Curated OER
Summarizing with Post It Notes
Students practice summarizing articles using post-it notes. They gather information for their own article and summarize it as well. They are assessed by their teachers and the quality of their notes.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Reading for Main Idea and Supporting Ideas (English Iii Reading)
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] You will learn to find and analyze the main idea and supporting ideas in a variety of texts.
Other
Prezi: Main Idea and Supporting Details
Slideshow investigates how to find the main idea and key details of a story.
Other
Scribd.: Kindergarten Reading Comprehension Lesson Plan: Main Idea and Details
A five-day lesson plan to teach students how to find the main idea of a story and generate a title, identify facts and details from a story, and differentiate between main idea and supporting details.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Explain the Controlling Idea, Purpose, and Distinguish Details
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, students will learn how to pinpoint the controlling idea, which not only identifies the main idea, but also answers questions about the author's goal or...
University of Houston
University of Houston: Atlantis: Main Idea Story 1
An exercise in finding the main idea. Read a short nonfiction paragraph about Texas, and click on the correct main idea.
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.
Other
Landmark School Outreach: Finding the Main Idea
This reading strategy resource provides steps for identifying the main idea of an informational text. Example informational text paragraphs are provided, along with detailed explanations for the processes used in identifying the main...
![Florida Center for Reading Research: Classifying Info [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://content.lessonplanet.com/knovation/original/509096-8cdfbf6a2bb73b8aba0c98e84cd1f596.jpg?1661786980 "Florida Center for Reading Research: Classifying Info [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
Florida Center for Reading Research
Florida Center for Reading Research: Classifying Info [Pdf]
A lesson plan in which students read a text and complete a graphic organizer to find the main idea and supporting details. Materials are included.
Quia
Quia: Reading: Finding the Main Idea
Students read forty short texts and choose the main idea of each text. Correct answers are provided for any missed, and the score is tallied along the way.
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...
Other
Internet4classrooms:3rd Grade Skills Builder: Main Idea
This interactive Language Arts skill-building site provides links to interactive activities that focus on finding the main idea of a reading selection. Online lessons, games and quizzes challenges students understanding of main idea.
TES Global
Blendspace: Main Idea Activities
A learning module that includes six links to videos, images, graphic organizers, and websites that reinforce the reading skill of finding the main idea.
TES Global
Blendspace: Main Idea
A learning module that includes six links to videos, images, and websites that reinforce the reading skill of finding the main idea.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: The Technology Trip [Pdf]
"The Technology Trip" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about children who planned a trip to the museum using the Internet to find the bus schedule. On the way, the bus was hit by a car so another bus had to take them. It is...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Making Progress [Pdf]
"Making Progress" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about students clearing the trash from a vacant lot near the school and planting a garden to beautify the neighborhood and show they care. It is followed by constructed-response...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My Community [Pdf]
"My Community" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a child talking about how his community has changed since his grandmother moved into that neighborhood 50 years earlier. It is followed by constructed-response questions...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: My New Brother [Pdf]
"My New Brother" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about child whose mother has just had new baby boy. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes:...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Pigeon Express [Pdf]
"Pigeon Express" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a man who had carrier pigeons and sent messages to his sister on the other side of town everyday. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Summer [Pdf]
"Summer" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a mother and her two children traveling from the city to the country to visit her parents for the summer. They discuss the modern conveniences they have now like cell phones and...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Mama's Happy Christmas [Pdf]
"Mama's Happy Christmas" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about children creating a play for their sick mother on Christmas day. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from...