Main Idea and Details Worksheets and Anchor Charts Activities

I’m back with another blog post in the Exploring ELA blog series. This blog post will give background knowledge and teaching ideas using main topic and main idea and key details worksheets and anchor charts. They will cover standards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-grade students.

Main topic and main idea can give students a tough time. This may be a standard that you introduce in seclusion but should be practiced continuously with nonfiction texts. This is what we would consider a foundational skill that will be spiraled in content throughout the year.

Main Idea and Main Topic Lessons and Activities For The Classroom

Additionally, after teaching students how to identify main topic or main idea, you’ll also need to teach key details to support it. Then they can practice that skill throughout the year. Here is a breakdown of the Common Core standards for kindergarten through fourth grade.

Kindergarten- With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
1st grade- Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
2nd grade- Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
3rd grade- Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
4th grade- Determine the main idea of a text and explain how key details support it; summarize the text.

In a nutshell:

Kindergarten and 1st Grade simply require students to identify the topic. Then, in 2nd grade is the same, but with higher level texts. Next, 3rd grade is where the standard transitions from main topic to main idea. This will require more thought processes from the student, which is how CCSS functions. They add more difficult skills within the same standard through the elementary years.

And this is where I can try to help you! Here are a few guidelines or tips for tackling this tricky standard… Read below to get more details on each!

Introducing Main Topic
Teaching It With and Without Texts
Focus on Key Details
Comparing Main Topic and Main Idea
Using Main Idea and Details worksheets and passages

1. Introducing Main Topic

For 1st and 2nd graders, finding the main topic of a text is the first essential skill they will need for this standard thread.

[Source: Joyful Learning in KC]

To start, you can practice identifying overall topics or ideas with non-text materials. Above, you will see a straightforward activity that gives a very early glimpse at main idea and main topic. Draw pictures of things that go together or you snag some pictures on Google if you want to make them apply to informational texts, too. This is great for showing images and having a Mix-Pair-Share activity with students to identify and compare main topics.

(Source: Creative Colorful Classroom)

You will need an anchor chart with the terms defined (and possibly the steps for practicing the skill). This can be as simple as writing the definition of main topic and key details. And, remember can always add to anchor charts later with sticky notes!

Making Your Main Idea and Details Anchor Charts Interactive

Having one anchor chart to refer to over and over again through your main topic/main idea lessons is a great tool for reinforcing learning. In this example, the teacher involved her students in the creation of the anchor chart, which really appeals to me.

Next, here are two other examples of anchor charts that you can use with your whole group. First, split the page into four squares and have students write the main topic on a Post-It note. As they learn about key details, come back to this text and activity, and add the newly learned key details. Or, create a visual that is easy for students to remember, like an ice cream cone! Both of these will help students when they are identifying the main topic/idea and key details on their own.

2. Teaching Main Topic With and Without Texts

Students need many, many opportunities to get their hands on texts to practice finding the main topic. However, texts are not the only way they can practice this skill. Simply start with graphic organizers or Main Idea and Details worksheets to practice!

Scaffolding Your Lessons

Start simply and then scaffold your instruction to build upon your students’ skill progression. So, using pictures or physical objects is a great place to begin! The idea below is great as a visual to help reinforce the idea of Main Topic/ Main Idea and key details.

(Source: Unknown on Pinterest)

You can also transfer this idea to skill applications with texts when students are ready. Students can use crayons to decode their nonfiction text, underlining the main idea and details. This concept can also be used when teaching informational writing.

Using Main Idea and Details worksheets

Additionally, graphic organizers are great tools for students to learn about main topic and main idea. They will help students organize their thoughts and ideas and eventually, students will begin to think about the skills in a compartmentalized way.

Give the students many opportunities to read texts and answer questions about main topic or main idea. They will need to get their hands on real informational texts in book form to practice with, but they will also need many opportunities to use text that they can write and mark all over. Underlining their texts and marking their text where they found their answers are excellent practices for students to do. Give them hands-on comprehension activities and Main Idea and Details worksheets to strengthen that skill.

Finally, don’t limit the kids to only learning about main topics with informational texts. Matching topics with photographs, partner talking, and personal writing are all ideas to practice main topic without using books or texts. Let them pretend to be the author. Depending on the level of writing experience, have students either write one paragraph about a given topic or have them write their own entire passage on the main topic.

3. Focus on Key Details with Main Idea and Details Worksheets and Passages

Once students have found the ability to identify the main topic (or main idea), they need to be able to support that main topic or main idea with text evidence or key details.

Allow them to practice with passages, as I showed you in step 2, or nonfiction texts such as these National Geographic books. On the left, you will see a nonfiction text about books and a Main Idea and Details worksheets that focuses on main topic, key details, and text evidence. On the right, you will see an interactive notebook activity where students work independently to read about solar systems and planets, then fill out the three key details for the main topic.

4. Comparing Main Topic and Main Idea

In 3rd grade, learning begins to change from topic to idea. This requires a bit more skill from the students because they’re not only finding a topic; they’re now finding the argument or idea from the author.

(Source: Brain Pop Jr. YouTube)

This free video will help your third graders set up the difference between main topic and main idea. Stop the video throughout and have students turn and talk with partners to discuss their new knowledge. Refer back to the video throughout your unit, trying to trigger any knowledge they picked up from the video.

Students will need multiple ways of practicing main topic vs. main idea because coming up shortly; the main topic will not be something they’re asked to identify. It will eventually be phased out in the progression of this informational standard. Meaning, once they’ve mastered the main topic skill and truly learned the difference between the two skills, they won’t need to focus on it anymore. And once they’ve mastered comparing the two, focus on continuous main idea practice during the unit. And don’t forget to incorporate Main Idea and Details worksheets throughout the year to cycle the skill and keep it fresh in their minds.

5. Suggested Read Alouds

Read alouds and mentor texts are incredibly important to model the skill of main idea and main topic. I’ve listed six possible book titles to use while teaching main idea and main topic, however, almost all informational texts are great to use to test the skill. All the books that are linked in this blog post are affiliate Amazon links.