Vocabulary
What is STATED main idea?
The author writes out the main idea in the text for you.
What evidence would you write for this Main Idea?
Mummies are often featured in movies as being undead beings.
Fiction Novels about Mummies
Horror Films about Mummies
Science Fiction Films about Mummies
Mummies having magical powers.
1ST TIP for finding the main idea
Find the Topic
Ask yourself "Who or what the text is about?"
2 Types of Main Idea
Stated and Implied
What is Evidence?
Evidence is ANY information in a text that supports the main idea.
What main idea would you write based on the evidence sentences below?
King Tut took the throne at age nine or ten. History suggests he wasn‛t very famous when he was a king, but he is remembered in modern society because of the very public discovery of his tomb by Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922. Legends of a “curse” are still around to this day because people that were part of Carter‛s excavation team had instances of bad luck shortly after. The mission‛s funder caught an infection, and one of the anthropologist‛s house burned down
Something like:
King Tut is a very famous mummy from the Egyptian royalty of old.
2ND TIP for finding the main idea
Read the Title and Heading of the text.
Other Names for Main Idea
Central Idea
Topic Sentence
Main Point
Thesis Statement
Explain the Main Idea.
A sentence or paragraph that is the most important/central thought about what the author is trying to say.
What is the main idea of this paragraph?
Though it was actually rare for Egyptian royalty to inscribe curses in their tombs, the pharoahs seemed to be trying to prevent people from breaking into their chambers and derailing their journey to the afterlife. Winding walkways to the tomb that lead deep under the pyramid were common, and doors to the tomb were often sealed shut. Even King Tut was buried in three nested sarcophagi, which were inside of five layered wooden shrines. Inside their tombs, pharaohs stocked everything they might need for the afterlife, including food, furniture and valuables.
Pharoahs seemed to try to prevent people from breaking into their chambers and derailing their journey to the afterlife.
3RD TIP for finding the main idea
Read & Look at the first sentence in the paragraph.
Types of Evidence
Expert Quotes
Research/Facts with #s
Testimonies/Experience
Examples
Historical References
What is the IMPLIED main idea?
Requires you to look at the specific statements in the text and consider what idea the author is suggesting.
You must THINK about the text and create the main idea
Is the main idea STATED or IMPLIED?
Do you wear glasses? Make sure your glasses fit well. The earpieces should be at eye level. Don’t try to adjust the earpieces yourself. Take your glasses for adjustments to the place you bought them. Keep your glasses in a case when you’re not wearing them. This will prevent scratches. Keep the lenses clean. A soft cloth is best for cleaning.
Main idea is IMPLIED.
4TH TIP for finding the main idea
Read & Look at the last sentence in the paragraph.
* What is the Main Idea?
* Which sentence is evidence for the main idea?
1.What is motion? 2.Consider a ball that you notice one morning in the middle of a lawn. 3.Later in the afternoon, you notice that the ball is at the edge of the lawn, against a fence, and you wonder if the wind or some person moved the ball. 4.You do not know if the wind blew it at a steady rate, if many gusts of wind moved it, or even if some children kicked it all over the yard. 5.All you know for sure is that the ball has been moved because it is in a different position after some time passed. 6.These are the two important aspects of motion: (1) a change of position and(2) the passage of time.
Main Idea sentences are 1 & 6
Evidence sentences are 2-5
5TH TIP for finding the main idea
Look for repeated ideas