THEME
This is the message or lesson the author wants you to learn from the story.
What is theme?
This is what the text is mostly about.
What is the main idea?
This is when you use clues in the text and your own knowledge to figure something out.
What is making an inference?
These are the small pieces of information that support the main idea.
What are supporting details?
This is the skill of figuring out the message, lesson, or meaning of a story by thinking about the characters and what happens.
What is understanding the theme?
The theme of The Tortoise and the Hare is this lesson about patience and hard work.
What is “slow and steady wins the race”?
If the main idea is “Why Bees Are Important,” one supporting detail could be this.
What is “bees pollinate plants”?
If a character is shivering and wearing a scarf, you can infer this about the weather.
What is “it is cold”?
To find details in a story, you can look for this type of evidence.
What is textual evidence?
These are the facts and examples that help explain or prove the main idea.
What are details?
In many stories, the theme teaches this type of lesson, like “be kind” or “tell the truth.”
What is a moral?
You can often find the main idea in this part of a paragraph.
What is the first or last sentence?
If a story says, “Luis looked at his watch and ran faster,” you can infer this.
What is “Luis is running late”?
If the story says, “The boy’s kite soared through the sky,” this is one detail about the kite.
What is “the kite was flying high”?
This is what you do when you make a guess based on clues from the text and your knowledge.
What is making an inference?
If a story is about helping others, this could be the theme.
What is “kindness” or “helping others”?
A main idea must include both the topic and this.
What is what the author is saying about the topic?
You can make an inference by combining clues from the text with this.
What is what you already know?
To find details, it helps to look for these words that explain who, what, where, when, why, and how.
What are key words?
This is what you can call the most important idea of a paragraph or story.
What is the main idea?
The theme of a story is often not stated directly, but you have to figure it out based on this.
What is the actions or choices of the characters?
If the main idea is “Dogs make great pets,” one detail could be this.
What is “dogs are loyal”?
If a student has a backpack and lunchbox, you can infer they are going to this place.
What is “school”?
If the main idea is “Volcanoes are powerful,” this could be a detail.
What is “Volcanoes can destroy buildings”?
If the story says, “She packed her bags, bought a ticket, and headed to the airport,” you can infer this.
What is “she is going on a trip”?