Teaching Main Idea-Resources to Buy

Teaching main idea is an important skill that educators will teach to their students. It is an important reading comprehension skill that will help elementary students get a better understanding of the story. However, identifying the main idea can be a difficult skill for students to comprehend. It's a skill that students need to understand because it is tested on state standardized tests.  You've already taught the main idea and are needing excellent resources. It could be that your school might have a limited number of main idea resources that can be used to reinforce your teaching. Here is a list of some great main idea resources that you can use in your classroom. The resources are for 2-3, 4-8, and 5th grade.

• Grades 2-3
• Published by Scholastic
• 35 reproducible pages
• Targets Main Idea and Details
• High Interest Non-fiction reading passages
• Pre and post assessments with answer key

This is a great Scholastic resource to use for teaching main idea. The author, Linda Ward Beech targets finding the main idea and details for 2nd and 3rd graders. You can even use Main Idean & Details (Reading Passages That Build Comprehension) for 4th and 5th grade if you have students that are at a lower reading level. Also, this main idea Scholastic resource also provides 35 reproducible pages you can use year after year. The reproducible pages have non-fiction reading passages that are of interest to students such as a short article on Mount Rushmore.

• Grades 4-8
• Published by Scholastic
• 35 high-interest reading passages
• Targets main idea and summary
• Model lessons
• Assessments with answer key

This Scholastic main idea resource is for grades 4-8. Main Ideas & Summarizing 35 Reading Passages for Comprehension targets main idea and summary. At the beginning of the book the author, Linda Ward Beech gives an introduction on how to use the book for maximum benefit. There is also a mini-lesson that you can follow. First, the main idea and summary concept are introduced, the teacher's thinking is modeled, and then the two skills are defined. You will get 18 different main idea reading passages with questions about the main idea and the details. You will also get 17 different summarizing reading passages that asks what the story is mainly about, what would be a good title, and what detail could be included in the summary. Towards the end of this Scholastic resource are two assessments; one for the main idea and the other for summarizing. Both assessments include the answer key.

• Grade 5
• Published by Teacher Created Resources
• Fiction and non-fiction passages
• Practice tests included

This main idea resource is geared for 5th graders. The author, Melissa Hart believes that practice makes perfect (as indicated in part of the title). Ms. Hart. does ensure that the reading passages meet or reinforce educational standards and objectives similar to those required by your state for 5th graders. Practice Makes Perfect: Main Idea has fiction and non-fiction text that will give the students an opportunity to practice finding the main idea and its supporting details.

Hopefully you will find the listed main idea resources helpful in your classroom. The three books listed come from reputable publishing companies. They're fairly inexpensive for a teacher on a budget.