What is this skill?
The main idea is what a paragraph or passage is mostly about. The details are the smaller facts that support it. In a paragraph about firefighters, the main idea is that they do many jobs, while putting out fires, rescuing people and visiting schools are the details. Second graders learn to tell the two apart, which is much harder than it sounds, since a detail can be the most interesting thing in the paragraph.
This practice uses short nonfiction passages on subjects such as honeybees, why we need sleep and taking care of a pet dog, plus single paragraphs about things like how a frog grows. Children pick what a paragraph is mostly about, decide whether a statement such as "owls have soft feathers" is the main idea or just one detail, choose the sentence that states the main idea, and find which choice is a detail and not the main idea.
Why it matters
From third grade on, more and more reading is for learning about a subject, and a child cannot remember every fact on a page. Finding the main idea is how readers decide what matters and what the facts add up to. It is the beginning of note-taking, summarizing and studying, all of which depend on pulling the big point away from the small ones.
It helps writing as well. A child who can see the main idea in someone else's paragraph is learning how to build their own: say the point, then give a few details that back it up. That structure is at the heart of most of the school writing that comes later, in every subject.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a detail that stuck in memory. If a paragraph on owls mentions they can turn their heads almost all the way around, a child may say that is what it is about. Ask, "Is that what all the sentences are about, or just one?"
- Picking something too broad. A paragraph on Jamal's favorite season is about more than winter in general, and more specific than "fun things." The main idea should fit the whole paragraph and nothing much beyond it.
- Assuming the first sentence always holds the main idea. It often does in the simple paragraphs here, and a quick reader may come to rely on that. Have your child check that the other sentences really support it.
How to help at home
- After reading a page of a nonfiction book, ask, "If you had to tell me what that page was about in one sentence, what would you say?"
- Try the hand trick: the palm is the main idea and each finger is a detail that holds it up. Trace a hand on paper and fill it in for a paragraph.
- Give a title to a paragraph or a family story. A good title is really a main idea, and children enjoy being the one who names it.
- At dinner, ask your child to tell you the main thing that happened today, then one or two details. It is the same skill, and they are the expert.
Worked examples
These are real questions from the Tutorsaurus finding the main idea practice, with the answers worked out.
Example 1
What is the main idea?
Honeybees at Work Honeybees are busy insects. They live together in a hive with thousands of other bees. Each bee has a job. Worker bees fly from flower to flower to collect nectar. Back at the hive, they turn the nectar into honey. Some bees guard the door to keep the hive safe. Others take care of the baby bees. The queen bee lays all the eggs. Every bee in the hive helps in some way. Working together, honeybees can make enough honey to last through the winter.
Choices: Honey is sweet., Every bee in a hive has a job., Bees have wings.
Answer: Every bee in a hive has a job. The whole passage is about the different jobs bees do in the hive.
Example 2
What is the main idea?
Winter is Jamal's favorite season. He loves building snow forts with his cousins. He likes sipping hot cocoa by the window. Most of all, he loves sledding down the big hill at the park.
Choices: Hills are big., Jamal loves winter., Cocoa is hot.
Answer: Jamal loves winter. All the details are things Jamal loves about winter, so the main idea is that Jamal loves winter.
Example 3
Which is a detail, NOT the main idea?
Recycling helps the Earth. When we recycle paper, fewer trees are cut down. Recycling cans and bottles means less trash in landfills. It even saves energy.
Choices: Fewer trees are cut down., Recycling is important for the planet., Recycling helps the Earth.
Answer: Fewer trees are cut down. Fewer trees being cut down is one small fact. The big idea is that recycling helps the Earth.