Understanding the Main Idea Presentation.ppt

Preview Quiz 1
What is a paragraph?
a. sentences about many ideas
b. sentences about one idea
c. many equally important ideas

What is a paragraph?
 A paragraph is a group of sentences about
one idea.
 That idea is the main idea.
 It is the central point.
Main Idea = PARAGRAPH
NO MAIN IDEA = NO PARAGRAPH

What does a Main Idea Do?
The main idea does two important
things for a paragraph:
It gives the paragraph a purpose.
It helps the writing make a point.

What does a Main Idea Do?
Every good paragraph has a purpose.
What are those purposes?
 to inform
 to define the topic (educate)
 tell a story about the topic (entertain)
 to persuade
 to explain the topic (similar to educating)
 to compare the topic
 contrast the topic

Every Good paragraph:
THE POINT
(THE PURPOSE)
(THE MAIN IDEA)
explains develops supports

Is the main idea always stated?
The main idea can be
stated, or unstated.
The main idea can be
written or unwritten.

DEFINE THE MAIN IDEA:
A main idea is the most
important idea in a paragraph, the
idea that gives the writing a point
and a purpose.

Stop for independent practice.

Preview Quiz 2
Suppose that one sentence in a paragraph
states the main idea. What is the purpose
of the other sentences?
a. They add more main ideas.
b. They refer to other paragraphs.
c. They support the main idea.

The Paragraph
a word
 a group of words (with meaning)
 a sentence
 a group of sentences (with a purpose/main idea)
 a paragraph
 a groups of paragraph (with a topic)

All details point to the main idea
Details Details
Details
MAIN IDEA

Statement with Support
 A topic sentence
states the main idea.
 It is often the first
sentence in a
paragraph.
 The other sentences
support it
Statement
(main idea)
Supporting Details
Supporting Details
Supporting Details

Statement with Support
Find the main Idea:
France is suffering
from a severe drought.
People have to limit the
amount of water they use.
No one is allowed to wash
a car. Farmers say their
crops are dying. The grape
harvest may be ruined.
That could hurt the wine
makers. Wine is important
to the French Economy.
MAIN IDEA
 Supporting detail

Preview Quiz Three
Why might the topic sentence end a
paragraph?
a. The supporting sentence leads up to it.
b. It states the main idea of the next
paragraph.
c. It states an idea that every one agrees with.

From Support to Main Idea
 Some times the topic sentence ENDS a
paragraph.
 WHY?
– The main idea might be difficult or unpopular.
– The writer’s purpose may be to persuade
– Readers will be more open to an idea if the
see REASONS FIRST.

Most households
have a place where junk is
kept. It may be a kitchen
drawer where things collect.
Or it might be a box tucked
away at the back of a closet.
It’s the place where useless
tools are stored. Here’s
where you discard old
spools, nails and bolts. The
junk box is a treasure chest
of ideas for the amateur
inventor.
Supporting
sentences/details
Topic Sentence
(main idea)

 Supporting details ADD UP or LEAD UP to the final point
(purpose) (main idea) (conclusion)
 This type of paragraph is called “reasons and conclusion.”
Supporting Detail
Supporting Detail
Supporting Detail
(Conclusion) MAIN IDEA

Preview Quiz Four
You have learned about two types of paragraphs. One
is “statement and support.” The other is “reason
and conclusion.” Suppose they were combined.
Where would you expect the topic sentence to
be?
a. at the beginning
b. in the middle
c. at the end

Paragraphs with Introductions
Topic sentence can begin or end a paragraph.
That is the case in two types of paragraphs:
 Statement and support
– Topic Sentence (Main Idea)
– Supporting details
– Supporting details
 Reasons and conclusion
– Reasons (Details)
– Reasons (Details)
– Conclusion (Main Idea)

The topic sentence may also come near the
middle. Let’s look at this pattern.
 First, there is an introduction.
 Next comes the topic sentence.
 Finally, there are details.

If you did not have a
nervous system, you would not be
able to think. You would not be able
to feel happy or sad. You would not
be able to walk, run, skip or jump.
Your life would be about as active
as the life of a rock! Your nervous
system is the network that controls
your actions and reactions. It
includes your brain and your spinal
cord. Your brain is like a computer.
Your spinal cord is like the cables
that connect the computer to your
body. Both parts of your nervous
system are made up of nerve cells.
These cells are called neurons.
 Introductory sentence
Introductory sentence
MAIN IDEA
(Topic sentence)
 Supporting details

Preview Quiz Five
A good paragraph may have no topic sentence.
Can it still have a main idea?
a. Yes, the main idea is in another paragraph.
b. Yes, the reader has to decide what the main
idea is.
c. No, a main idea is always stated in a topic
sentence.

Paragraphs without Topic Sentence
 A good paragraph MUST have a main idea.
 A good paragraph MAY or MAY NOT have a
topic sentence.
– The main idea is implied or hinted at.
– The main idea is not stated.
– Details suggest the main idea.

 The details may be
reasons leading to a
conclusion.
details
details
details
CONCLUSION about
main idea
 The detail may be
reason leading to an
unstated conclusion.
details
details
details
~>reader must draw a
conclusion

 The details may be arranged
as support for a broad idea,
but that idea is not stated.
 Broad Ideas could include:
– Love
– Family
– School
– Hate
– Death
 The details may not
build in a clear
direction.
 They might be a list of
statements all equally
important.
 The summary is
the main idea

Read this paragraph and find the main
idea
A lightning bolt flashed in
the summer night. It sizzles and
spiral down a tree trunk. Wisps of
smoke rise from dead pine needles on
the forest floor. Flames glow in the
night, and a forest fire begins. The
fire spreads quickly. Flames leap up to
the crowns of the trees, which
explode into fireballs. Overhead the
fire leaps from tree to tree. The
forest fire seems like a terrible
beast with a mind of its own. It roars.
It changes direction. It hungrily
sucks oxygen from the air and kills
almost everything in its path.
 There is not a topic sentence.
 What is the main idea?
 A lightening flash can
start a destructive forest
fire.

Not All Paragraphs Are Perfect
 What if the follow sentence has been
included in the previous paragraph:
– Lightning is a form of electricity.
 It would not have belonged there. It doesn’t
support the main idea. It is an unrelated
idea.
 Don’t let one unrelated sentence distract
from the main idea.

CONGRATULATIONS!
You are ready to find the main idea
on every selection of your EOG
reading test!

Understanding the Main Idea Presentation.ppt

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