Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 3, Speaking & Listening · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What SL.3.2 Means in Plain English
Third graders listen to a read-aloud, watch a short video or study a chart or diagram, then say what it was mostly about and which details prove it. “It was about seeds” names the topic; “seeds have ways to travel away from the plant” is the main idea.
Second graders (SL.2.2) recounted or described the key ideas and details they heard. Third grade asks students to separate the main idea from the details that support it, including numbers and pictures. Fourth grade (SL.4.2) asks them to paraphrase parts of what they hear and see.
SL.3.2 I Can Statements
I can tell the main idea of a read-aloud in one sentence.
I can name the details that support the main idea.
I can say what a diagram, chart or video adds to what I heard.
SL.3.2 Worked Example
A short video and a sorting chart on how seeds travel, and two answers to one question: what was it mostly about?
Prompt
The teacher plays a two-minute video about how seeds travel, then shows a chart that sorts seeds into three groups: carried by wind, carried on fur, carried inside animals. What is the main idea, and which details support it?
Not YetIt was about seeds. Dandelions are fluffy and you can blow on them and make a wish. The chart had three boxes.The first sentence names the topic, not the main idea. Making a wish comes from home, not the video, and the last sentence describes the chart instead of saying what it showed.
Meets the StandardThe main idea is that plants can’t move, so their seeds have ways to travel away from the parent plant, where they would be crowded. Some ride the wind, like dandelion seeds on their tiny parachutes. Burrs hook onto an animal’s fur and fall off somewhere else. The chart showed a third way: birds eat berries and drop the seeds far away later.The main idea comes first, in one sentence, with the reason seeds need to travel. Each detail is one way they travel, and the chart’s third group becomes information, not a description of boxes.
Moves to Use
Say the main idea as a whole sentence, not just the topic.Keep the details that explain the main idea; skip what you knew from home.Read a chart for what each group means, not for how it looks.Join the sources out loud: “The chart showed…”
Common Mistakes with SL.3.2
Naming the topic instead of the main idea
“It was about seeds.”
Try this: Ask “What about seeds?” until the student says a full sentence that the whole video supports, not just one part of it.
Retelling every detail
A two-minute replay of the video, every fact in the order it came, with no main idea
Try this: Have students hold up three fingers: one main idea and two details, then stop talking when the fingers run out.
Skipping the visual
The answer covers only what was heard, as if the chart or diagram was never shown
Try this: Ask one question only the visual can answer, such as which group berries belong to, so students learn to read it for information.
Jeopardy Game MakerFree ToolBuild a board from the week’s read-alouds and videos, with a Main Idea column, a Details column and a What the Chart Showed column.Main ideaDetailsVisuals
Random Name PickerFree ToolAfter a video clip, spin one student for the main idea and a second for a detail that supports it.Main idea firstAdd a detail