Identify Main Ideas

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Identify Main Ideas
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What is a main idea

• The main idea of a story is the main point the
  author is trying to make.
• When you identify the main idea of the story you
  will know what the story is about.

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Topic Sentences

• In some cases such as in paragraphs or short
  passages, the main idea can be found in the topic
  sentence.
• The topic sentence is a statement that is
  supported by most or all of the other information
  in the paragraph or passage.
• Example Americans love to send greeting cards.
  For instance, over 4 million birthday cards are
  sent out in this country every day. Around
  Valentines Day last year, over 900 million cards
  were mailed. And close to 3 billion holiday
  greeting cards were sent out during the Christmas
  season.
• Which of the sentences in the above paragraph
  expresses the main idea?
• Americans love to send greeting cards
• This statement shows what the whole passage is
  about. If you look at the other sentences you
  will read about the types of cards Americans
  send, and how many they send each year. All the
  sentences support the main idea.

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Main Ideas

• Example The following is the main idea from
  Tommy Tales Book 1, page 3
• One day, Tommy was playing with his friend Lucy.
  Taffy ran to them. He had found a TV remote
  control. It was not an ordinary remote control.
  It was purple with red stripes.
• What is the main idea of this paragraph?
• The main idea is the TV remote control that
  Taffy found. You know it is the main idea
  because most of the sentences deal with the
  remote control.

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How to find the Main Idea(s)?

• Finding the main ideas in a paragraph or text can
  be done in two steps
• Find the topic of the paragraph or text.
• If the paragraph or text has a topic sentence
  then that will be the main idea. If it does not
  have a topic sentence, read each sentence to see
  what is being talked about. If you can identify
  the main idea, make sure all the sentences
  support the main idea.

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Main Ideas

• Example
• Several remedies for too much sun can be made in
  your own kitchen. For instance, you can soothe a
  case of sunburn by spreading plain yogurt over
  the burned area for ten minutes. Or you can sit
  in a cool bath water to which you have added a
  cup of vinegar or baking soda. If your eyes have
  been irritated by the sun, cover them for five
  minutes with chilled tea bags or cotton soaked in
  milk.
• What is the topic?
• Remedies for too much sun
• You know this is the topic because all the ideas
  in the paragraph relate together.
• What is the main idea?
• Several remedies for to much sun can be made in
  your own kitchen.
• This is the main idea because all the sentences
  discuss remedies from your kitchen that can help
  when someone is exposed to the sun.

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Main Ideas

• Example Look at page 6 and 7 in Tommy Tales
  Book 1. What is the main idea?
• Main Idea The clicker made Tommys friends
  disappear and he was trying to press the buttons
  to find his friends.
• How do you know this is the main idea?
• Read all the sentences on pages 6 and 7, and see
  if they support the main idea.

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References

• Broderick, Bill (2000). Groundwork For College
  Reading. New Jersey Townsend Press.