Determining Central Ideas

If you are feeling sad, you can make yourself feel better by doing a few simple things. You can take a walk (or get another form of exercise), you can talk to a friend, or you can write down your feelings. Writing down the good things in your life will help too. Doing something good for someone else will also help you feel better. If you still feel a little sad, act happy. It works like magic to make you feel better!
What is the central idea?

• Sometimes people feel sad.

• You should do good things for others.

• We're not always happy.

• There are many ways to make yourself feel better. 

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

• Title

• Headings

• Sub headings

• All of these

The goal in finding either central idea or theme is to determine what the author is trying to say.

• True

• False

When determining either central idea or theme, you should be able to find text evidence to support your statement.

• True

• False

It is important to be able to separate the author's main ideas from his or her supporting details in order to determine central idea or to write a summary.

• True

• False

If a word, phrase, or idea is mentioned several times by the author in an informational text ...

• It must be important

• it may be part of the central idea

• You will find it using step 3 of the 5-step process for finding central idea (THe FL RAID)

• All of the above

What is the best definition of THEME?

• A universal truth, lesson about life, or idea that the author wants to express.

• The location and time of the story

• The events that occur in the story

• The author's reason for writing a story

What is the central idea?

• 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.

Which of the following is an example of THEME?

• Carry your laptops with two hands at all times.

• Cereal is the healthiest food you can eat.

• You can severely break your leg while crossing the street.

• Life is short; make the most of it.

THe FL RAID is

• A mnemonic device

• a way to remember the 5-step process for finding central idea

• Used with informational text

• All of the above