Grade 3 · Reading · Free printable
Main Idea and Key Details Worksheet, Grade 3
Determine the main idea of a text and tell the key details that support it. The free 3rd grade worksheet below has 8 practice problems and an answer key.
Free printable worksheet
Download the finding main idea and key details worksheet
The lesson, the visual models, and 8 practice problems with space to work.
PDF · 10 pages · answer key · no sign-up
What a Kaizly intervention for this skill looks like
This worksheet comes out of a full activity Kaizly generated for finding main idea and key details, "Finding the Big Idea: Sea Turtles and National Parks". Here is a piece of it.
From the lesson
You will read two short texts today. Neither one tells you its main idea, so you have to build it yourself out of the details. Use these three steps every time: 1. Read the whole text. Do not stop after one sentence. 2. Name the key details. What are the most important things the text tells you? 3. Test your idea. Ask: do ALL the key details point to it? Watch out for two traps. An idea can be TOO SMALL, which means it fits only one detail, so it is a detail and not the main idea. An idea can also be TOO BIG, which means it says more than the text really says. The main idea fits every key detail, and nothing more. After the two texts, each question gives you a new set of details to practice on. Use the same three steps on every one.
One practice item
Which detail best supports the idea that sea turtles know how to travel well?
- A.Scientists watch these animals.
- B.Some sea turtles eat sea grass.
- C.They use the sun and Earth’s magnetic field.
- D.Their hard shells help protect them.
Arrows point from the details up to the main idea, never the other way. If a detail does not point to your idea, your idea is not the main idea yet.
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Standards alignment
Aligned to CCSS RI.3.2. See the RI.3.2 standards page for the standard word for word, the full sample lesson and the practice set.
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea