Read aloud any picture book and model predicting and finding the main idea. 
• Use examples and non-examples. Give students a passage or text to read. Then give several examples/non-examples of main idea statements. Students then choose the best main idea statement and explain. Then have them point out non-examples and explain their reasoning. 

Idea for Teaching Main Idea and Details

Last week the main selection in our reading curriculum Treasures was a non-fiction article and the focus skill was main idea. We had completed an overview of all genres at the start of the school year, but it was time to roll up our sleeves and really dig into some non-fiction. To keep it all focused and feed into their craving for all things Halloween(ish), I planned a week of bat research. Between teaching it in school that day and helping my own 2nd grader with his main idea and details homework that afternoon, I had main idea on the brain. When I was playing with building blocks on the floor with my twins later that evening, I had an aha moment!

The next day, I grabbed some blocks from my math manipulatives, an index card, a pair of scissors, some Post-It Notes, a marker and a non-fiction text. I placed the sticky part of the sticky note onto a block, folded it over and cut along the crease. This gave me sticky papers that were the exact same size as each block.

Next, I wrote sentences from the text that would be considered “supporting details.” The students read the details and decided what the main idea of all the blocks together would be. That was written on the card, .which was then literally supported by the details. It seemed like the visual really helped some of my friends to gain a better understanding of the concept!

I then created several collections of blocks and recorded sentences onto each. I placed them out on my back counter with colored cards that coordinated with the blocks. The kiddos then worked in pairs to write out cards with what they considered to be the main idea.

They loved the hands-on aspect and the visual and did quite well with identifying the main idea. I’m planning to add this in as a READer’s Workshop station  throughout the year and will use this approach backwards in Writer’s Workshop as well.

In closing, we hope you found this information about teaching main idea and details helpful! If you did, then you may also be interested in these posts:

• How to Teach Genres to Elementary Students
• Tips for Teaching Text Annotation
• How to Teach Research Skills

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10 GREAT Activities to Teach Main Idea and Details

• November 16, 2019
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The main idea is defined as the central point or big picture of a story or informational text.  The details are those statements that support (go along with) the main idea.  Main idea and details are important in all types of texts (literature and informational), as well as in writing.

The central message of the story is the main point that the author wants you to remember.  Many consider this the “big idea” of the story and can be described in a word or two.  It may also be the lesson that an author wants you to learn from the text.

Identifying the main idea and details in a text are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to comprehending text. You can scaffold how to understand a piece of literature for your students through the activities listed below, as well as using graphic organizers. I have both fluency and comprehension building resources on Education to the Core Premium.

For a low monthly or annual fee, you can unlock unlimited access to resources for reading instruction and all of the other subjects. Take a look at everything you can use on ETTC Premium by clicking the button below. 

Where to Start with Main Idea and Details

Play “Does It Belong” with your students.  After reading a story, identify the main idea and then come up with statements that are either a detail or not. (Example – The Three Little Pigs – MI = The Little Pigs build houses and try to stay safe from the Big Bad Wolf.  D = The first Little Pig builds his house out of straw.  ND = The Big Bad Wolf likes to dance.)  Students can give thumbs up/down depending on whether the detail belongs or not.  This is also an easy activity to incorporate into a small group center for added practice.

A variation of “Does It Belong” involves students creating the “detail statements”.  After reading a story, students write down a sentence on a strip of paper.  This sentence is either a detail of the story, or not. 

There are a variety of ways you can finish this activity.  You can play “Musical Partners”, where students pair up with various classmates, read their statement and have the partner decide if it’s a detail or not.  Or, you can have a T-chart with the headings “Story Detail” and “Does Not Belong”.  Students place their statements in the appropriate columns and as a class you double check for correctness.

I use a tree visual for my students.  They write the main idea of the story/text onto the trunk and then create branches with details/facts that support that main idea.  How many branches will their tree have?

Upper Grades

Using a fluency passage, have students identify the 3-5 best supporting details and have them partner/group share their responses.  To increase the rigor, ask students to explain why their chosen details support the main idea.

Work Backwards (Details to Main Idea)

Instead of identifying the main idea first, students can also work backwards.  Try starting with the details and encouraging students to discover the main idea.

I like to work backwards with informational text, giving detail clues and asking the students to identify the main topic of the text.  Using a “story web”, I write down details in the outer bubbles and have the main topic covered by a post-it in the center.  As students are given the details, they discuss what the topic could be.  The object is to guess it before all of the clues have been written.  I use this activity to introduce a new unit of study, especially in science and social studies.

Use an easy introductory center to help students understand Main Idea and Details .  A center is a great tool for practicing, especially with ELL students.  They are able to identify all of the objects on the page (vocabulary), then asked to state the main idea or category and give reasons why. It’s a quick and easy activity to integrate into your centers.  Just laminate the pages and go!

“Mystery Bags” is another fun activity to use when working backwards.  Place a variety of objects or pictures in a brown paper bag that all relate to one topic.  In groups, students pull out the objects and try to identify the main idea that encompasses all of them.  I create a recording sheet with corresponding letters to the bags, so students can list the objects and then the main idea category.

Cover the title of the story/text, read the book, and then have the students come up with their own title.

Give your students a list of words that belong in one of three categories.  Students will have to sort the words into categories and then come up with a title for each category.

Don’t Forget About Writing

The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown is wonderful as a mini-lesson on main idea and details.  I use it to model what this looks like in writing.  Each page has an object and then identifies a series of details about that particular object.  After reading the book, students are asked to choose a classroom object and create their own “Important Book” page.  You can guide their writing by using the anchor chart below, or allow them to come up with their own sentence organization.

Central Message/Theme

Create a Theme vs Main Idea chart, so students can understand the difference between the two. The theme or central message will be one or two words, while the main idea can be summed up in a sentence.

Use fables or folktales to help students understand the central message.  I have an easy to use Moral of the Story center for your students to practice this skill in small groups.  With this resource, students read through a scenario and then determine the moral or lesson learned by the character.  It’s a very simple center to integrate into small groups, just laminate and go!

Review some familiar stories with your students and have them identify the central message of each.  This activity can become a match game, with students then recording the reason why they chose that particular message for each book. (Example: The Rainbow Fish – friendship/sharing – The rainbow fish learns that in order to make and keep friends he must share.)  As they practice this activity more, they will realize that the central message is supported by the main idea.

Comprehending text begins with main idea and details. Without understanding the main idea, a student cannot fully comprehend what they are reading. The main idea links all the supporting details and smaller events together that form the story. Use these fun activities to make comprehending text engaging for your students.

Written by: Janessa Fletcher

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Main idea worksheets

What details support the main idea.

These worksheets ask students to identify the main idea of a text as well as the details that support it. The last two worksheets focus on the use of supporting details.

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

Main Idea Worksheets

The main idea, also called the central idea or main point, is the primary concept of a passage. It represents the essential point that the author is trying to convey. The main idea may be clearly stated as a sentence. The main idea is usually reinforced by a series of other points or details which support the premise of the main idea. These are called supporting ideas and may also be stated or implied. Please use any of the printable main idea worksheets below in your classroom or at home. Just click on the worksheet title to view details about the printable PDF and print or download to your computer.Be sure to check out all of our reading worksheets . If you're looking for more activities, check out www.readingvine.com's main idea reading passages .

Find the Main Idea: Storms

After reading a brief passage about storms, students are prompted to write the main idea and 3 details.

Find the Main Idea: Spots the Barn Cat

A short passage about Spots the Barn cat. Students circle the main idea from a list of options.

What is the Main Idea? Carnival

Students read a short paragraph about carnivals, circle the main idea and write 3 details.

Find the Main Idea: Anne of Green Gables

A main idea worksheet about the book, Anne of Green Gables. Students write the main idea and two supporting ideas.

Find the Main Idea: Planets

Students read a passage about planets and then write the main idea and supporting ideas.

Find the Main Idea: The Jungle Book

Students read a passage from Rudyard Kipling’s book, The Jungle Book, and write the main idea in the large oval and two supporting ideas in the small, linked ovals.

Find the Main Idea: The Meerkat

Students read about the fascinating Meerkat and write down the main idea and supporting ideas.

Main Idea Graphic Organizer

Learning how to properly structure an essay can be difficult. With this Main Idea Tree, students will create an outline that allows them to better understand the different parts of a five paragraph essay. Students will be asked to write their introduction, a main idea, three topic sentences, three supporting details for each topic sentence, and a conclusion.

Find the Main Idea: Dolphins

Students read about the dolphins and write the main idea and two supporting ideas on the lines provided.

Find the Main Idea: The Louisiana Purchase

Students read about the Louisiana Purchase and write the main idea and two supporting ideas on the lines provided.

Find the Main Idea: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Students write the main idea and three supporting ideas after reading a short passage from the book,The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Find the Main Idea: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

A main idea worksheet about the book, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. Students write the main idea and two supporting ideas.

Find the Main Idea: Ben Franklin

A reading passage about Ben Franklin. Students read and write the main idea and supporting ideas.

Find the Main Idea: Black Beauty

After reading a passage from “Black Beauty” by Anna Sewell, students write the main idea and two supporting ideas.

Find the Main Idea: Little Women

Students read a passage from Louisa May Alcott’s book, Little Women, and write the main idea and two supporting ideas.

Find the Main Idea: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Students read a passage from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and write the main idea and supporting ideas.

Find the Main Idea: Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Students write the main idea and up to 5 supporting ideas after reading a short passage from the book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain.

Find the Main Idea: Two Reading Passages

One passage about the U.S. Constitution and one about the sport of soccer. Students read both, circle the main idea and write a supporting idea.

Find the Main Idea: Call of the Wild

After reading a passage from “Call of the Wild” by Jack London, students write the main idea and two supporting ideas.

Find the Main Idea: Major Art Movements

A worksheet about the major art movements. Students write the main idea and 4 supporting ideas.

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Teaching Main Idea / Central Idea – Activities to Build Understanding

Teaching main idea and supporting details / central idea to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students can be a very frustrating experience; it is such a difficult skill to understand.  Very few of my lessons seemed to have an effect on my 3rd grade students - either they understood how to find the main idea without my help, or they didn't understand no matter what I did or said.

The curriculum my district used was no help - it introduced central idea by having students read a fictional story from our textbook (about 15 pages long) and fill out the main idea and supporting details in a blank graphic organizer together while we were reading. The students were magically supposed to understand main idea and details after this one activity.

Needless to say, the majority of my students needed a LOT more scaffolding, examples, and strategies in order to have a thorough understanding of main idea.

(Don't have much time?  Then go straight to this Main Idea Freebie for 3 main idea activities you can use today.)

Why Most Main Idea Lessons Don't Work

The problem with most main idea resources is that they don't teach students HOW to find the main idea; instead, the resources simply provide students with lots of practice of a skill that they don't really understand. And then students practice finding main idea in the wrong way and form misconceptions that can be very difficult to correct.

Over the years, I experimented with a variety of different ways and strategies to teach main idea and supporting details to my students.  I compiled all of the most effective strategies in this Scaffolded Main Idea and Details Resource.

It starts simple and isolates different skills required in order for students to understand main idea.  Then, it gets increasingly difficult until students are eventually thinking about the central idea of an entire passage.

This resource minimizes your prep time while maximizing student learning.  But if you don't mind a little prep work, then check out the 4 lesson ideas below that will help you teach main idea in a way that struggling students will actually understand.  

Minimize prep, maximize learning with this Main Idea and Details Scaffolded Resource.   The resources start simple and get increasingly more difficult, make it easy for you to differentiate, reteach, or simply introduce main idea to your students.

Best of all, almost all of the resources require absolutely no prep!

A Main Idea / Central Idea Lesson Example Using Titles

Teaching students how to use a title to help them figure out the main idea of a reading passage is an easy and often overlooked strategies.

In nonfiction texts especially, the title will usually tell you exactly what the topic of the passage will be, which is the first step to figuring out the main idea.

Let's say your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade class is reading Sheila Keenan's Animals in the House: A History of Pets and People . Just based on this title, students should be able to make reasonable predictions as to the main idea and supporting details of the text. You could ask some different questions to help encourage that thinking:

• What will this book be mostly about?
• Do you think one of the supporting details in this book will be about elephants?  Why or why not?
• Do you think one of the supporting details in this book will be about dogs?  Why or why not?
• What other animals might the author include to support the main idea?  How do you know?
• Which of the following statements is more likely to be the main idea of the book: "Dogs make great pets because they are friendly, loving, and loyal," OR "Throughout history, people have depended on a variety of pets for help, companionship, and protection."

Just by thinking carefully about this title, students should be able to predict a reasonable central idea to the book, as well as possible supporting details. In nonfiction books or passages, students can also use headings to make similar predictions of the main idea and details of smaller sections.

You could also cover up the title of a book or passage, and have students make predictions about what the title is after reading. This will get students thinking about what was most important and what the text was mostly about.

Topic VS Supporting Details Activity - Grouping Words

This is a simple yet powerful activity that can help students distinguish between the topic and supporting details. Simply provide students with a list of words from several categories, have students organize those words into groups, and then have them come up with an appropriate title for each group.

This activity helps address an important struggle students have when it comes to main idea. Students have a hard time understanding that the details that support a certain main idea or topic are all different, yet related to each other. Requiring students to sort words into groups is a great introduction into this concept.

Another important aspect of this activity is having students come up with an appropriate title for each group of words. This is a great way to introduce the concept of topic to your students - which later will help them better understand main idea.

Younger learners, ESOL students, or struggling upper elementary readers could do this same activity using pictures rather than words. They will still get valuable practice with the skill without the frustration of reading words without any context.

Get one of these cut and paste activities - and as well as two others main idea activities - for free.

Teaching Students That Details Should Support the Main Idea

This activity takes a lot more prep if you do it yourself instead of using this Scaffolded Main Idea Resource, but it is a valuable way to assess students' understanding of main idea and supporting details while getting them to think more critically.

Before your main idea lesson, write a paragraph that has a very clear main idea. Then, add a sentence to the paragraph that is somewhat on topic, but doesn't really support the main idea of the paragraph. Students must read the paragraph and determine which sentence doesn't belong.

In order for this activity to be effective, the paragraphs must be written thoughtfully.  The sentence that does not belong should not be immediate obvious to students, but instead require students to think carefully about how the details relate to each other to support the central idea.

This is a much better assessment of main idea understanding than the typical "Find the Topic Sentence" activity that many main idea worksheets have.

This activity is also included in this main idea and details free printable!

How to Use Main Idea Graphic Organizers

I've seen a huge variety of cute main idea graphic organizers in my search for main idea resources - umbrellas, flowers, hamburgers, hands, tables, ice cream cones, clouds, popcorn - you name it, it's been done.

But no matter how cute or fun it is, the graphic organizer itself is probably not going to make confused upper elementary students miraculously understand how to find the main idea better.

One of the most frustrating things about typical main idea resources and graphic organizers is that they go straight to having students come up with the main idea of a passage without any scaffolding. This is a HARD skill for students - many adults struggle with this as well!

Instead of expecting students to be able to come up with the main idea statement themselves on a blank graphic organizer, provide students with the main idea and details but DON'T tell them which statements are the details and which statement is the main idea.

Then, have students put the statements in the correct spots on the graphic organizer. This takes away the frustration students feel of trying to come up with the main idea from thin air, while at the same time giving students valuable practice in distinguishing between the main idea and supporting details.  (Get a free example of this main idea activity here.)

The more students do this type of activity, the more capable they will be able to find the main idea and supporting details themselves.

According to the feedback I have gotten from my Scaffolded Main Idea Resource,  these scaffolded graphic organizers are one of the most helpful resources for teaching main idea.

This scaffolded main idea resource is my best seller for a reason.  It is almost completely no prep while drastically improving students' understanding of main idea.

The resource has cut and paste activities, worksheets, task cards, graphic organizers, reading passages, and more that will help your students understand the differences between topic, supporting details, and main idea.

You might also like these other main idea tips, activity ideas, and freebies!

Want These Free, No Prep Main Idea Activities?

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Pingback: Teaching Main Idea & Details | Tips & Materials | Christin Sanders

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Can you share your ideas with me to help me DI for my inclusion students?

I think inclusion students often are most successful when they are provided good scaffolding. I’ve shared some of my ideas for scaffolding a few different skills here. . I hope you find something helpful.

Thank you so much for the ideas. I am always looking for new ideas to implement in my classroom. My K students have to give main ideas to be at the reading level the district would like by the end of kindergarten. This is a very difficult concept for 5 and 6 year old’s to understand. It has no place for assessment in Kindergarten. Thank you for sharing.

I agree, that does not seem like an age appropriate expectation!

I really enjoyed the flow of these concepts and how they were each carefully thought out. They rocked!

Ideas provide scaffolding

Your ideas for teaching main ideas are awesome. I’m truly relieved from stress of looking for how to do it. God bless you.

So happy to be able to help!

Thank you very much! These activities are easy to teach for teachers as well as easy to understand for students to learn about main idea and details. I love it!

This is awesome.. I will definitely use your ideas. The strategies really make sense and will minimize stress of the students

I love your main idea and details lessons!

It’s an excellent website of resourceful information

Thank you so much!

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