Main idea and supporting details is an important reading standard to teach. Getting our young scholars to understand the concept of main idea can be difficult, but with the right activities and main idea lessons, it’s possible! I am excited to share my favorite and fun activities to teach this important reading standard in 1st and 2nd grade.
Make sure to check out our list of books and mentor texts to teach main idea and main topic as well. They can be paired with most of the main idea activities listed below! Keep reading for different ways to teach and review main idea below.
Using A Whole Group Sort
When introducing a new reading comprehension skill, I like using whole group sorts and an anchor chart. When teaching main idea and key details, the whole group sort is like this: we will sort the main idea and the supporting details into separate columns onto a blank anchor chart paper or on the whiteboard and then we will pair the main idea and supporting details together. We know that main idea goes much deeper than a picture, however; this is a great way to introduce the concept so that students can see there is a main idea (or the big picture) and then the details that support it.
For this activity, you can use our cards that are included in our main idea reading unit or you can create your own from Google images.
Mystery Bags For Teaching Main Idea
Mystery Bags are a popular way to teach main idea and supporting details. It is actually one of my favorite activities for teaching this important reading skill. The idea is that you gather a few different things that belong to the same main topic and you put them in a brown paper bag to create main idea bags. For this activity, we have separate cards for each bag.
One bag contains pictures of: a bag of soil, seed packets, shovel, and a watering can. So, the main topic would be gardening. Students are grouped into 4-5 students and look at the bags together. They write their answer for the main topic of the mystery bag on their own recording sheet and then the bag is rotated among the groups. At the end of this activity, I like to bring my small groups back together with the whole group to discuss what the different main ideas of each bag were. That way, we can go over any misconceptions there were about the mystery bags.
Graphic Organizers For Teaching Main Idea
When teaching main idea and supporting details, it helps to use graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are a form of concept mapping that can help students visualize and organize their ideas while reading. I like these main idea graphic organizers because it is clearly organized that the main idea is the big picture (hence why it is large and at the top of the page) and that the supporting details are pieces of the main idea. Since they are a concept map, you can easily see the trail of how it trickles down (main idea at the top and supporting details underneath).
One of my favorite books for teaching main idea is The Important Book. It is a great book to use when practicing using a graphic organizer in 1st grade and 2nd grade. The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown has an item on each page and discusses why that item is important. It gives many different examples of why it is important. You could use the graphic organizer to say the main idea of the page is the item and then the supporting details are the important reasons. For example, the main idea is snow. Details would be that it is cold, it is white, and that it melts.
What's The Details?
This main idea activity is perfect for small groups or students needing extra support. For this activity, you will need index cards and the whiteboard. On the whiteboard, write different main topics, such as picnic food, tools, and birthday parties. Then, on index cards, write different details such as: sandwiches, chips, yogurt, cookies, hammer, drill, wrench, birthday hat, balloons, pinata, etc. Give each student a detail card and they have to decide which main topic it would support. This opens up for a great conversation about why they chose one over the other.
Questions to ask during this activity:
- Why did you put hammer until tools? Why couldn’t it go under birthday party? You could use a hammer during a birthday party, right? Students should be able to answer that yes, you can use a hammer during a birthday party to put up a sign; however, it is a key detail of a tool more than it would be for a birthday party.
- Could any of these items be in more than one main idea? What about a main idea that’s not listed?
Main Idea Write The Room
Write The Room activities have always been a popular and well-loved activity in my classroom. I hang the cards up around the room and students go in pairs with their clipboards and recording sheets to each card and answer the question. I have used Write The Room activities in math a lot, but I particularly love them for a reading comprehension skill. This particular set of Write The Room has pictures or sentences and students must figure out what the main idea or key details are. The questions range from more simple, one answer questions to more complex.
For example, one card shows a jumprope, slide, hopscotch, chalk, and four square. The main idea would be things you do at recess. However, another card shows a cement truck. The card says “The main idea is vehicle. Here’s one key detail. What’s another key detail you could add?” Students would need to think of another vehicle that would match this vehicle, like a backhoe. Write The Room is always a fun activity to get your students up and moving. You can pair students together if you will have students who need reading support. Alternatively, you can do this in small groups if the whole group would not work.
Main Idea Bulletin Board Ideas
Wanting to change up your bulletin board? These craftivities are a fun way to add some reading flair to your hallway!
Warm Up With The Main Idea!
With this craftivity, you will read a book (I suggest Sneezy The Snowman) to your students. Then, they will write the main idea on the mug. The supporting details will be written or drawn on the marshmallows.
What's The Scoop?
Another fun bulletin board idea is to use this What’s The Scoop activity. Read a book to your students (I suggest Should I Share My Ice Cream? for this one!). Then, they will write the main idea on the dish and the important details on each ice cream scoop.
Main Idea Reading Passages
Besides using mentor texts to teach young students any reading skill, I like to use a short passage that clearly shows the comprehension skill we are learning. These main idea reading passages have shorter passages for students to identify the main idea and key details. The passages generally have a clear topic sentence, which helps students determine what the main point is. Students read the short passage and then answer what the main idea is and one supporting detail. They also illustrate the story. Some students can use these as independent practice, however; I have typically used these reading passages in whole group or in small reading groups.
How To Use In Small Reading Groups
I always found it difficult to find appropriate short texts with the comprehension skill for students. So often, the short texts we have for small groups do not have a main idea or even an interesting story. So, when teaching a reading comprehension skill I like to use the reading passages from the reading unit. This way, we can read the short passage together (or I can read it depending on the students) and we can discuss what we think the main idea is together. Then, we can practice highlighting the main idea and underlining different key details. When in a smaller setting, students will be able to see how these short passages are broken down (where the main idea is in the topic sentence). Our reading unit includes both fiction and nonfiction reading passages.
Using Printable Worksheets For Main Idea
Have students struggling with identifying the main idea and supporting details? We have no prep pages with a more visual representation which will help! You can use these with your non-struggling students as well! Students would pair together the pictures that make the most sense together and then need to come up with the main idea, or what the pictures are mostly about. In another main idea worksheet, students will look at the group of pictures together and then need to decide which main idea makes the most sense.
Main Idea Reading Centers
You can add even more main idea support in your reading centers. These centers were designed to keep your students engaged with learning and identifying the main idea.
The Main Toppings
This center is probably my favorite because hello… pizza! Students read the main idea on the pizza and then put the correct pepperoni on the pizza!
Baking Up Main Idea
Students read the main idea on the baking sheet and then put the correct cookies on the baking sheet to show the supporting details.
Main Idea Puzzles
Students piece together the puzzles by main idea and then place the correct main idea label above it.
Main Idea Passages
Make sure you laminate these so students can use dry erase marker with them! Students use their dry erase markers to underline the main idea and key details. This one requires more reading so this may need to be reserved for reading groups or for students who are ready for this independent practice.
My biggest tip? Identifying the main idea and supporting details is a yearlong skill so make sure you give first and second graders plenty of practice to strengthen their main idea skills! These activities are a great place to start!
You can find these activities in our Main Idea Reading Unit! Our main idea reading unit is designed to help you teach the concept of main idea and main topic, without having to find additional supplemental activities. It should be your one stop shop for teaching this important reading skill!
Buy it on TPT here.
Buy it on Missing Tooth Grins here.
Want this main idea reading unit and more? You can plan your entire school year of reading units with our reading comprehension bundle!
