Do your students struggle to find the main idea and supporting details of a paragraph, passage, or story? This seasonal bundle of short reading passages with graphic organizers make it easy for students to pinpoint the main idea. Supporting details are strategically placed so that students can easily practice identifying those small details that support the main idea. With repeated practice all year long, your students will eventually be able to explain how the details of the passage support the main idea.

These PRINT & DIGITAL main idea practice activities include high-interest nonfiction reading passages that will spark the interest of students and encourage active participation and learning. The main idea in these passages can be found in the first, second, or third sentence of each paragraph.

A scaffolded approach!

When teaching main idea and supporting details, it’s important to start small and basic. With this resource, you can provide your students with short, easy-to-read paragraphs with an obvious main idea and easy-to-find supporting details to choose from. This strategy helps students get in the habit of focusing on what the text is mostly about. It also allows students to pinpoint key ideas that support and help describe the main idea.

This main idea and supporting details bundle includes 5 different resources that start easy and gradually build on each other throughout the year.

Non-Seasonal Main Idea & Supporting Details (main idea found in the first sentence, perfect for beginners just starting to learn how to find the main idea and supporting details)
Fall Main Idea & Supporting Details (main idea mostly found in the first sentence some passages include the main idea in the second or third sentence of the paragraph)
Christmas Main Idea & Supporting Details (main idea may be found in the first sentence, second sentence, or last sentence of the paragraph, written about topics students may "wonder" about
Winter Main Idea & Supporting Details (main idea may be found in the first sentence, second sentence, third sentence, or last sentence of the paragraph)
Spring Main Idea & Supporting Details (main idea may be found anywhere from the first sentence to the fifth sentence of the paragraph)

In this download, you will get:

92 Printable Nonfiction Reading Passages with Graphic Organizers
Google Slides Digital Version
TpT Easel Activity Digital Version
Answer Keys

You can use these main idea practice activities as:

individual printable worksheets
a printable practice packet
digital Google Slides assignments
a TpT Digital Activity

⭐ The digital versions of these resources were created in Google Slides. Each reading passage comes with its own Google link so that you can digitally assign these activities individually to your students.

These activities are perfect for:

whole group instruction
morning work
small groups
independent desk work
assessments
early finishers
homework
sub plans, and so much more!

Suggestions for Use:

Depending on how much your students know about finding the main idea will depend on how you use these non-fiction reading passages. Third-grade students may need modeling of the activity before completing one on their own. Fourth-grade students should easily be able to find the main idea and supporting details after a brief introduction. Fifth-grade students could use these passages to review third and fourth-grade skills on finding the main idea and supporting details.

Teachers like you said…

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I really love and appreciate this resource. The passages were short but detailed enough for the students to pull the main idea and details from. I also love the print and digital options so that I can meet the needs of both my in-person and virtual students. The topics were well chosen and had many different concepts. Thank you so much! – ABoldtofCreativity

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I love the variety of passages. With all of the passages, I can use some for teaching and others for independent work. The passages are engaging and interesting to my students. Thanks for such a complete and great resource!! – Jennifer S.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This product is exactly what I needed while teaching my 3rd graders virtually. Not only was it easy to implement, but the reading passages were really engaging to my students. I was able to display my screen to my students and walk them through the process of how to use this resource. Then, they were able to tell me how to successfully complete it. Soon, all of my students were completing this activity on their own and successfully identifying the main idea and supporting details within the passage. They really looked forward to this! I recommended it to all of my teacher friends. Thank you for a great product! – Mountain Teaching in the 21st Century

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is an excellent resource to help students grasp the difficult concept of main idea! The lesson bundle is VERY thorough and provides plenty of opportunities for reinforcement, review, and mastery! – Sherri J.

Extension Activity:

RI.4.2 asks students to not only determine the main idea and supporting details but to also summarize the text. Once students have completed the activity, you could have them use their web including the main idea and three supporting details to write a summary of the text.

Supports Common Core Standards (CCSS):

RI.3.2

RI.4.2

RI.5.2

Main Idea & Supporting Details Activities Graphic Organizers Central Idea Bundle

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