Main Idea & Supporting Details Task Cards: 10 Passages & 30 Questions 4th 5th

This set of 30 task cards is designed to provide students an opportunity to practice main idea (central idea) test questions. Identifying the main idea and key supporting details is a challenging task for many students, and lots of practice is critical for students to reach proficiency in this important reading skill. However, finding texts that are short and manageable can be difficult. This set of task cards contains ten engaging nonfiction passages that will help your students gain confidence in their ability to identify the main idea and best title for a given passage.

Like most of my task card sets, I have included a bonus game-like answer sheet in addition to the more traditional recording sheet.

I encourage you to take a peek at the PREVIEW!! It shows the format of the printable task cards, and how it includes a version of the task cards that uses the terminology "main idea", and an alternate version of the task cards that uses the terminology "central idea". Each task card page begins with a nonfiction passage in the upper left box. Then, there are three multiple-choice questions in the three remaining boxes.

• The first question asks students to identify the main idea/central idea of the passage.
• The second question asks students to identify which detail sentence best supports the main idea/central idea and could be added to the paragraph.
• The third question asks students to select the best title for the passage.

In total, this set contains ten passages and thirty questions. Some of the topics include monster trucks, text messaging, potato chips, word etymology, and mummies! These task cards are ideal for 4th, and 5th grade students.

Many teachers report posting the task cards around the room to allow their students to get up and walk around the room. Others say that they use these as a whole class formative activity where they place a task card under their doc cam, and then have students write their chosen answer on whiteboards. Both activities provide an engaging alternative to a traditional worksheet activity!

********This resource is available in three formats:

1. Traditional Printables- Print the PDF and distribute paper task cards and recording sheets.
2. Easel Activity- With this digital format, there is one task card per slide. Students can complete this activity on a device. Students read each passage and select the best answer for the three questions that follow. This has a multiple-choice format, and students push the button beside the correct answer. No checking is necessary! When your students turn it in, you will see their score and the number of attempts they made on each card.
3. Easel Assessment- Students complete this self-grading quiz on a device, as well. After reading each passage and question, students select the correct answer from a list of four possible answer choices. With this option, the teacher chooses whether or not his or her students receive immediate feedback.

***If you would like to have a Google Slides and/or Google Forms version of this activity, click on these links to access the digital version or the bundle.

Here's what teachers like you had to say about using these task cards with their students:

⭐️ Katie L. said, "These are my favorite task cards ever. I love the questions it asks students and how it makes them apply their knowledge!"

⭐️ Lisa P. said, "My students loved using this resource and they thought the texts were very interesting as well! I really liked that there were three different questions for each passage and it really helped reinforce main idea for students!"

⭐️ Victoria said, "Favorite aspect of the product ...struggling readers answer 3 main idea/detail questions about a single passage. More effort is spent on main idea than on comprehending a new passage for each question. Awesome for ELLs."

⭐️ Jessica S. said, "These are perfect for practicing for our state test... It asks questions similar to these! I love that they just don't ask, "What is the main idea?", but also about titles and sentences that can be added!"

⭐️ Jasmine B. said, "EXCELLENT main idea practice using a single passage for three different questions. I used these for last-minute review before state testing, and they worked very well."

I have several more items related to main idea available in my store. (Just click on the links below to take a peek!)

Main Idea and Details Ice Cream Cone Craftivity

Main Idea and Details Craftivity: The Earth Foldable Book

Main Idea and Supporting Details PowerPoint (includes test prep!)

Main Idea and Details Worksheets: 5 passages with graphic organizers!

Main Idea and Details Concentration Game

Main Idea: Targeted Trifolds

Main Idea: I have… Who has…?

Copyright by Deb Hanson

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www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Deb-Hanson

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