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Main Topic and Key Details is a free printable Grade 1 English worksheet on naming the topic and the facts that support it, aligned to Common Core standard RI.1.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 20 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Main Topic and Key Details

RI.1.2

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

How a Bridge Stands Up

A bridge has to hold its own weight and the weight of everything crossing it. The simplest bridge is a beam: a flat piece laid across a gap. A beam bridge cannot be very long, or it sags in the middle. An arch bridge is curved. The curve pushes the weight out to the ends, where the ground is solid. That is why arch bridges can cross wider gaps.

  1. 1. What happens to a beam bridge that is too long?
  2. 2. What shape is an arch bridge?
  3. 3. What is the main idea of this text?
  4. 4. What is the simplest kind of bridge called?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

How Seeds Travel

A seed cannot grow in its parent's shadow. There is not enough light. So seeds have to move away. Some seeds have wings. A sycamore seed spins like a tiny helicopter and lands far from the tree. Some seeds hook onto fur. A burr catches on a passing fox and drops off somewhere new. Some seeds sit inside fruit. A bird eats the fruit and the seed comes out later, miles away.

  1. 1. How does a burr travel?
  2. 2. Why can a seed not grow in its parent's shadow?
  3. 3. What is the main idea of this text?
  4. 4. What does a sycamore seed do as it falls?

LessonPrint · RI.1.2 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Main Topic and Key Details

Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It sags in the middle. 2. Curved. 3. Different bridge shapes hold weight in different ways. 4. A beam bridge.
  2. 2.1. It hooks onto fur, such as a passing fox. 2. There is not enough light. 3. Seeds have different ways of travelling away from the parent plant. 4. It spins like a tiny helicopter.

More practice for RI.1.2

Say what the text is mostly about and give the key facts.

Teaching this next? Main Topic and Key Details is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 1 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.1.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.