Florida Center for Reading Research
Florida Center for Reading Research: Keys to the Main Idea [Pdf]
A lesson plan in which students read a text a complete a graphic organizer to identify the main ideas and supporting details. Materials are included.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Florida Center for Reading Research: Character Consideration
A lesson plan in which students read a narrative text and complete graphic organizers to analyze a character. Materials are included. [PDF]
Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets: Teach Expository Text Structure to Facilitate Comprehension
Expository text can be challenging to young readers because of the unfamiliar concepts and vocabulary it presents. Discover ways to help your students analyze expository text structures and pull apart the text to uncover the main idea...
Other
Eastport Elementary School: Mrs. Donahue's Site: Identifying the Main Idea
Information, examples, and practice passages to use while learning how to identify the main idea of an informational text.
CPALMS
Cpalms: Stand Tall: Using Evidence to Support Your Answers
This learning module has a series of screencast videos and practice exercises designed to teach students how to support their answers with details from the text.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Writing to Determine, "What Is a Pulgar?"
This lesson plan is a writing follow-up to the guided reading lesson plan, "What is a Pulgar?" It utilizes a Makes Sense Strategies Think-sheet to guide the writing.
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: Ela Guidebooks: Independent Reading Protocols
During independent reading, students read independently from either a self- or teacher-selected text and then react to the text in their learning logs using one of three protocols.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: The Road to Representation Creating the Crunchy Life Kid's Series
This blog focuses on a teacher's need to fill in the gaps for reading strategies and the priority to improve comprehension and overall reading development. She explains the strategies to meet the above goals.
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: Web Lessons: Get the Main Idea
This resource provides practice finding the main idea by having students read a paragraph and choose the main idea. Then it asks students to take what they have learned and apply it to a book of their choice, and then write a paragraph...
ACT360 Media
Writing Den: Supporting Details
A short explanation and example of supporting sentences, what they do, and how to write them.
Other
Ccss Literacy E Handbook: Informational Text: Use Details and Examples
A short explanation of how to use explicit details in an informational text to make inferences. Click on Model at the bottom right to see a model with examples.
Other
Mc Graw Hill: Informational Text: Determing Main Idea and Key Details
In this learning module, students are given a model passage with an explanation of the main idea and supporting details followed by a practice passage with questions.
Other
Ccss Literacy E Handbook: Informational Text: Summarize
A short explanation of how summarize an informational text. Click on the Model link to see an example summary with explanation.
Other
Ccss Literacy E Handbook: Informational Text: Describe Text Structure
A short explanation of informational text structures. Follow links for more information on: chronological text structure, comparison and contrast text structure, cause and effect text structure, and problem and solution text structure....
Other
Ccss Literacy E Handbook: Informational Text: Reasons and Evidence in Text
A short explanation of using reasons and evidence as supporting details. Click the link to see a model of how to identify reasons and evidence in an informational text. Click on the Model button on the bottom right to see a model.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Atlantis: Main Idea Story 2
An exercise in finding the main idea. Read a short nonfiction paragraph about pollution, and click on the correct main idea.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Atlantis: Main Idea Story 3
An exercise in finding the main idea. Read a short nonfiction paragraph about the solar system, and click on the correct main idea.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Atlantis: Main Idea Story 4
An exercise in finding the main idea. Read a short nonfiction paragraph about where different animals live, and click on the correct main idea.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Atlantis: Main Idea Story 7
An exercise in finding the main idea. Read a short nonfiction paragraph about computers, and click on the correct main idea.
ProProfs
Pro Profs: Main Idea Benchmark
This is a four-question multiple choice quiz over the main idea; students read nonfiction passages and select the main idea. Links to related quizzes on the same topic are provided.
Quia
Quia: Metaphor Quiz
Read five short paragraphs and choose the main idea of each. Check the answers when finished to see how many were right.
Quia
Quia: 3rd Grade Main Idea
This short interactive activity assesses students' ability to identify main idea. Students will read three short passages and identify the main idea of each.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Journey North: Reading Strategies: Main Ideas and Supporting Details
Learn how to identify the main ideas and supporting details in an informational text by using a list of guiding questions.
Quia
Quia: Main Idea and Details Rags to Riches
Read a short text and then choose its main idea in this Rags to Riches style game.