Topics and Main Ideas

What is a topic

• a word or phrase that everything in the text refers back to

• a complete sentences about the main point of a text

• the order of events in a text

• the details supporting the main idea

What is the main idea

• a word or phrase that everything in a text refers back to

• a complete sentence that everything in a text refers to

• details supporting the central idea

• when one event leads to another event

Complete sentences have:

• a subject (who or what)

• a verb (an action)

• a capital letter

• punctuation

How many ideas are in a paragraph?

• 3-5

• 1

• 2

• it depends on what you are saying

What is an implicit main idea?

• it is directly stated

• it is stated in the last sentence

• it is stated in the first sentence

• it is NOT directly stated in the text

What helps us create a main idea?

• topic + details = main idea

• central idea + purpose = main idea

• topic + main point about the topic = main idea

• events + details = main idea

In March 2016, Death Valley National Park in California experienced a rare occurrence: thousands of yellow wildflowers covered the region in a "super bloom." Why was this unusual? Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in North America. The area's average yearly precipitation is just two inches, making it a challenging place for flowers to grow. However, in October 2015, the valley had received more than three inches of rain in some areas. As a result of the unusually wet season, wildflower seeds that had been lying dormant underground suddenly began to grow, producing an abundance of golden blooms.

What is the TOPIC?

• North America

• Death Valley California

• Rain fall

• Blooms

In March 2016, Death Valley National Park in California experienced a rare occurrence: thousands of yellow wildflowers covered the region in a "super bloom." Why was this unusual? Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in North America. The area's average yearly precipitation is just two inches, making it a challenging place for flowers to grow. However, in October 2015, the valley had received more than three inches of rain in some areas. As a result of the unusually wet season, wildflower seeds that had been lying dormant underground suddenly began to grow, producing an abundance of golden blooms.

What are they saying about the topic?

• In 2016 Death Valley had unusual blooms because they got rain the year before.

• The blooms in Death Valley are beautiful.

• Death Valley receives little rain.

• A "super bloom" is when thousands of wildflowers cover a place.

It's hard to imagine what things were like before there was money, but such a time did exist. During these times people exchanged goods using the barter system. The word barter means to trade. People using the barter system traded things instead of buying and selling them. So if you were a rice farmer, you would trade your rice with many people to get all the things that you wanted or needed. Unfortunately, the people from whom you needed things might not want your rice. Isn't it nice to just go to the store and buy candy instead of having to trade rice for it?

What is the topic?

• money

• the barter system

• rice

• buying and selling

It's hard to imagine what things were like before there was money, but such a time did exist. During these times people exchanged goods using the barter system. The word barter means to trade. People using the barter system traded things instead of buying and selling them. So if you were a rice farmer, you would trade your rice with many people to get all the things that you wanted or needed. Unfortunately, the people from whom you needed things might not want your rice. Isn't it nice to just go to the store and buy candy instead of having to trade rice for it?

What are they trying to say about the topic?

• People do not like the barter system

• Using the barter system is better than using money.

• Using money is better than using the barter system.

• The barter system was used to get items before money.