Identifying Main Ideas

What is a main idea?

• What author wants you to remember most

• A detail that helps you find the answer

• The subject of the text

• The first sentence of the paragraph

The supporting details are...

• the information used to explain the main idea

• the first sentence of the paragraph

• the last sentence of the paragraph

• the summary of the text

You can also find the main ideas by looking for clues. What can be considered "clues"?

• The topic sentence

• Repeated words

• Supporting details

• All of the above

A formula for finding main ideas is...

• Topic + a detail = main idea

• Topic + an example = main idea

• Topic + most important point = main idea

• Topic + a fact = main idea

How can you know the topic of the text?

• By reading the title

• By looking at the illustrations

• By either or both of the above

To find the main idea, the first thing you need to know is...

• The topic

• The supporting details

• The illustrations of the text