Identify the Main Idea

Passage #1:

A starfish can open a clam. It can do so without breaking the shell. It wraps its arms around the clam and keeps pulling and pulling. At last the clam is worn down. Its shells open. Then it’s dinner time for the starfish?

This story mainly tells:

• Why starfish like the taste of clams.

• How starfish open clams.

• What clams are like.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #2:

You have seen smoke. It comes from fires. You have seen fog. It’s just a cloud on the ground. Smog is a little of both - some smoke and some fog. We take the first two letters from smoke and last two letters from fog. That gives us smog.

This story mainly tells:

• How we get smog.

• What fog is like.

• Why we get smoke.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #3:

Some people say that a bear squeezes his enemy to death with the famous “bear hug”. This is not true. A bear strikes his enemy with his front paws. Sometimes bears also use their claws and teeth. Most often one stroke of the paw is enough.

This story mainly tells:

• Why a bear eats his enemy.

• Why a bear uses his teeth.

• How a bear fights.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #4:

Do you know how to tell that a boat or an airplane is in trouble? Look for smoke. The signal smoke may be gray or it may be red. The smoke means that the airplane or boat is in trouble. It means that someone must come to help right away.

This story mainly tells:

• What signal smoke means.

• Why boats are in trouble.

• Where to find trouble.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #5:

Long ago, people often tucked their gloves under their belts rather than put them on. Most gloves fitted very poorly. They looked better when not on the hands. Most gloves were baggy. The fingers were too long or too short. The gloves were almost always too wide.

This story mainly tells:

• Why gloves were too short.

• Why people like to have gloves.

• What gloves were like long ago.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #6:

Mushrooms don’t grow on trees. If you see mushrooms stuck between branches, you know they were put there. Most likely it was the work of a red squirrel. Red squirrels like mushrooms. They like to put them in trees. Then they have food to eat in the winter.

This story mainly tells:

• Why there are mushrooms in trees.

• Why squirrels like mushrooms.

• Where to grow mushrooms.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #7:

Most dead birds are never found. Some may be covered by leaves or dirt. Others are eaten by animals. Still other dead birds may fall into the water or into a big forest. We find only about two of every hundred dead birds.

This story mainly tells:

• Why we don't see many dead birds.

• Why animals eat dead birds.

• Why birds die.

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #8:

Polar bears grow very big as they get old. When they are grown up, polar bears weigh about one thousand pounds. When polar bears are born, they weigh only one pound. Wouldn’t it be something if older people weighed a thousand times more than they did at birth?

This story mainly tells:

• How big polar bears grow.

• How small polar bears are.

• How people are like polar bears.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #9:

It’s a salty world in which we live. There is salt in the ocean. There is salt in the earth. There is salt inside of you - in your blood, sweat, and even in your tears. It’s a good thing too. Without salt you couldn’t live.

This story mainly tells:

• How salty the world is.

• What salt is like.

• Where to buy salt.

Tags

CCSS.RI.3.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

Passage #10:

The king crab is not a real crab. It grows to be about two feet long. It has twelve legs, six on each side. It also has a long spine. Most of the time the king crab stays under water. It walks along the bottom looking for food.

This story mainly tells:

• What the king crab is like.

• How big the king crab is.

• What the king crab likes.

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.3.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

CCSS.RL.5.2