Are your students struggling to differentiate between topic, main idea, and supporting details? The truth is, we can’t blame them. It can be tricky to understand what makes these elements different yet connected. I’ve found that nonfiction texts are powerful tools that aid in removing some of that confusion when it’s time to teach main idea and details.

Nonfiction texts paired with engaging main idea activities create the perfect learning environment. However, only if those activities focus on one component at a time, creates a strong, concrete visual, and are enhanced with student interests. A camping theme is an excellent choice!

Build a Strong Foundation with Focus Posters

The biggest hurdle when teaching students how to identify the main idea, is getting them to understand how it’s different from the topic and supporting details. Each component is important, so we should spend a great deal of time differentiating between them with students.

Visual reference posters are helpful tools to anchor student learning. They also serve as a reminder to the teacher of how to explain the skills. You can use these posters to introduce and define the topic, main idea, and supporting details. 

How to Use Focus Posters in Your Lessons:

• Introduce One Concept at a Time – Start by explaining topic, using simple examples before moving on to the main idea and supporting details.
• Limit Overwhelm – Don’t show all posters at once. Show the posters as the concepts come up in mini-lessons, first.
• Display Posters Throughout the Unit: Use them as a constant visual reminder during practice.

Make Identifying the Topic Easy with Topic Tents

Students often confuse the topic with the main idea, so giving them structured practice is key. Rather than starting with larger bodies of text, use simple and short paragraphs. 

In this Topic Tents activity, students focus solely on identifying the topic of short informational paragraphs.

We can start with this analogy: Identifying the topic is like pitching a tent at a campsite. Before you can settle in and enjoy the adventure (finding the main idea and details), you need to pick the perfect spot — that’s your topic! It’s the foundation that everything else depends on.

Essentially, students are reading and identifying the BIG idea — the “campsite” — before worrying about setting up the rest of their comprehension skills.

Ideas for Using Topic Tents:

• Small Group Discussions – Have students work in pairs or groups to read the paragraph and agree on the topic before sharing their answers.
• Scoot Activity – Set up the tent cards around the room and let students rotate, recording the topic for each passage.

Once students have mastered identifying the topic, they will be better prepared to tackle the main idea and details!

Use S’mores to Make Main Idea Tasty and Fun

When I jump straight into main idea and details at the same time, two things happen: students get confused, and they pick random examples for details instead of ones that provide support. Starting slow and reading to identify the main idea only will limit the confusion.

Keeping in theme, this Main Idea S’mores activity has students solely identify the main idea. Nothing says camping like s’mores! Students love them, therefore adding high interest to the task. 

How to Teach Main Idea and Details with S’mores:

• Start with Short Paragraphs – Short informational paragraphs provide the basis for each s’more. Students can use tips that they learned from the focus poster, such as asking themselves, “What is the text trying to teach me?” and “What is the text mostly about?” to identify the main idea.
• Make Main Idea Skewers – Students “roast” a marshmallow by identifying the main idea of each short passage.

Just like marshmallows are the “star” of the s’more, the main idea is the star of the text!

Take Learning Outside with Newspaper-Style Articles and Puzzles

Students love real-world connections. Newspaper-style articles bring a nonfiction element to main idea practice and make students feel like “grown-ups.” 

These camping and bear-themed articles are filled with fun facts, giving students authentic reading practice. Pulling facts, especially about animals, is an engaging way to strengthen students’ ability to identify supporting details.

These print-and-go articles are a great way to engage reluctant readers while strengthening nonfiction comprehension too!

Ways to Use These Articles in the Classroom:

• Main Idea Detective – Have students highlight the sentence that best states the main idea of the article first.
• Puzzle Pairs – After reading, students put together the Main Idea Puzzles that match each article. These puzzles are bear heads. The face represents the main idea, while the ears show the details. 

The ears, while smaller, are crucial distinguishing features that complement and enhance our understanding of the bear. They provide additional information that helps us recognize not just any animal, but specifically a bear. Similarly, supporting details in the text may be secondary to the main idea, but they are specific and go deeper.

When students assemble these puzzles, they physically experience how supporting details must connect to the main idea to create a complete picture. Just as a bear needs its ears to be fully recognized, a main idea needs supporting details to be fully understood and convincing.

Build a Main Idea Picnic Table Craft

For a hands-on approach, the Main Idea Picnic Table helps students visualize how main ideas and details work together. This 3D activity lets students build their own picnic table, with the main idea on the tabletop and the supporting details on the legs.

The main idea tabletop is where everything comes together — but it can’t stand alone. The supporting detail table legs hold it up so the idea doesn’t wobble or crash down. As students build their table piece by piece, they’ll see that a strong main idea needs sturdy details to stay standing — or the whole picnic will fall apart!

Ways to Use This Craft in the Classroom:

• Whole Group Modeling – Demonstrate how each piece of the picnic table represents an important part of the passage. The details support the main idea just as legs support the tabletop and help it to stand!
• Independent or Partner Work – After reading an informational passage, ask students to identify the main idea and details before assembling their picnic table.

Teaching students to identify the topic, main idea, and supporting details of a text takes lots of practice. After their main idea camping trip, consider heading for “ice cream”! Check out this engaging ice cream-themed main idea lesson, next.

Save these camping-themed activities to teach main idea and details in your classroom!