Main idea and details worksheets
Each click picks one of the 13 passages written for this grade. Every sheet comes with its answer key. You don't need to sign up.
The main idea is what the whole passage is about, in one sentence. The details are the smaller facts that back it up.
Nine grades, seven different sets of passages: 2nd and 3rd grade share one, and so do 7th and 8th grade. Print one here, or open a grade for examples and teaching notes.
Print by grade
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Kindergarten
Kindergarten main idea worksheets ask about the main topic: what a tiny nonfiction text is mostly about, said in a word or two. Each passage is 40 to 70 words of short sentences. You read it aloud while your child follows along, then your child names the topic, picks the title that fits and finds a detail that tells more about it.
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1st grade
In first grade, main idea means the main topic: what a short passage is mostly about, said in a few words. Children read a passage of about eighty words, name its topic, pick the title or the sentence that fits the whole passage, and find the key details that tell more about it.
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2nd grade
The main idea is the one big thing a passage teaches; the details are the smaller facts that support it. Second graders pick the sentence that tells what the WHOLE thing is about, then match details to the job they do.
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3rd grade Core grade
Each click picks one of the 13 passages written for this grade. Every sheet comes with its answer key. You don't need to sign up.
Third graders find main ideas that aren't stated in the first sentence, choose the best title for a passage, and tell supporting details apart from true-but-off-topic ones. The umbrella test does the work: the main idea must cover everything underneath.
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4th grade
Fourth graders find the main idea of a passage where several paragraphs each add a different piece, and tell a supporting detail apart from one that is true but off the point. The main idea is the claim every paragraph works to support.
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5th grade
Fifth graders determine a main idea that the author never states outright, then explain how specific details build toward it. They learn that a summary keeps the main idea and its key support while dropping the interesting-but-minor facts.
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6th grade
Sixth graders determine a central idea the author builds across a whole passage and trace how particular details, examples, and paragraphs carry it. They separate the idea from the writer's opinions about it and learn to say why a paragraph is there at all, which is the standard's real test.
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7th grade
Seventh graders find the central ideas a passage develops, and the grade-7 standard expects them to track two or more. The sheet asks for the idea the whole passage builds, the detail that best supports it, why a paragraph is there, and which true detail is too small to be the main idea.
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8th grade
Eighth graders determine one central idea and explain how it develops, including how the supporting ideas relate to it. The sheet asks for the central idea, the detail that supports it best, the job a paragraph does and a title that fits. Wrong options are true but too narrow, or so broad they would fit any passage on the topic.
More on reading passages
All reading comprehension worksheets →
Or all English worksheets: every grade, every topic.