K12 Reader
The Magna Carta
A passage about the Magna Carta provides readers with an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in an article.
Curated OER
Main Idea/Detail Relay
Fourth graders discuss the difference between main ideas and supporting details. They use large placement cards made by the teacher with main idea and supporting detail statements on them to practice.
Curated OER
What's The Idea?
Quite often, learners confuse the main idea in a selection of reading with the supporting details. In this lesson, pupils practice the skill of finding the main idea and the supporting details in pieces of writing. Newspaper articles...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Music and the Brain
Even if you've never picked up a musical instrument, chances are that music has directly impacted your mental and emotional development. Sixth graders engage in a reading activity in which they read two articles on the impact of music on...
EngageNY
Analyzing Main Ideas and Supporting Details: “Growing Up Digital”
Young scholars continue their exploration of adolescent brain development by reading an informational text, "Growing Up Digital," by Matt Richtel. Then, with partners, they complete note-catcher worksheets to capture the article's main...
Curated OER
Finding the Main Idea
Being able to identify the main idea in a text is an essential comprehension skill. After the term is defined, viewers examine a series of paragraphs and are asked to identify the main idea and the supporting details.
Curated OER
Main Idea and Supporting Details
Young readers locate the main ideas and supporting details while they read. Students will answer questions pertaining to the main ideas found in three different reading passages.
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension 1: Level 9
The Iditarod Trail and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are the focus of a comprehension assessment. Readers must identify the main idea of the passage, draw inferences, define words using context clues, and identify the organizational...
Curated OER
Spinelli's Maniac Magee (excerpt): Reading and Critical Thinking Practice
A brief, dialogue-rich passage from Jerry Spinelli's novel Maniac Magee is accompanied by a well-written literacy assessment tool. Thematic content lends itself to age-appropriate discussions about race relations and social justice....
Curated OER
Main Idea and Supporting Details
Eighth graders identify the main idea and supporting details in paragraphs. In this language arts lesson, 8th graders review organizational patterns in paragraphs and determine which pattern is best for a given situation. Individually,...
Curated OER
Main Idea
What could you pack for a trip if you don't know the destination? After writing a list of items they would want to bring, fourth graders learn that the "trip" is to the South Pole - revealing the need to understand all available...
Curated OER
The Emperor and the Kite
Fourth graders develop critical listening skills and answer four questions related to the story, THE EMPEROR AND THE KITE. They identify the main idea and recall a question that involves making a judgment.
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Text-Dependent Questions and Vivid Words and Phrases
In the third activity from this unit based on the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, learners focus on using specific details from the text-to-answer questions about the habitat of bullfrogs. While reading the text, young...
Curated OER
Classifying Information About a Main Idea
Elementary learners explore language arts by completing a text identification activity. They discuss the importance of a main idea in a story or paper and how to present it properly. Then they practice identifying the main idea in sample...
Curated OER
Using Pictures to Support the Main Idea
Second graders practice using photos to support the main idea. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, 2nd graders read and explore the photos in the book, Amazing Tigers! Students examine the photos to identify and support...
Curated OER
Main Idea and Supporting Details
Pupils identify main idea and supporting details from a short reading selection using a two-column note taking process. For this literacy lesson, students work in groups of three to four, then compare their papers with the other groups'...
Curated OER
Main Idea and Details
For this main idea and details worksheet, students read the paragraphs and the examples sentences. Students write if the sentences are a main idea or detail to complete the 8 examples.
DePaul University
Settlement
Early settlers in the American Midwest experienced constant struggle. This reading passage describes for young learners the hardships of homesteaders as they journeyed west and sought to start a new life. When finished, students identify...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Text-Dependent Questions and Vivid Words and Phrases
As 3rd graders continue reading Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, they focus on the concepts of predator and prey in the fifth lesson plan of this unit. Scholars further develop their ability to answer questions using evidence from the text...
EngageNY
Summarizing and Synthesizing: Planning for Writing an Apprentice Wanted Ad
In instructional activity 13 of this unit on colonial trade, young researchers learn about apprentices as they prepare to write help-wanted ads for the specific trade they have been researching. To begin, the class listens closely as the...
K12 Reader
Dolphins
Dolphins are the focus of a short comprehension exercise that asks readers to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in the passage.
K12 Reader
Ben Franklin
Readers are asked to use the provided graphic organizer to list the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage about the inventions of Benjamin Franklin.
K12 Reader
Solar Eclipse
A passage about solar eclipses provides readers with an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in an article.
K12 Reader
Call of the Wild
Using a paragraph from Jack London's Call of the Wild, readers demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in a passage.