Two or More Main Ideas is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on finding more than one main idea and its support, aligned to Common Core standard RI.5.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 22 of them with 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 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
22 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.
Two or More Main Ideas
RI.5.2
NameDate
Read the text, then answer the questions.
1.Read the text, then answer the questions.
Why the Thames Froze
Between 1309 and 1814 the Thames froze hard enough to walk on at least twenty-four times. Since 1814 it has not once.
The usual explanation is that the climate has warmed. That is part of it, and not most of it.
Old London Bridge had nineteen arches on wide stone piers. The piers took up so much of the channel that the bridge acted as a weir, slowing the water upstream almost to a standstill. Still water freezes; moving water does not.
The river was also shallower and wider then, spreading over land that has since been embanked. Shallow water loses heat faster.
Old London Bridge was demolished in 1831. The embankments were built between 1862 and 1874. The river that flows through London now is narrower, deeper and faster than the one that froze — and it would not freeze in a colder winter than any of those.
1. Determine two main ideas of this text and explain how details support each.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
Canals and Railways
Between 1760 and 1830 Britain built about four thousand miles of canal. Within forty years of that, most of it was losing money.
A canal boat carried thirty tons behind one horse, where a cart carried two. That was transformative for coal and stone, which are heavy, cheap and not in a hurry.
But a canal cannot climb without locks, cannot be built where there is no water, and freezes. A boat averaged three miles an hour.
The railways did not beat canals on cost per ton at first. They beat them on speed, on reliability, and on where they could go — a railway can cross a watershed a canal cannot.
Many canal companies were bought by railway companies, sometimes specifically in order to close them. By 1900 most of the network carried nothing.
Some of it is now used more than it ever was, by people on holiday.
1. Determine two main ideas of this text and explain how details support each.
LessonPrint · RI.5.2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Two or More Main Ideas
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. First, the bridge acted as a weir and slowed the water — supported by the nineteen arches. Second, the river's shape mattered — supported by the shallower, wider channel and the embankments.
2.1. First, canals were transformative for heavy goods — supported by the thirty tons. Second, they lost to railways on flexibility, not price — supported by the watershed and the speed.
Questions about Two or More Main Ideas
What does the Two or More Main Ideas worksheet cover?
It practises finding more than one main idea and its support — 2 questions for Grade 5, all on Common Core RI.5.2: Find two or more main ideas, show their support, and summarise. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does Two or More Main Ideas practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2 — RI.5.2, in the Reading: Informational Text domain for Grade 5. The published standard reads: “Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Two or More Main Ideas is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on RI.5.2, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Two or More Main Ideas come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Two or More Main Ideas can I print?
25 versions, of which 22 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is Two or More Main Ideas free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Two or More Main Ideas, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
Is there a lesson plan to teach RI.5.2?
Yes — “Two Main Ideas and a Summary” is a 40-minute Grade 5 plan for RI.5.2, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Two or More Main Ideas is the practice that follows it.
More practice for RI.5.2
Find two or more main ideas, show their support, and summarise.
Teaching this next? Two Main Ideas and a Summary is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.