Central Idea

This is what you look for when trying to determine the central/main idea.

• Clues, hints, and evidence.

• Patterns, repeated words, phrases, or related ideas.

• The bibliography

• The table of contents

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

These connect directly back to the central/main idea.

• Sentences

• Paragraphs

• Supporting Details

• Summaries

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

What is the main idea of the following text?

The paths you choose today can shape you forever. It’s both frightening and exciting that we have to make so many vital decisions when we’re so young and full of hormones, but such is life. Imagine an eighty-foot rope stretched out before you. Each foot represents one year of your life. Teenagehood is only seven years, such a short span of rope, but those seven affect the remaining sixty-one, for good or bad, in such a powerful way.

• It is both frightening and exciting that you have to make so many vital decisions.

• Life is short like an eighty-foot rope.

• The paths you choose today can shape you forever.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Find the central idea
 Being a clown isn't all fun and games.  Rodeo clowns expose themselves to great danger every time they perform.  When cowboys dismount or are bucked off of bulls at riding competitions, rodeo clowns jump in front of the bulls and motion wildly to get their attention.  In this way rodeo clowns provide an alternate target, and in doing so protect the rider.  So you see, sometimes clowning around can be serious business

• Being a clown isn't all fun and games.
• Rodeo clowns protect cowboys by putting themselves in danger.
• Rodeos are exciting.
• Clowns are good at riding bulls.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Do you ever wonder how you taste things? You owe your sense of taste to your taste buds. We have 9,000 taste buds just on the tongue alone. There are also taste buds on the roof of your mouth. You even have taste buds on the back of your throat.

What does the author want you to learn about the passage?

• Why we can taste only sweet things.

• that we taste through our nose

• Taste buds are found in different places.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.6

CCSS.RI.8.6

CCSS.RI.8.9

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

Soccer players learn many skills when playing soccer. Soccer players learn how to dribble and pass the ball. They also learn how to control the ball so they can eventually score. Most importantly, soccer players learn how to work together with their teammates.
What is the central idea?

• They also learn how to control the ball so they can eventually score.
• Soccer players learn how to dribble.
• Soccer players learn many skills when playing soccer.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

What is the Central Idea of the passage?
What's that humming sound?  Could it be hummingbird, the only bird capable of backward flight?  Hummingbirds have many unique flight habits that distinguish them from other birds.  Most birds flap their wings up and down to fly, but the hummingbird moves its wings forward and backward very rapidly in a figure eight pattern.  This allows the hummingbird to hover in position, fly upside down, and move about very rapidly.  And while other birds have to push off with their feet to begin flying, and work their ways up to their top speeds, the hummingbird can both start flying at maximum speed and stop flying instantaneously.  After you've seen a hummingbird in flight, it's unlikely that you'll mistake them for another bird.

• Birds and hummingbirds are very different.
• Hummingbirds make a humming sound.
• Hummingbirds wings fly in figure eight patterns.
• The hummingbird flys in a totally unique and unusual way.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

What is the best question to ask yourself when you are trying to find the main idea?

• Who is the main character?
• What is the main event?
• What is one important detail?
• What point is the author trying to make?

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

What text features can give you a clue of what the main idea is?

• Title
• Headings
• Pictures
• All of these

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

What is the central idea?
 There are many types of lethal venom in the animal kingdom, but perhaps no stranger carrier than the platypus. The platypus is one of few venomous mammals.  Males carry a venom cocktail in their ankle spurs that incapacitates victims with excruciating pain.  Stranger still, the platypus is the only mammal that uses electroreception.  What this means is that the platypus uses its bill to sense the electricity produced by the muscular movements of its prey.  The platypus neither sees, hears, nor smells its prey while hunting but, rather, pursues it through electroreception.  Perhaps most odd, the platypus is the only mammal that lays eggs rather than giving birth to live young.  The platypus is an odd creature indeed.  

• The platypus is an odd, poisonous creature.
• Platypus males have a poison ankle spur.
• Platypus can sense electricity
• None of these options

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2