What’s the Big Idea?Main Idea and Supporting Details

• Discern main ideas and concepts presented in texts, identifying and assessing evidence that supports those ideas.

• Objective:• Identify supporting details in a paragraph. • Identify the main idea in a paragraph.

•Standard RC 2.3

• The main idea is what the passage is mostly about.

• Most of the time the main idea is in the first sentence.

• Sometimes the main idea is in a subsequent sentence.

• All the sentences in the paragraph are about the main idea.

•What is the main idea?

• Think of the main idea and details like the palm of your hand and fingers

•What is the main idea?

Main Idea

Details

• The main idea is what the passage is mostly about

• For Example:• Squirrel Hollow is not a big town. In fact, it is so small, the

water department is a hand pump in the town square. And the Squirrel Hollow Fire Department is made up of one bucket, a pair of rain boots, and a red ten-speed bicycle.

•What is the main idea?

Main Idea

SupportingDetail

SupportingDetail

SupportingDetail

• The main idea is what the passage is mostly about

• For Example:• Squirrel Hollow is not a big town. In fact, it is so small, the

water department is a hand pump in the town square. And the Squirrel Hollow Fire Department is made up of one bucket, a pair of rain boots, and a red ten-speed bicycle.

• What is the main idea of this passage?

•What is the main idea?

Squirrel Hollow is not a big

town.

The water department is a hand pump.

The fire department is a bucket, a pair of boots, and a 10-speed bike.

The main idea is not always the first line of the sentence.

Juan stood with his left foot firmly planted on the third-base bag. He listened to the cheers. It was his fourth hit of the game. Two of them had been home runs. His hitting had been excellent, as usual, pushing the Bulldogs to an 8-3 lead over the Hornets. There could be no doubt: Juan was the best baseball player in the league.

What is the main idea of this passage?

•Find the main idea

Main Idea

SupportingDetail

SupportingDetail

SupportingDetail

The main idea is not always the first line of the sentence.

Juan stood with his left foot firmly planted on the third-base bag. He listened to the cheers. It was his fourth hit of the game. Two of them had been home runs. His hitting had been excellent, as usual, pushing the Bulldogs to an 8-3 lead over the Hornets. There could be no doubt: Juan was the best baseball player in the league.

•Find the main idea

The crowd was cheering for him.

He had hit 2 home runs in the game.

His hitting put the team ahead.

Juan was the best player in the league.

Think about what you are reading After reading a long paragraph or several short paragraphs, ask yourself

“What is this part of the passage mostly about”

If you are confused… Go back and reread it! Don’t get hung up on minor details

List the supporting details.

Look for sentences that tell the main idea

•Main Idea Tips

Ben and Jerry’s “flavor guru’s” have an amazing

job.

They decide on a concept.

They find the right flavors to use.

They experiment until they find the right taste.

Some flavors are named after

musicians, celebrities, or

places.

“Cherry Garcia” and “Phish Food” are named for musicians.

“Stephen Colbert’s American Dream” is named for a T.V star.

“Jamaican Me Crazy” and “Dublin Mudslide” are named for places.

Think about what you are reading After reading, ask yourself “What is this part of the passage mostly

about”

If you are confused… Go back and reread it! Don’t get hung up on minor details

List the supporting details.

Look for sentences that tell the main idea

•On Your Own