Main Idea and Details

This worksheet helps students in Grades 4 and 5 strengthen nonfiction reading comprehension and analytical skills by identifying main ideas and supporting details across multiple paragraphs. Learners read a two-paragraph passage about recycling and reusing materials, then analyze how each paragraph presents a central idea supported by key facts and examples.

Learning Goals

• Determining Main Idea & Supporting Details (Grades 4-5)
  Students identify what each paragraph is mostly about and the details that explain it.
• Analyzing Informational Text Structure
  Learners examine how writers organize ideas across paragraphs in nonfiction writing.
• Comparing Ideas Across Paragraphs
  Students analyze how related ideas connect and build upon one another.
• Using Text Evidence
  The activity reinforces citing examples and facts directly from the text.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource
  Designed by educators to align with upper elementary ELA standards for informational reading.
• Paragraph-Level Focus
  Helps students move beyond sentence-level understanding to larger text organization.
• Real-World Topic
  Recycling provides an engaging, relevant context for skill practice.
• Flexible Classroom Use
  Ideal for guided reading, independent work, homework, assessment, or review.

This printable worksheet helps students become more effective nonfiction readers by teaching them how to identify main ideas and supporting details across paragraphs. By analyzing structure and comparing ideas with evidence, learners strengthen comprehension, critical thinking, and confidence in working with informational texts. It’s a meaningful, no-prep resource that works well in both classroom instruction and homeschool learning.

This worksheet is part of our Asking and Answering Questions Worksheets collection.