Main Idea
Supporting Details
Main Idea or Supporting Details?
100

What is a main idea?

The main idea is what the paragraph is mainly about.  

100
What is a supporting detail?
Supporting details are details that tell you more about the main idea.
100
Kangaroos usually live in family groups called mobs.
Main Idea
200

The Erie Canal changed the way people moved goods and supplies in the mid 1800's.The 363 mile canal connected Albany, New York to Lake Erie in Buffalo for the first time. When the canal opened in 1825, building supplies and goods could be transported quickly and cheaply across New York State.Canal boats pulled by mules carried people and supplies the 363 miles.What is the main idea of the paragraph?

The Erie Canal changed the way people moved goods and supplies in the mid 1800's.

200

Kangaroos protect themselves in many ways. If a kangaroo senses danger, they will bang their tail on the ground to warn the others.A new born joey is only the size of your thumb.What is the supporting detail?

If a kangaroo senses danger, they will bang their tail on the ground to warn the others.

200

These mobs can be as large as 100 kangaroos.

Supporting Detail

300

Kangaroos eat grasses, leaves and roots. The joey lives in the mother's pouch for 9 months.They only like grass that is green and close to the ground.What is the main idea of the paragraph?

Kangaroos eat grasses, leaves and roots.

300
Kangaroos are strange looking animals. Some kangaroos act as guards to protect the mob. They have small front legs and huge hind legs with great big feet.What is the supporting detail in the paragraph?
They have small front legs and huge hind legs with great big feet.
300

Under the law, they were not allowed to attend the same schools as white people and had to sit in the back seats of buses. 

Supporting detail. 
400

King gained national attention from the boycott and, in 1963, delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. He told a crowd of more than 200,000 people in Washington D.C., that his dream was for all people to be treated fairly and equally under the law. As a result of his work, civil rights laws were passed. Those laws protect the rights of all Americans. 

What is the main idea of the paragraph? 

His speech and how it changed segregation laws. 

400
Kangaroos are mostly night time creatures. Kangaroos have a long powerful tail.They sleep during the day under a shady tree or bush.What is the supporting detail in the paragraph?
They sleep during the day under a shady tree or bush.
400

King had an important role in the civil rights movement. 

Main idea

500

When King was older, he worked to change those unjust laws. During the 1950's and 1960's, he gave speeches and organized peaceful marches and protests. Beginning in 1955, King led the famous Montgomery bus boycott. For 381 days, African Americans boycotted, or refused to use, public buses in Alabama city. A year later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was illegal. 

What is the main idea of the paragraph? 

The boycott and how it changed segregation on buses. 

500

Many people celebrate King's legacy on Martin Luther King Jr. Day with parades and other events. The legacy of a leader is something he or she has accomplished that would benefit future generations. For King, that meant making the world a better place. Thousands more honor King by cleaning parks, volunteering at homeless shelters, and participating in other community service projects. 

Which of these sentences is a supporting detail? 

Thousands more honor King by cleaning parks, volunteering at homeless shelters, and participating in other community service projects. 

500

King gained national attention from the bus boycott and later delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech. 

Supporting detail

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