Main Idea and Supporting Details Lab

Students find main ideas, sort key and minor details, build unstated main ideas and write objective summaries.

Grades 3–8Virtual lab · 5 stations1 student per deviceNo student loginsWorks offline

Try it free: the demo opens the Start page and Station 1 right in your browser. No sign-up needed.

Virtual labs are sold separately and aren’t part of the All-Access licenses.

Grade versions included

Grades 3–5: Topic vs. main idea, finding the main idea sentence, supporting details, unstated main ideas and Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then
Grades 6–8: Central idea in articles, key vs. minor details, tracing development, building a central idea statement and objective summary

Topic vs. main idea, central idea, key and minor supporting details, implied main idea, how an idea develops, objective summary

OAS Standard 3: Critical Reading and Writing

Common Core: RL.2 · RI.2

Open the game file in any web browser: Chromebooks, laptops or your smartboard. No accounts, no student logins and no internet needed once it's downloaded.
The download has a separate file for each grade band. Open the one that fits your class.
Each student types their name on the Start page, then works through the stations in order. Each station has a prediction, a hands-on activity, a data table or log that fills in as they work and a check question.
Students finish with a printable lab report (print or save as PDF). The Teacher Notes include the standards, a full answer key and a reset button for shared devices.
Each purchase includes the lab files and a one-page Quick Start guide.