Free Printable Central Idea/Main Idea

Worksheets

Central Idea/Main Idea

Total questions: 14

Worksheet time: 2hrs 20mins

Name

Class

Date

What is the main idea?

Its the authors point of view

Is what the passage is mostly about

It is the sequence of the story.

You should determine the main idea by combining the supporting details.

True

False

Seated on his throne, King Midas wore a golden crown. He had golden rings on each finger and held a golden scepter. His vest was embroidered with golden thread and even his shoes had golden ornaments. He had a golden box filled with gold coins. He named his daughter Marigold.
What is the main idea of this paragraph?

King Midas loved gold.

King Midas sold lots of gold.

King Midas had a heart of gold.

King Midas hated gold.

What kind of sentence can tell the main idea of a paragraph?

supporting detail

topic sentence

example sentence

transition sentence

When reading, what is the first question you need to ask yourself?

What is the text about?

What am I doing?

What does the author want me to know about the topic?

What is the title of the text?

This is what you look for when trying to determine the central/main idea.

Clues, hints, and evidence.

Patterns, repeated words, phrases, or related ideas.

The bibliography

The table of contents

What text features can give you a clue of what the main idea is?

Title

Headings

Pictures

All of these

How is central idea different from theme?

Theme incudes specific names and details from the text.

Central idea includes specific names and details from the text.

The central idea tells the lesson or moral of the text.

The theme is the main topic or focus of the text.

Which supporting detail best supports this topic sentence?

Dora the explorer is an educational show for kids.

She has a really cute monkey named Boots.

Dora's purple backpack holds all of her tools.

Dora helps teach kids Spanish words.

She usually stops Swiper from swiping.

10.

I can't wait until this weekend! We’re going to my grandparents’ house and my entire family will be there. I will spend most of my time playing games with my cousins. We always have such a good time together! The day goes by so fast, and by the end we are all exhausted... but we still don’t want to leave!
What is the main idea?

Weekends are times to travel.

The author enjoys spending time with her family.

The author's grandparents live far away.

The author is sad to leave her cousins.

11.

John and Matt want to be firemen. They want to ride on the big fire truck. John wants to climb ladders and rescue people from fires. Matt wants to hold the big hose and spray water on the fires to put them out.
What is the main idea?

John wants to climb a ladder.

John and Matt want to be firemen

Matt wants to hold a fire hose.

They want to ride on the big fire truck.

12.

Most people think that gorillas are mean, but actually they are shy. It seems that such a huge animal with very large teeth would be aggressive. Hollywood movies help convey this image of the scary, ferocious gorilla. In fact, gorillas only attack if they are provoked.
This author belives that:

Gorillas are misunderstood as vicious animals.

Gorillas are mean animals

Gorillas don't like other animals.

13.

Select the best topic sentence for the paragraph.

When you bake cookies, you first have to make sure you have all the ingredients. Then you have to mix them together. Finally, you have to put them in the oven.

Cookies are easier to make than cake.

My grandma has the best cookie recipe.

Baking cookies is really easy to do.

There are a few steps you must follow when making cookies.

14.

Do you ever wonder how you taste things? You owe your sense of taste to your taste buds. We have 9,000 taste buds just on the tongue alone. There are also taste buds on the roof of your mouth. You even have taste buds on the back of your throat.

What does the author want you to learn about the passage?

Why we can taste only sweet things.

that we taste through our nose

Taste buds are found in different places.

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Central Idea/Main Idea

Total questions: 14

Worksheet time: 2hrs 20mins

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