Strategies for Identifying The Main Topic

I’m writing a blog post about how to teach your students to identify the main topic and key details during reading. Keep reading for instructional practices, a free main topic, and a key details recording sheet!

Strategies for teaching primary students to find the main topic

Explain and model how the author and illustrator collaborate to supply information on a topic.

The author gives us information in the words and the illustrator (or photographer!) gives us information in the pictures and/or photographs. If students do not understand this yet, you can help them by modeling how the author and the illustrator supply us with information. This will lead to a discussion about how the pictures in a text give us additional information on a topic.

Have students pay attention to the front of the book, the back of the book, and the title.

Text features give us a clue as to the main topic of the text.

Ask them, “what repeats?”

What words does the author use repeatedly? That’s another clue to the main topic because they often refer to the key details the author wants us to know.

Guide students to identify the key details first and then identify the main topic of the text.

Strategies to teach primary students how to identify the main topic in a non-fiction text

Have students share what each page is about and record their thinking using a graphic organizer. Then, work with students to identify the main topic after reviewing the key details of the text.

Think aloud about your process for identifying the keywords in a text.

For example, words like “eat” “gather” and “fish” may give us a clue to the main topic of a page that is about what an animal eats.

Allow students to do research.

During writing or small group, students can conduct research using educational websites like Pebble Go or EPIC! books. They can listen to non-fiction texts to gain more information on the topic.

Use sticky notes!

After reading or listening to a page, ask them to record what they learned using a graphic organizer. Ask them to share what they learned to a peer or to you.

Here’s a graphic organizer I use to help my students identify the main topic and several key details.