Identifying the Main Idea in Fiction

Does your child have trouble understanding the main points of non-fiction? Education.com offers worksheets and lesson plans on everything from sea creatures to science. With gentle and structured guidance on the process of reading a text and asking follow-up questions, your child will soon figure out the main topic all by herself. For more advanced readers, check out our characters, setting, and events in fiction texts resources.

Most books and articles have multiple themes but one central topic. The Learning Library’s resources on identifying the main topic in nonfiction help students cut through the weeds and discover what’s most important. There are printable worksheets, comprehensive workbooks, alluring hands-on activities, and teacher-created lesson plans that are focused specifically on pinpointing the big picture.

Many of the worksheets are composed with interesting excerpts—like the popular Video Games: Not Just for Fun challenge—that ask follow-up questions to help students determine the text’s main point. Other worksheets hone reading comprehension while introducing students to overlooked characters in history, such as Madam C.J. Walker who was born to slaves and yet became the first woman to earn a million dollars in the U.S.

A mix of lesson plans that serve a variety of age levels is available in the resource center. Highly-rated examples include Activist Heroes, where students determine the main topic by reading excerpts about leaders in history such as Frederick Douglass. Another popular worksheet, Super Survival Skills, assigns students to reiterate excerpts on outdoor survival.

These lessons along with the interactive hands-on activities ensure students of all grade levels get the gist.