Other
Mt. San Antonio College: Finding the Main Idea
This resource provides practice for students in locating where a main idea sentences is located in an informational paragraph. Guided questions are provided for each practice passage.
Curated OER
Mc Graw Hill: Informational Text: Determine Central Ideas and Supporting Details
Read a short informational text and determine the main idea and supporting details. Click to check your answers then click on Practice.
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.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Topic & Main Idea
[Free Registration/Login Required] Recognizing the main idea is the key to good comprehension. The main idea is a general idea under which fits all the supporting material of the passage or paragraph. Learn and use three strategies that...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Annotate and Analyze a Paired Passage: Practice 1
In this lesson, students will read and annotate a pair of texts to make inferences, draw conclusions, and synthesize ideas and details using textual evidence.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Annotate and Analyze a Paired Passage: Practice 2
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, students will read and annotate a pair of texts to make inferences, draw conclusions, and synthesize ideas and details using textual evidence.
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.
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: Lessons From Fishing
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a fiction text about a boy named Morgan who loved to fish and answer questions about comprehension, comparing details, supporting details, main idea, vocabulary, and more. Links to a...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: Making a Storyboard
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a nonfiction text about a girl whose aunt is a children's book author and answer questions about comprehension, sequencing, supporting details, main idea, vocabulary, and more. Links to a...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: Letter From Jackie Robinson on Civil Rights
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a Civil Rights letter from Jackie Robinson and answer questions about comprehension, persuasive text, supporting details, inferences, main idea, and more. Links to a paired text and paired...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: The Unknown Hall of Famer
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a nonfiction text about baseball Hall of Famer George "Lolin" Osorio and answer questions about comprehension, supporting details, inferences, main idea, transitions, and more. Links to a...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: The Noisiest Cat
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a fiction text about a girl and her pet cat and answer questions about comprehension, conflict, supporting details, main idea, and more. Links to a paired text and paired text questions...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: The Film Editor
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a nonfiction text about the job of a film editor and answer questions about comprehension, supporting details, inferencing, main idea, and more. Links to a paired text and paired text...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: The Process of Acting
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a nonfiction text about what it takes to be an actor and answer questions about comprehension, main idea, supporting details, vocabulary, transitions, and more. Links to a paired text and...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: A Shell Is Great Protection
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read an informational text about turtles and answers questions about reading comprehension, supporting details, main idea, and more. Links to a paired text and paired text questions are provided.
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: An Elephant's Excellent Trunk
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read an informational text about elephants and answers questions about reading comprehension, supporting details, main idea, and more. Links to a paired text and paired text questions are...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: John's Bright Idea [Pdf]
"John's Bright Idea" is a one page, fictional, reading passage about a mother and children who help a poor boy to support his family. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the...
Quia
Quia: Crct Practice: Main Idea
An interactive quiz with seven multiple choice questions over four short reading passages. Questions focus on identifying the main ideas and supporting details and choosing an appropriate summary. When finished, students can submit...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Seasons on the Prairie [Pdf]
"Seasons on the Prairie" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about what grew in the prairie each season. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: choosing five important...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Transportation Changes [Pdf]
"Transportation Changes" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the history of transportation across both land and sea. It is followed by 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: Seasons on the Prairie [Pdf]
"Seasons on the Prairie" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the different seasons in the prairie and the lighting fires that help prairie plants grow. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Seasons on the Prairie [Pdf]
"Seasons on the Prairie" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about what its like during each season on the prairie. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it includes: determining...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Traveling West [Pdf]
"Traveling West" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the difficult journey west for pioneers traveling in wagon trains and how the railroad made traveling west much easier and faster. It is followed by questions which...
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Today's Telephone [Pdf]
"Today's Telephone" is a one page, nonfiction, reading passage about the history of the telephone from the telegraph to land-lines, to cell phones. It is followed by questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it...