Main Idea
What is the main idea?
Pen pals are friends who live far apart but write letters to each other. It's exciting for pen pals to get letters in the mail from another city or country. More importantly, pen pals learn about each other's lives. They may share ideas about their families, pets, and favorite foods. They also may tell each other about special places and events in their towns. Through words and pictures, pen pals make each other's worlds a little bit bigger.
What is the main idea of this passage?
Pen Pals
More in-depth thinking: Pen Pals make other's worlds a lot bigger.
Name one supporting detail that supports main idea?
Pen pals are friends who live far apart but write letters to each other. It's exciting for pen pals to get letters in the mail from another city or country. More importantly, pen pals learn about each other's lives. They may share ideas about their families, pets, and favorite foods. They also may tell each other about special places and events in their towns. Through words and pictures, pen pals make each other's worlds a little bit bigger.
Answers can be:
Pen Pals are friends who live far apart but write letters to each other.
Pen Pals live in different cities or countries.
Pen pals share information about each others lives like their families, pets, and favorite foods.
Pen pals teach each other about special places and events in their hometown.
What is the main idea?
AND
What are Supporting Details?
The most important idea in a paragraph
and
information (evidence) from the text that support your main idea.
Main Idea:Kangaroos usually live in family groups called mobs Which is a supporting detail?
A. Kangaroos are mammals.
B. These mobs can be as large as 100 kangaroos
B. These mobs can be as large as 100 kangaroos
What is the main idea?
Gravity is the force that makes things fall to Earth. You can't see or touch it, but without gravity, life on Earth would be quite different. Everything would simply float away. If you jumped up, you would fly off into space. If you threw a baseball, it would never come down. Gravity is also the force that keeps the Earth orbiting around the sun. So, without gravity, the Earth might float away too!
Gravity!
More in-depth thinking: Life would be different without gravity.
Name one supporting detail that supports the main idea?
Gravity is the force that makes things fall to Earth. You can't see or touch it, but without gravity, life on Earth would be quite different. Everything would simply float away. If you jumped up, you would fly off into space. If you threw a baseball, it would never come down. Gravity is also the force that keeps the Earth orbiting around the sun. So, without gravity, the Earth might float away too!
Answers can very:
Gravity is the force that makes things stay on Earth.
You can't see or touch Gravity.
Without Gravity everything would float up into space and never come down.
Gravity is the force that keeps the Earth going around the Sun
A Safer Bike Ride
How can you stay safe while riding your bike on busy streets? One way is to protect your head with a bicycle helmet. Studies have shown that riders who wear helmets are less likely to hurt their heads. Another way is to use hand signals when you ride. Hand signals show that you're planning to turn or stop. They help drivers in cars watch out for you. A third way is to follow traffic laws. Stop at stop signs and to cross streets at crosswalks. If you follow these safety rules, you'll protect yourself while riding.
How to stay safe while riding your bike.
Main Idea: Kangaroos usually have only one baby at a time
Which details supports this?
A. Kangaroo babies are called joeys.
B. Kangaroos eat grass and leaves
A. Kangaroo babies are called joeys.
Halloween is full of spooky creatures, but on especially spine-tingling monster is Frankenstien. In early 1800s, a woman named Mary Shelley wrote a creepy tale about a mad scientist who created a monster by piecing together limbs and other graveyard finds. This mad scientist, named Frankenstien, brought the monster to life using electricity in his lab. The tall monster walked around in a zombi-like manner, with scars, and stitches covering his face and body. Frankenstien then became know as a classic Halloween monster. Today, many children dress up like this spooky lab creation on Halloween.
Frankenstein.
Name one supporting detail that supports the main idea?
Halloween is full of spooky creatures, but on especially spine-tingling monster is Frankenstien. In early 1800s, a woman named Mary Shelley wrote a creepy tale about a mad scientist who created a monster by piecing together limbs and other graveyard finds. This mad scientist, named Frankenstien, brought the monster to life using electricity in his lab. The tall monster walked around in a zombi-like manner, with scars, and stitches covering his face and body. Frankenstien then became know as a classic Halloween monster. Today, many children dress up like this spooky lab creation on Halloween.
Answers can be:
Frankenstin was a story created by the author Mary Shelley in the early 1800s
Franeknstien was made by a mad scientist named Frankenstien
Frankenstien was a moster made up of limbs and other graveyard finds.
He was brought to life by electricity.
Is now a famous Halloween Monster
The eye doctor said Julie needed glasses. Julie picked out a pair of cute pink glasses. But when the glasses were ready, Julie wasn’t so sure. When she went to school the next day, she kept her new glasses in her backpack. She went into her classroom and saw her teacher, Mrs Miller. Mrs Miller was wearing new pink glasses! Now Julie wasn’t worried about wearing her new glasses. Now she thought her new glasses were wonderful!
Julie's new glasses.
Main Idea: Kangaroos are mostly night time creatures.
Which detail supports this?
A.Kangaroos have a long powerful tail.
B.They sleep during the day under a shady tree or bush
B.They sleep during the day under a shady tree or bush
What is the main idea?
Where do Bats Sleep?
Bats are known for flying around at night and sleeping during the day. You may have seen pictures of bats sleeping upside down in caves. Bats have other daytime resting places too. They sleep in trees, in old buildings, and even under bridges. More than a million bats sleep under one bridge in Austin, Texas. This colony, or group, contains about as many bats as there are people in the city!
Bats sleep in many different kinds of places
What is one supporting detail that supports the main idea?
Where do Bats Sleep?
Bats are known for flying around at night and sleeping during the day. You may have seen pictures of bats sleeping upside down in caves. Bats have other daytime resting places too. They sleep in trees, in old buildings, and even under bridges. More than a million bats sleep under one bridge in Austin, Texas. This colony, or group, contains about as many bats as there are people in the city!
Answers can be:
Bats sleep mostly during the day.
Bats can sleep upside down in caves, and also in trees, old buildings, and under bridges.
There are more bats sleeping under a bridge in Texas then there are people in that city!
Don't Eat Me!
Insects and other animals can protect themselves from attachers. Did you know that plants have ways to protect themselves too? One way plants protect themselves is with thorns and bark. For example, the thorns on a rosebush make it difficult for animals to eat it. The bark on a tree keeps insects from getting inside. Another way plants protect themselves is with chemicals. Some chemicals in plants act as poisons. If animals eat a plant with poison in it, they may get sick or even die. Other chemicals make plants taste so bad that animals do not want to eat them.
How plants protect themselves.
Main Idea: Kangaroo tails are muscular, long and thick at the base.
Which is a supporting detail?
A. Their tails help them balance and turn when they're hopping.
B. Kangaroos also have a pouch, were they carry their babies.
A. Their tails help them balance and turn when they're hopping.
What is the main idea?
Women's gymnastics is a very popular sport to watch during the olympics. The girls complete on 4 different events-uneven bars, balance beam, vault, and floor, Men's gymnastics has six different events. While the woman's floor routine is to music, the even bars, balance beam, and vault are not to music.
Women's Gymnastics at the Olympics
More in-depth thinking: The events during woman's gymnastics in the Olympics.
What is one supporting detail from the passage?
Women's gymnastics is a very popular sport to watch during the olympics. The girls complete on 4 different events-uneven bars, balance beam, vault, and floor, Men's gymnastics has six different events. While the woman's floor routine is to music, the even bars, balance beam, and vault are not to music.
Answers can be:
Women's gymnastics have 4 different events in the Olympics.
These events include: uneven bars, balance beam, vault, and floor.
Some events can be made to music while others are not.
Did an Asteroid Kill the Dinosaurs?
What killed the dinosaurs? Many people believe that the dinosaurs were killed when an asteroid hit the earth. An asteroid is a small, rocky object that orbits the sun. However, sum scientists now think that the asteroid wasn't the only cause. Some scientists think that there were climate changes before the asteroid hit. They believe that these climate changes killed some animals and plants that dinosaurs needed for food. Also, some scientist believe that there may have been harmful gases in the air that killed many dinosaurs. So when the asteroid hit, it made things even worse for them.
It may have been more than just an asteroid that caused the dinosaurs to die.
When writing a paragraph you must have sentences that support your main idea. What are these sentences called?
Supporting details