Main Idea and Supporting Details Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Main Idea and Supporting Details Worksheets

Main idea is something we have to teach all year. Wouldn’t it be nice to have ready-to-go worksheets and graphic organizers right at your fingertips?

These no-prep activities teach students to find and discriminate between the main idea and supporting details in a hands-on and engaging way.

WHAT YOU WILL GET:

This resource includes two different types of worksheets to practice reading strategies.

• 8 Reading Comprehension Worksheets – On each page, students will read a short story or informational passage and then use the text to answer comprehension questions. After completing this page, they will move on to the main idea and details activity:

• 8 Main Idea & Details Worksheets – These go along with the reading passages. Each page has a cut-and-glue graphic organizer. Students cut out four statements found in the comprehension story and glue them onto the graphic organizer to show which is the main idea and which are the supporting key details.

In most of the passages, the main idea is explicitly stated. However, in several it is implied. There are plenty of details in the text to help readers determine the main point.

OTHER SKILLS INCLUDED:

While these activities are designed to help teach main idea, some of the comprehension questions include practice with other reading skills as well including:

• sequencing

• cause and effect

• making inferences

• using context to determine meaning

• finding text evidence

When answering the comprehension questions, I like to have my students highlight where they found the answers (as pictured on the cover). This shows me that they referred back to the text to find the information and reinforces the importance of using text evidence.

• A New Dog

• Helpful Trees

• How We Get Our Mail

• Our Sun

• Frogs and Toads

• Helen Keller

• The Big Storm (implied main idea)

• A Day at the Fair (implied main idea)

STANDARDS SUPPORTED BY THIS RESOURCE

CCSSRI.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

CCSSRI.2.2 Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

How to use these main idea and details worksheets:

These worksheets work well as homework, in literacy centers, or even for assessment. They are also excellent for students with a main idea IEP goal because they let you easily target the skill and collect specific data. The hands-on features are ideal for keeping students engaged.

WHAT OTHER TEACHERS HAVE SAID

❤️ Shannon S. said, “The kids like the interactive nature of these. The cutting and pasting breaks up the monotony of reading and answering questions.”

❤️ Meredith W. said, “I loved this print and go resource for my students! They were struggling with the idea of main idea and details, or finding the topic of a paragraph. This resource helped them to gain an understanding of how main ideas and details are found in a paragraph and then were able to apply it to their own writing.

❤️ Zoe C. said, “Amazing resource to help my students go back to the text to find the answers. This really helps guide their thinking and be intentional when answering questions.”