Main Idea Review

What is the topic of the text?

• How long the article is

• The author of the article

• Who or what the text is mostly about

• Where the text takes place

What is the main idea of a text?

• The author's Point of View

• The sequence of the story

• The theme of the text

• The big idea of what the text is about

Identify the Main Idea: Weather reporters have to give out a lot of information. That's why they use pictures. The pictures help them tell us about the weather without using so many words. Weather reporters need to know where the cold air is. They need to know where the warm air is. They have to know where it is raining and what types of clouds are in the area. Their reports need to be correct, but they also need to be short. The pictures help weather reporters get the information out in a fast way.

• Weather reporters need to know where the cold air is

• Pictures help weather reporters get information out in a fast way

• Their reports need to be correct, but they also need to be short

• They have to know where it is raining and what types of clouds are in the area

Identify a Support Detail for the following Main Idea: Summer days are longer than winter days.

• You can go swimming during summer.

• There are about 92 days during summer.

• The sun doesn't set until 8:30 some nights.

• I have a friend names Summer.

Identify a Supporting Detail for the following Main Idea: An ostrich and a penguin have a lot in common.

• An ostrich is a very fast bird.

• Both have wings but cannot fly.

• Penguins live in cold regions.

• Many birds make their nests high up in trees.

Identify the Main Idea: Native Americans dried strips of meat, pounded it into a paste, and then mixed it with fat. Sometimes they added berries and sugar. Then they pressed it into small cakes. They called these cakes pemmican. Pemmican didn't spoil, and it provided lots of energy for people traveling or going hunting. Today explorers still carry and eat this food.

• Who uses pemmican today

• How pemmican was prepared by Native Americans.

• What can be put into pemmican

• Why people eat pemmican today

Identify the Topic: An important farm crop in the United States is cotton. Cotton is used for making clothing. Cotton is still a popular choice for clothes because it is easy to clean and last a long time.

• Cotton

• Clothes

• United States

• Popularity

Identify the Main Idea: Did you know that giraffes are the tallest animals in the world? They are unique in other ways, too. For one thing, they sleep only about 20 minutes each day, and usually not more than five minutes at a time. (They have to remain alert for predators.) Also, every giraffe’s coat is unique, and varies in color from white to nearly black, depending on what they eat and where they live.

• Giraffes don’t sleep very much.

• Giraffes are unique animals.

• There are many animals in the

  world.

• No animal is taller than a giraffe.

Identify the Main Idea: Wilbur and Orville Wright were brothers who were inventors, even from a young age when they built kites and bicycles. Many people credit the Wright Brothers with designing and building the first successful airplane. In 1903, their first flight only lasted 12 seconds, but it continues to inspire people all over the world to learn about science and math, to work hard to realize their dreams, and to use imagination to achieve success.

• The Wright Brothers worked hard.

• The Wright Brothers were inventors who have inspired many people.

• Inventors build kites and bicycles.

• The first flight was in 1903.

Identify the Main Idea: In the Colonial days, farm families worked long hours- sometimes from sunrise to sunset. They didn’t have time to ride bikes with their friends, or share a meal with extended family members. But sometimes, they were able to turn hard work into a good time with their neighbors and friends. Indian corn was a very important crop to the people in Virginia. In late fall, when the weather had gotten colder, the corn was ready to be harvested. The colonists had to pull ears of corn from the dry stalks and store the ears of corn. They would make a big pile of the ears of corn and then hold a corn-husking party. While lighting the lanterns in a barn, neighboring families would get together to husk the corn. Most of the corn was yellow or white, but occasionally, a red ear was found! It was said that whoever found that one was to have good luck for the year. These corn-husking parties were a great way to enjoy other people’s company while drinking cider and eating great food!

• Colonial families tried to make harvest season more enjoyable.

• Harvest season was hard.

• Indian corn was an important crop to colonial families.

• The weather turned colder in fall.