CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2
The Standard
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read a nonfiction text and identify what it is mostly teaching or explaining. They recount key facts and tell how those facts support the main idea.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students state the main idea in their own words. They recount the most relevant details and clearly explain how each one supports that idea.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may choose an interesting fact or the title as the main idea. They may list details without explaining how those details connect to the text’s central point.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short nonfiction paragraph. Ask them to write its main idea, list two supporting details, and explain one connection.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a short article, sentence strips, and two headings so they can sort the main idea from supporting details.
Ask students to write one sentence explaining which detail best supports the main idea and why.
Play Detail Detective by reading clue cards while teams decide whether each detail supports the stated main idea.
Use a school lunch menu and nutrition note to identify the central message and the facts that support it.
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Printable RI.3.2 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Reading: Informational Text progression map.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.2
Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.2
Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
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