When reading, identifying the main idea of a text helps us better understand the signal an author is trying to make.The main thought of a text is normally supported by details and facts which expand on the main topic. Identifying these features of a passage can assistance students improve their reading comprehension.

Our series of lessons on finding the main idea & supporting details of a text provides examples & activities to assistance students improve interpret what they read. Y'all can showtime using these lessons by creating a Gynzy account today.

Strategies for Identifying the Master Thought of a Text

Identifying the main idea of a text, whether it's a unmarried paragraph or a longer work, can improve our reading comprehension by helping the states identify the testify being used in support of a larger idea or thesis. The main idea or topic of a text is what the text is generally about and can usually be summarized in 1 to two sentences.

The longer a text is, the more than difficult information technology can be to place the main idea. Primary strategies for identifying the main idea of a text include:

  • Look at the title of the text, as well every bit any pictures or headings included
  • Read the kickoff and last sentence of the passage
  • Note whatsoever words or phrases that are repeated throughout the text
  • Summarize the text as best you can in one sentence
  • Ask yourself – what was this text more often than not about?

Differentiating Supporting Details from a Main Idea

Part of the problem of trying to find one chief thought of a text is that information technology may communicate many facts and ideas. So how can we differentiate the primary point of a text from the details included to support the main idea?

Recognize that supporting details in a text are typically more specific than the primary idea of a text. A supporting particular is meant to provide testify for a broader idea. If you ask yourself what a passage is mostly about , you will typically find that any supporting details given are as well narrow to reply that question. Supporting details can come in many forms such equally:

  • The five Due west's and How
  • Objective facts and historical examples
  • Comparisons made between unlike ideas
  • Definitions of key words or phrases
  • Appeals to emotion
  • Lists, charts, or other images
  • Anecdotes

As an example, we can use this National Geographic article on global warming from our grade 6-8 lesson on finding the central thought and supporting details of a text. This commodity is a proficient example of a passage where the first sentence does a skilful chore of introducing the master topic of the passage ("Global warming is the long-term warming of the planet'southward overall temperature").

Simply allow's say we are struggling to pick out the main idea of the passage from the supporting details provided. In the 2d paragraph, nosotros find this judgement: "Gasses produced by the burning of fossil fuels prevent the heat from leaving the atmosphere."

How do we identify this judgement within the larger context of the article? For one, we discover that this sentence doesn't explicate what "fossil fuels" are, nor does it explain why the gasses from fossil fuels heat our temper. We may also recognize that the title of this folio is "Global Warming" and that this specific sentence does not mention those words. These clues tell us that this sentence is non the main thought of the passage but a supporting detail about a broader indicate.

Helping Students Improve Reading Comprehension

The line betwixt the master idea of a passage and the supporting details included within information technology can sometimes be blurry. But by actively reading, summarizing, and request questions of the text as we read it, we can practice a better job of identifying the most important points being made in the passage to improve the speed and quality of our reading comprehension.

These are but one small office of our standards-aligned English lessons designed to assistance brand students into ameliorate readers and writers. You can also bank check out our sight give-and-take lessons to build student vocabularies and ameliorate their reading comprehension . To go started, create a Gynzy account and start delivering, customizing, and creating engaging lessons today.