Reading Comprehension at Home, Grade 5: Main Idea and Details

The main idea is what a whole text is mostly about. Details support it. A good test is that the main idea covers every paragraph, while a detail covers only one.

A 10-minute routine

Read Where Does Ocean Plastic Come From?. The text says that much plastic starts in cities, that a wrapper can be washed into a storm drain, then a river and then the ocean, and that sunlight and waves break plastic into pieces smaller than five millimeters, called microplastics. Have your child write one sentence for each paragraph, then one sentence that covers all four. Compare it with the question on the page and read the explanation.

What a good answer sounds like

A good main idea is one sentence that touches every paragraph: plastic from far inland reaches the ocean and causes harm, but people can reduce it. Check it against each paragraph. If one paragraph does not fit, the sentence is too narrow, so widen it. Then name two details that support it.

Three questions to ask aloud

1. What is the central idea of the text?
2. Which detail explains how a wrapper reaches the ocean?
3. What are microplastics?

A common slip

Choosing a detail because it is interesting. The wrapper’s path is a good detail, but it appears in only one paragraph. Ask, “Does this cover the whole text, or just one part?”

The next step

Next, try the same one-sentence-per-paragraph method on a Grade 5 or Grade 6 nonfiction passage.