Finding the Main Idea

What Is Finding the Main Idea?Why Use Finding the Main Idea as a Strategy?Tips for Finding the Main IdeaUse the StrategyPractice the Strategy

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Finding the Main Idea

The main idea is the most important thing said about the topic.

Finding the main idea is a strategy you use when reading nonfiction.

The topic is what a text is about. What is finding the main idea?

Finding the Main Idea

Finding the topic is easy. You know the topic is “ball.” The baby is trying to say something about the ball.

What is finding the main idea?Ball!Ball!

…and then Kevin…

You know the topic is “Kevin.” The girls are talking about someone named Kevin.

Finding the Main Idea

The main idea is not so obvious.

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What is finding the main idea?

What is the baby trying to say about the ball? Is the main idea “Catch the ball”? Or is the main idea “This ball is yellow”?

And what are those girls saying about Kevin?

Finding the Main Idea

Why use finding the main idea as a strategy?Finding the main idea helps you

• recognize which details are important and which are unimportant

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• follow the writer’s ideas as they are developed

• evaluate the evidence and support that the author provides

• draw conclusions about the author’s point of view and purpose

Finding the Main Idea

Tips for Finding the Main IdeaStart by identifying the topic.

Then ask yourself what the writer wants to tell you about that topic.

Many teenagers ride skateboards to school, in skateboard parks, or just around the neighborhood. But not all riders wear helmets, pads, and gloves. When skateboarders fall without protective gear, they may wind up with head injuries or broken bones. Though it’s a popular sport among teens, skate-boarding can be very dangerous.

Finding the Main Idea

Tips for Finding the Main IdeaHere is one possible main idea:

Many teenagers ride skateboards to school, in skateboard parks, or just around the neighborhood. But not all riders wear helmets, pads, and gloves. When skateboarders fall without protective gear, they may wind up with head injuries or broken bones. Though it’s a popular sport among teens, skate-boarding can be very dangerous.

“Many teenagers like to ride skateboards.”

Finding the Main Idea

To check your main idea, ask yourself: Is that what the whole paragraph is about?

Tips for Finding the Main IdeaMany teenagers ride skateboards to school, in skateboard parks, or just around the neighborhood. But not all riders wear helmets, pads, and gloves. When skateboarders fall without protective gear, they may wind up with head injuries or broken bones. Though it’s a popular sport among teens, skate-boarding can be very dangerous.

Finding the Main Idea

Tips for Finding the Main IdeaNext, ask yourself: Do the details in the text support this idea?

Many teenagers ride skateboards to school, in skateboard parks, or just around the neighborhood. But not all riders wear helmets, pads, and gloves. When skateboarders fall without protective gear, they may wind up with head injuries or broken bones. Though it’s a popular sport among teens, skate-boarding can be very dangerous.

Finding the Main Idea

If the answer to these questions is no, keep looking for the main idea.What do these details say about the topic?

Tips for Finding the Main IdeaMany teenagers ride skateboards to school, in skateboard parks, or just around the neighborhood. But not all riders wear helmets, pads, and gloves. When skateboarders fall without protective gear, they may wind up with head injuries or broken bones. Though it’s a popular sport among teens, skate-boarding can be very dangerous.

Finding the Main Idea

Finally, state the main idea in a complete sentence:“Skateboarding is dangerous, and wearing protective gear is essential.”

Tips for Finding the Main IdeaMany teenagers ride skateboards to school, in skateboard parks, or just around the neighborhood. But not all riders wear helmets, pads, and gloves. When skateboarders fall without protective gear, they may wind up with head injuries or broken bones. Though it’s a popular sport among teens, skate-boarding can be very dangerous.[End of Section]

Finding the Main Idea

Use the StrategyAs you read “Ugly Duckling or Little Mermaid: Hans Christian Andersen,” stop at each open-book sign and think about what you have just read.

These questions will help you learn how to use finding the main idea as a reading strategy.

Stop and

think.

Answer the

question.

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Finding the Main Idea

Practice the StrategyRemember:• The topic is what the text is about.

As he talked, Andersen liked to cut out delicate designs in paper—animals, fairies, and castles. Does this sentence state a topic, a main idea, or a supporting detail?

• The main idea is the main point that the author wants to make about the topic.

• Authors use details to support the main idea.

Finding the Main Idea

Read the following sentences and decide which states a topic, which are supporting details, and which expresses the main idea. Explain your decisions.

1. Andersen had a fear of being buried alive.2. Andersen was a talented writer who had a difficult

childhood and strange adulthood.3. This is about the life of Hans Christian Andersen.4. Hans Christian Andersen always acted like a child.5. Andersen left home at age eleven to go to

Copenhagen.

1

Finding the Main Idea

After you read “Ugly Duckling or Little Mermaid?” respond to each of the following statements. Explain your responses. The one you can answer yes to is the main idea.

a. Andersen’s friends described him as childlike?Is the whole text about how…

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2

b. he left home at eleven?c. he enjoyed making paper cuttings?d. he wanted to get married?e. he lived an unusual life from childhood to

adulthood?

Finding the Main IdeaFinding the Main Idea

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