Main Idea / Summarising Worksheets
Summarising requires the reader to evaluate the information and determine what is most important. These summarising worksheets and text passages help to teach children to separate the main idea/s from the supporting detail. A number of our graphic organisers are also designed to help children practise identifying the main idea.
Visit our Videos Page for video teaching children the skill of summarising.
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Sea Turtle Main Idea- Easier
Read the text and work out the main idea and supporting details. |
Sea Turtle Main Idea- Harder
Read the text and work out the main idea and supporting details. |
![]() Read the text and determine the main idea and supporting details. |
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The Mess! What is the Main Idea? (Fiction)
Read the text, write the main idea and create a headline to match. |
Sport: What is the Main Idea? (Non-Fiction)
Read the text, write the main idea and create a headline to match. |
Homework: What is the Main Idea? (Non-Fiction)
Read the text, write the main idea and create a headline to match. |
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How Animals Change: What is the Main Idea? (Non-Fiction)
Read the text, write the main idea and create a headline to match. |
Beach: What is the Main Idea? (Fiction)
Read the text, write the main idea and create a headline to match. |
Dogs: What is the Main Idea? (Non-Fiction)
Read the text, write the main idea and create a headline to match. |
Summarising Graphic Organisers
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Organise and identify the main idea and the supporting details. Write or draw. |
This graphic organiser is designed to help readers identify the main idea and supporting details of a text. |
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Identify the main idea and supporting ideas of a page/chapter/text. |
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Map out the events of a text. Draw or write. Great for retells and summarising. |
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Use this story map to order the events of a story. Great for retells and summarising. |
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Summarising: Summarise a text by writing and drawing. What happened in the beginning? Middle? End? |
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Summarising: Organise a summary of a text using the 6 headings: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. |
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Fill the middle oval by writing (or drawing!) about a character/setting. Fill the surrounding circles with details about the character/setting. Also useful for teaching main idea, supporting details. |
More Reading Strategies:
Compare & Contrast | Inferring | Cause & Effect | Visualising | Fact & Opinion
Back to Reading Comprehension Worksheets