Main Idea
What is the single most important point an author makes in a text?
Main Idea, Central Idea, Main Topic
What is the difference between a theme and a topic?
Topic = subject
Theme = the author’s message about that subject
What is a genre?
A type of media/text/work
What is fiction?
Media/Text that is made up, not true.
Media/Text based on fact.
Which one is which?
Main Idea = Fiction/NonFiction
Central Idea= Fiction/NonFiction
Main Idea = Fiction
Central Idea = Non Fiction
Which statement best states the theme of a fable that ends with a character learning to listen before acting:
(A) Always act first
(B) Listening can prevent mistakes
(C) Luck solves problems
(D) Friends are optional
(B) Listening can prevent mistakes
Name two genres of fiction.
Any of these work: historical fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, mystery, adventure, horror, science fiction, romance, comedy.
Which subgenre of fiction often features clues, suspects, and a solution revealed at the end?
Mystery
What does it mean to summarize?
Explain a text in one to two sentences.
Which clue best helps you identify the main idea of a paragraph:
(A) a repeated word or phrase
(B) a minor detail
(C) a random example
(D) an unrelated fact
(A) A repeated word
Main idea can be found directly in the text, but theme is something you have to...
Guess from the text
Name an example of FANTASY. (Can be book, movie, tv show, comic.)
What three things fantasy books may have?
Creatures, good vs. evil, magic powers.
A 7th-grade science textbook or a news article written to explain photosynthesis is an example of this specific type of nonfiction, which aims solely to teach or convey facts.
What type of non-fiction is this?
Informational
Which strategy most reliably helps you identify a paragraph’s main idea:
(A) list every example and choose the longest one
(B) pick the first sentence you read
(C) find the sentence that repeats key words and summarizes the point
(D) focus only on the last word
(C) find the sentence that repeats key words and summarizes the point
A student fails a test, studies differently, and improves.
What is the theme?
Keep trying even if you fail
Learn from your mistakes
Don't give up
Explain one clear difference between fantasy and realistic fiction.
Fantasy includes impossible magic or creatures; realistic fiction uses believable events/settings without supernatural elements.
While Historical Fiction requires a real past setting, this genre specifically relies on verisimilitude—using realistic details and ordinary human conflicts so the story feels like it could happen today, without any magical or futuristic elements.
What genre is it?
Realistic Fiction.
Books like Hidden Figures or The Diary of a Young Girl fall into this genre, which uses literary devices and storytelling techniques like plot lines and character development to tell true stories.
What genre of non-fiction is this?
Narrative Non-Fiction OR Biography
Which one is the best example of a Main Idea?
(A) A boy named Leo loved baseball
(B) Leo practiced daily and improved his batting average
(C) The coach gave Leo advice about mechanics
(B) Leo practiced daily and improved his batting average
A scientist’s experiment fails, she revises the method, learns from data, and later succeeds, with the community benefiting from the discovery.
(A) Success depends only on talent
(B) Failure can lead to success
(C) Only lone geniuses change the world
(D) Failure proves incompetence.
(B) Failure can lead to success
Name two genres this passage could be:
"When the old map fell from the attic beam, Lina and Marcus followed its faded trail through the marsh. They found a carved stone door hidden under roots. Inside, a metal box hummed and showed moving pictures of ships from long ago. The siblings decided to bring the box to the local historian to learn if the images were real."
Historical fiction, adventure, fantasy, mystery.
A village is haunted every winter by a shadow that steals memories, but a brave girl discovers it is a lonely spirit seeking friendship.
What TWO GENRES could this be?
Recipes, user manuals, and lab experiments belong to this nonfiction subgenre, which uses chronological order and precise transitions to guide the reader through a specific task.
What type of non-fiction is this?
Procedural Nonfiction