3rd Grade Main Idea practice

In order for the reader to find the main idea of a passage the reader must read carefully and think critically about the passage. If the reader is not sure they should reread the passage.

The main idea is a broad or general statement explaining what the passage is mostly or mainly about.

Sometimes the main idea is the last sentence of a passage or it could be a middle sentence.

The newspaper photographer takes many pictures of an event. Once the photographer comes back to the newspaper office, the pictures are developed in about 15 minutes. From all the pictures taken, only one or two are chosen to be printed in the newspaper.

A very important food for a large number of people is bread. Bread is made from many different kinds of grains. Americans eat bread mostly made from wheat. Bread is important to us because it is a good source of energy.

Lynn's first trip in an airplane was exciting. She was flying from California to New York to see her grandparents. The plane was a 747 jumbo jet. Lynn liked the inside of the plane. It was very comfortable. Lynn enjoyed the trip, but was glad to get back down on the ground.

The person who leads a marching band is called the drum major. This person wears a special costume with a very tall hat. The job of the drum major is to give the band the beat of the music. The drum major uses a whistle and a baton to signal steps in the march.

Fish come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Some fish live in fresh water and some live in salt water. There are more than 20,000 kinds of fish. Most fish hatch from eggs. Fish have backbones and breathe underwater through gills.