Main Idea in a Bag: Hands-On Practice with 10 Social Studies & Science Card Sets

Main ideas and supporting details are HARD concepts, especially if you are stuck reading a long, boring article. :) So, when introducing main idea to my ‘BIG’ 5th graders it had to be interactive. In this hands-on resource, students work in pairs to differentiated between the topic, main idea, and supporting details. This is a fantastic activity for modeling what main ideas, topics, and supporting details look and sound like. Additionally, this hands-on ‘game’ is a perfect transition into students identifying their own main ideas in a nonfiction passage.

Teacher Resources

• Notes to the Teacher
• A Picture Tutorial – Using This Resource
• Explaining Main Idea as a House

Anchor Charts

• Topic
• Main Idea
• Supporting Details
• The Main Idea ‘House’

Graphic Organizers

• Main Idea ‘House’ Recording Page
• Main Idea Mapping (2 details)
• Main Idea Mapping (3 details)

6 Social Studies Based Main Idea Sets

• Causes of the Civil War
• Causes of the Revolutionary War
• How 9/11 Changed America
• Important Inventors
• Famous Speeches that Changed America
• Words Have Power

5 Science Based Main Idea Sets

• Effects of Increased Technology
• Characteristics of Deserts
• Scorpion Adaptations
• Way to Go Green
• Animals that Travel in Groups

Happy teaching,

Catherine, The Brown-Bag Teacher