Main Ideas and Summarising

Year 3 EnglishReading Comprehension3 pages

About this worksheet

Main ideas are the focus of these three Year 3 reading comprehension pages. Pupils first match short paragraphs about frogs, brushing teeth and the Great Fire of London to the sentence that sums each one up. Next, they match four paragraphs from a hedgehog information text to the best heading. The last task asks for a one-sentence summary of a paragraph about owls. The answer key gives every match and two model summaries, and the sheet meets the England National Curriculum objective on main ideas.

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Curriculum objectives covered

Reading - comprehension

โ€œIdentifying main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarising theseโ€

All three tasks work on this. The hedgehog headings ask pupils to separate the ideas in one longer text, and question 5 asks them to write a summary themselves.

What's inside this worksheet

Paragraphs to Main Ideas

Four short paragraphs, including the frog life cycle and the fire that started on Pudding Lane, to match to main idea sentences. The first one is done for pupils.

Hedgehog Headings

Four paragraphs from one hedgehog text, on spines, favourite foods and the cold winter months, to match to headings such as "What do hungry hedgehogs like to eat?"

Read This New Paragraph

Pupils read about owls, which fly silently and see in the dark, then write one sentence that captures the main idea.

Answer Key

All eight matches, plus two example summaries of the owl paragraph.

How teachers use it

Before report writing

Use the hedgehog headings before pupils write their own information text. It shows how each paragraph keeps to one idea.

Paired reading

Pairs read the hedgehog paragraphs aloud to each other, then agree on a heading before they write the letter.

Exit task

Use the owl paragraph alone at the end of a lesson. One sentence from each pupil is quick to read through.

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