Central Idea
What is the central idea of a passage?
The centra idea is what a information text/passage/article is main about.
Table of Contents
The 3 kinds of text structures we learned this year.
Main idea and supporting details, compare and contrast, cause and effect
What does CERC stand for?
C - CLAIM
E - EVIDENCE
R - REASONING
C - Counterclaim/Counterargument
The 4 main authors' purposes (that we learned this year)
HINT: PIEE
to persuade, to inform/explain, to entertain, to express (an opinion)
Sentence #2
Name the text feature: Helps the reader understand the sequence of time
Time-lines
Name the text structure: Fences are structures that are usually made of wire or wood and are used to enclose an area.
Main idea and supporting details
What's the difference between an author's reason and their reasoning?
Reason = Reason for writing something or for believing their claim.
Reasoning = Sentence or two that explains the evidence and why it's relevant/supports the claim.
Name the author's purpose: A poem about a “packrat,” a person who refuses to throw things away, even things that most people would consider garbage
to entertain
What is the central idea of this short passage?:
When tigers hunt, they hunt alone. In contrast, lions hunt in groups; they work together to drive their prey into an ambush. Cheetahs are known for their speed when they chase prey. Leopards are able to climb trees when they are prowling for prey. Surprisingly, jaguars often hunt in water. There is great diversity in the hunting habits of large cats. There is also great diversity in the places in which they hunt.
There is great diversity in the hunting habits of large cats, and there is also great diversity in the places in which they hunt.
Name the text feature: Defines words contained in a text.
Glossary
Name the text structure: Getting too little sleep can lead to grumpiness, difficulty concentrating, and health problems.
cause and effect
What is the author claiming in this paragraph?:
Memes, like language, are a reflection of us – our culture, our values, our beliefs. What was once considered funny is now boring or unremarkable. And like language, memes rely on a deep understanding of those cultures and beliefs. Understanding a meme about the Kardashians requires a deep understanding of who they are and who they represent in our culture. If you know nothing about the Kardashians and receive a Kardashian meme, you’d be as clueless as someone who didn’t speak French in Paris. The memes that tend to go viral and survive are those memes that are understood.
Claim: The meme's that last the longest are the meme's that everyone understands because they have the knowledge it takes to understand them.
Name the author's purpose: A section in a history book describing the conditions and causes of the Great Depression in the Midwest in the 1930s.
to inform/explain
What is the central idea of this passage?:
An online identity, sometimes called an Internet persona, is an identity established by a user to interact with others through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or multi-player games. Although some people use their real names online, many Internet users prefer to be anonymous, identifying themselves by pseudonyms1 . Some users can be deceptive2 about their identity. Users express online identity both explicitly and implicitly. Users express themselves explicitly through usernames, pictures, and the information about themselves that they choose to give others, such as their hometown. They can also explicitly express their identity by choosing an avatar, an icon-sized graphic image, or by creating user profiles in social media networks, such as Facebook. Implicitly, users express their identity through what they say to other users and the opinions they express. As other users interact with an established online identity, it gains a reputation, which enables them to decide whether the identity is worthy of trust.
Online identities allow people to shape how others see them.
Name the text feature: Includes additional or explanatory information.
Sidebar
Name the text structure: Butter, flour, sugar, and eggs are important ingredients in both cupcakes and cakes.
compare and contrast
What is the author's claim in this paragraph? What is one piece of evidence they provide to support it? (Verbally explain the evidence):
The researchers surveyed an ethnically diverse sample of 27,939 suburban high school students in Virginia. Although teenagers need about nine hours of sleep a night on average, according to the National Institutes of Health, only 3 percent of students reported getting that amount, and 20 percent of participants indicated that they got five hours or less. The average amount reported was 6.5 hours every weekday night. After controlling for background variables such as family status and income, the researchers determined that each hour of lost sleep was associated with a 38 percent increase in the odds of feeling sad and hopeless, a 42 percent increase in considering suicide, a 58 percent increase in suicide attempts and a 23 percent increase in substance abuse.
Claim: Lack of sleep in teenagers can lead to mental health problems.
Answers will vary for evidence: Example is "the researchers determined that each hour of lost sleep was associated with a 38 percent increase in the odds of feeling sad and hopeless"
Name the author's purpose: An article where an author is telling you their thoughts on a current school board meeting.
to express (an opinion)
What is the central idea of this passage?
Cat people and dog people have long sparred over which species possesses the best brains.
Team Cat points to the felines' self-reliance as a sign of intelligence. The animals can hunt, which isn't so great for wildlife but does showcase the cunning predator still lurking within lap kitties. Cats also clean themselves and relieve themselves in tidy litter boxes — or even toilets. They are generally better at food portion control than their canine housemates, too.
Team Dog cites the canines' ability to learn complex tasks, especially those that benefit humans. Dogs guide the blind and herd livestock. They sniff out explosives and help find survivors buried beneath earthquake rubble. They also have strong memories and an impressive capacity to understand human language.
But as it turns out, all of this résumé listing may be unnecessary. According to a new study published in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, the best way to measure cognitive ability is to tally each animal's neurons.
People have always argued about which pet is smarter (cats or dogs) but they're doing it wrong. They should be doing measuring how smart they are by counting the neurons or brain cells in each animals brains.
Name the text feature: Identifies a word as important and/or found in the glossary
Bold print
Name the text structure: A seaplane is a type of airplane that doesn’t use a runway to take off or land – it takes off and lands on water!
main idea and supporting details
Write a short claim, 1 piece of evidence, and reasoning for the following:
Should middle school students have homework? Why or why not?
You will get 3 minutes for this question.
(Answers will Vary)
Name the author's purpose: An article where the author argues that an iPhone is better than an Android phone.
to persuade