Links to 44 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard SL.3.2: Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually,...

To understand a text, you must understand the central idea of the story. Learn how to recognize the central idea and supporting details with this article. Click the links at bottom right.

This site offers links to several lesson plans for teaching main ideas to first and second graders; it also provides and explains some activities for teaching the main idea to first graders.

See an example of how to determine the main ideas and supporting details of a story.

Where did Miss Nelson go? We look at the key details in the text to determine what is happening throughout the story. Students will locate and record key details about story elements (characters, setting, problem, solution, and theme) in...

In this lesson plan for 3rd to 5th grade, after reading a story, student write the main idea on a cloud and clip it to a clothesline or bulletin board, and other students can write supporting details on raindrops and clip them to the...

[Free Registration/Login Required] A series of three lesson plans designed to teach students to identify main ideas through headings and chapter titles, and then to write appropriate titles of their own. Lessons are based on the books...

An interactive quiz with four short passages and thirteen multiple choice and extended response questions focusing on main ideas and supporting details. Students can access all passages and questions without an account, but a free...

This lesson operates on the Scaffold Instructional of Release model (I do, we do, you do). Students will use the main idea and supporting details to expand understanding of a variety of texts.

[Free Registration/Login Required] Five little monkeys sitting on a bed or sitting in a tree? In this close reading lesson, learners will compare and contrast the actions of the characters in two of Eileen Christelow's beloved books,...

Smithsonian Education presents a lesson covering the WWII's propaganda program which enforced the ideals of Civic Responsibility. Provides eight pages of poster examples, detailed background over the time period, and the goals of the...

A printable graphic organizer for students to use when writing on opinion or persuasive essay. Directions on how to use this type of graphic organizer as well as lists of teaching ideas, lesson plans, and other resources are also...

This instructional activity uses the story Corduroy by Don Freeman to teach the main idea and supporting details of a story, as well as what we mean by the character's point of view. The instructional activity is done using print...

This tutorial focuses on supporting details using a video of a paragraph from a book showing the topic sentence and two strong, reliable, supporting details. This is followed by a slideshow that stresses the need for variety in the types...

In this lesson for early readers, students will describe the major events in the plot, describe the characters, and ask and answer questions about the first chapter in Frog and Toad Are Friends---Spring.

Students practice finding the central idea and summary of a nonfiction piece about sea turtle nesting.

A definition of theme or central idea along with a link to a practice activity. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2

This is a one-page nonfiction excerpt from JFK's Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires students to provide evidence from the story; it includes underlining the most important...

This activity asks students to differentiate between main ideas and supporting details.

A Seed Discussion is a two-part strategy used to teach students how to engage in discussions about assigned readings. In the first part, students read selected text and identify "seeds" or key concepts of a passage which may need...