Central Idea & Supporting Details

If you wanted to find the central idea of a text, where would you look?

• In the first sentence of the text

• The topic sentence of the text

• In the last sentence of the first paragraph 

• The central idea is NOT written in the text - it is written in our own words

Types of supporting details are: Select ALL that apply...

• fact

• analogy

• example and anecdote

• statistic

This is a type of supporting detail found in an informational text that: are facts or data of a numerical kind that have been collected and analyzed

• analogies

• statistics

• anecdotes

• statement of facts

An example is a type of supporting detail that...

• is irrelevant

• is a specific instance that helps to explain an idea, such as a personal story or experience

• is not specific and doesn't provide information

• is not commonly used in texts

Identify the type of supporting detail:

When I was single I would frown at mothers who couldn’t control their screaming youngsters at a mall; now, I smile and nod to let them know I feel their pain.

• Statistic

• Examples

• Personal Experience

Identify the type of supporting detail:

It was shocking when the Chinese government updated the number of Internet users in the country, which had reached 210 million. It is a staggering figure, up by more than 50 per cent on the previous year and more than three times the number for India, the emerging Asian giant with which China is most often compared. Within a few months, China will have more Internet users than America, the current leader

• Analogy

• Statistics

• Expert Opinion

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 flies in a totally unique and unusual way.

What is the central idea of the passage?

Millions of acres of tropical rainforest have been destroyed. Many animals and people lose their homes when the rain forest is cut down. Today, people are destroying the forests so quickly that the animals are unable to adapt. Many of these animals, such as the leopard, need miles and miles of untouched rain forest in order to live. Furthermore, as more of the rainforest is destroyed, the risk of air pollution and loss of oxygen increases.

• Leopards are losing their homes

• The destruction of the rain forest is harming humans and animals.

• about rain forests

• Millions of acres of tropical rainforest have been destroyed

What is the central idea of the passage?

In 1969, Apollo 11’s successful landing on the moon was seen on TV all around the world. At last, men had walked on the moon for the first time ever! Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became famous American heroes. This mission was a great achievement for the U.S. space program, and led to six more Apollo flights in the years to come. The mission's success also led to further deep space explorations by the United States and other countries around the world.

• Apollo 11’s landing was an important moment in history.

• Apollo 11

• Apollo 11's successful landing on the moon was seen on TV all around the world.

• how Apollo 11 landed on the moon

What is the central idea of the passage?

The law was not exactly fair in the Middle Ages in Europe. Back then, you could blame someone in your town for committing a crime. The “criminal” could then challenge you to a fight to prove his guilt or innocence. If you lost the fight, you were charged as a liar and the criminal was believed to be innocent. If you won, the criminal was believed to be guilty.

• Laws were unfair in the Middle Ages

• Fighting is a good way to decide guilt or innocence.

• Most people lied about crime in the Middle Ages.

• The passage is about laws in the Middle Ages