When students begin learning how to find the main idea, introduce it first by having students find the main idea from stories where it is explicitly stated. This means the main idea is stated in a sentence within the story or paragraph. When it is explicitly stated, students can find the main idea either at the beginning of the story in the form of a topic sentence or at the end in the form of a sentence that summarizes what the story was about.
Sometimes the main idea is not explicitly stated, and students must infer it, and must state the main idea in their own words. Students should pay attention to what the underlining theme is. This will help them focus on what the general subject of the story is.
Sometimes finding the main idea is hard for students to determine when it's not explicitly stated, so using a graphic organizer is a tool that can help students organize their thoughts about a story before having to determine the main idea. "Study Zone" has a free main idea graphic organizer students can use by writing the details from the story. Once key details have been determined, students usually can determine the main idea because they can see a common thread in all their details. "Super Teacher Worksheets" also has a kid-friendly graphic organizer for main idea.
Use informational writing for students to practice main idea. Chapters in science books, newspapers and books about specific nonfiction subjects are all types of informational writing. Give students short stories without titles or headings and then ask them to determine the best title or heading for each story. Another activity is to create a brochure. Give students four paragraphs that each have their own central idea. Students will use those paragraphs to create a brochure and then write a heading for each paragraph. Creating the heading demonstrates students can find the main idea.