Main Idea Line

This focused reading comprehension worksheet helps students in Grades 4-6 practice identifying main ideas, topic sentences, paragraph focus, and textual unity within informational writing. Using a structured paragraph about recycling, learners closely read and evaluate each sentence to determine which one best expresses the author’s central message, strengthening both comprehension and analytical reasoning.

Academic Focus

• Topic Sentence Identification (Grades 4-6) – Determine which sentence best states the main idea of a paragraph.
• Paragraph Analysis – Analyze how supporting sentences connect to and reinforce the central message.
• Author’s Central Message – Understand how writers signal focus and purpose within informational text.
• Environmental Literacy – Build awareness of recycling concepts through nonfiction reading.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with upper elementary ELA standards.
• Line-by-Line Evaluation – Encourages close reading and careful comparison of sentence roles.
• Supports Writing Skills – Reinforces what makes an effective topic sentence for student writing.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Ideal for independent practice, small groups, literacy centers, or assessment.

This printable worksheet strengthens students’ ability to recognize main ideas and paragraph structure by asking them to evaluate how each sentence contributes to meaning. By identifying the strongest topic sentence, learners improve reading comprehension, reasoning, and writing clarity. Suitable for classroom instruction or homeschool use, this no-prep activity provides meaningful practice in close reading, central idea identification, and understanding how informational paragraphs are organized.

This worksheet is part of our Central Ideas of Text collection.