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MAIN IDEA

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Main Idea

• What is it?• How do we find it?• How do we remember it?• Let’s try it.

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What is main idea?

• Main idea tells what a story is mostly about.

• When looking for main idea we must think of what FINALLY happened in the story.

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How do we find the main idea?

• Let’s use our hands!

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How do we find the main idea?

• The thumb stands for who.• The who of a story is very important,

without knowing who the story is about we can’t find the main idea.

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How do we find the main idea?

• The pointer finger stands for did what.

• What did the main character finally do?

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How do we find the main idea?

• The middle finger stands for where.

• Where did the main character do it?

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How do we find the main idea?

• The ring finger stands for when.

• When did the main character do it?

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How do we find the main idea?

• The pinky stands for why.

• Why did the main character do it?

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How do we remember main idea?

• Remembering is easy!!!• Just look at your fingers.• Thumb - Who?• Pointer - Did what?• Middle finger - Where?• Ring finger - When?• Pinky - Why?

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Let’s try it!!

• Using the book Too Many Tamales and our five fingers let’s find the main idea.

• Remember to think about the word FINALLY.

• What finally happened in the story?

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Too Many Tamales

•Who?•Maria and her cousins.

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Too Many Tamales

•Did what?

•Ate all the tamales.

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Too Many Tamales

•Where?•In the kitchen.

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Too Many Tamales

•When?•On Christmas day.

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Too Many Tamales

•Why?•To try to find Maria’s mother’s ring.

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Too Many Tamales

• Using all the information, write one sentence that tells the main idea of the story.

• Maria and her cousins ate all the tamales on Christmas, in the kitchen, because she was trying to find her mother’s ring that she had lost.

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Fair Use Guidelines

• Certain materials are included under the fair use exemption of the U.S.Copyright Law and have been prepared according to the educational fair use guidelines.

By Laura S. Young, M.A.Dev. Reading Instructor, Northern Virginia Community College, 2004

Implied Main IdeasImplied Main Ideas

• The word “imply” means to suggest—the idea is not stated clearly.

• When the main idea is not stated clearly, the reader must figure out the main idea by considering the supporting details.

Implied Main IdeasImplied Main Ideas

• First, find the topic. Ask: Who or what is the selection about?

• After finding the topic, ask: What is the author’s main point about the topic? (This means to infer, or figure out on your own, the author’s unstated main idea.)

Finding the Implied Main IdeaFinding the Implied Main Idea

• Next, test your inference. Ask: Does all or most of the material in the paragraph support this idea? If your answer is “no,” then make other inferences, testing each until you find what inference most of the material in the paragraph supports.

• Finally, write the implied main idea in your own words.

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I'm a very good girl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in the woods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping and fishing trips, cozy winter nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me. Call (404) 875-6420 and ask for Daisy, I'll be waiting....

This has to be one of the best singles ads ever printed. It is reported to have been listed in

the Atlanta Journal.

Over 15,000 men found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society...

Over 15,000 men found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society...

What’s the Implied Main Idea?