What’s the Big Idea? (Main Idea)
This tells you what the story is mostly about.
What is the main idea?
These are the small pieces of information that support the main idea.
What are key details?
This is the order in which things happen in a story.
What is sequence?
This is a smart guess you make based on what the text says and what you already know.
What is an inference?
This is the part of the story that tells what it’s mostly about.
What is the main idea?
The main idea of a story about a boy who finds a lost dog and returns it might be this.
What is helping others is important?
If the main idea is “Rainforests are important,” a key detail might be this.
What is rainforests give us oxygen?
First, she opened the book. Next, she read a chapter. Last, she closed it. What is the correct sequence?
What is she opened the book, read a chapter, then closed it?
The girl had a big smile and jumped up and down. What can you infer?
What is she is excited or happy?
“Harper baked cookies and shared them with her class.” This is an example of what kind of detail?
What is a key detail?
In an article about recycling, this would likely be the main idea.
What is recycling helps protect the environment?
A story about a girl building a treehouse mentions she used wood and nails. That’s an example of this.
What is a key detail?
In what order do you plant a seed, water it, and see it grow?
What is plant, water, then grow?
The ground was wet and the sky was cloudy. What probably happened?
What is it rained?
The steps to making a sandwich are part of this type of comprehension skill.
What is sequencing?
A story talks about a girl training for a race and learning to never give up. This is likely the main idea.
What is perseverance pays off?
The text says, “The boy felt scared when the lights went out.” What does this detail tell you?
What is the boy was afraid of the dark?
If a story says, “Bryson woke up, ate breakfast, and went to school,” what did he do second?
What is ate breakfast?
The boy brought his backpack, books, and lunchbox. Where is he probably going?
What is school?
If Lyric yawns and says she didn’t sleep much, what can you infer?
What is she is tired?
You read about a class project where everyone works together to clean up the playground. What is the main idea?
What is teamwork can make a big difference?
A passage describes how bees make honey. Name one key detail that supports this.
What is bees collect nectar from flowers?
Rearrange this sentence into the correct sequence: “He got a bandage, scraped his knee, cried a little.”
What is he scraped his knee, cried a little, got a bandage?
The story says, “Carleigh wore her coat and scarf outside.” What season can you infer it is?
What is winter or fall?
After reading about Bronxx training his puppy every day, what is a good main idea?
What is practice helps you learn new things?