Main Idea

Descriptions of people, places or things that support the main idea are called ________.

• characters

• details

• morals

• opinions

Which sentence gives you the best clue about the main idea of this paragraph?

• Insects are called "bugs" because they bother people.

• Some bugs are very helpful to farmers and other people.

• Some farmers buy ladybugs for their farms.

• Another bug that helps people is the honeybee.

Which sentence best describes the main idea of this paragraph?

• The surface of the moon is dusty.

• The Apollo rocket circled the moon.

• Armstrong became the first man on the moon in 1969.

• The world likes to watch astronauts on television.

WHAT IS THE MAIN IDEA?

Going to the zoo is so much fun! First, I like to visit the giraffes. They are so tall and fun to look at. Next, I like to go watch the monkeys swinging in the trees. Last, I never miss the dolphin show. They do so many cool tricks, and they even splash you a little bit.

• monkeys swing on trees

• Going to the zoo is fun!

• Animals are really cool

• Giraffes are my favorite animals

WHAT IS MAIN IDEA?

• details about the story

• a prediction of the story

• the ending of the story

• What the story is mostly about

WHAT ARE KEY DETAILS?

• What the story is mostly about

• a fact that supports the main idea

• a predication about the story

• the beginning of the story

WHAT IS THE MAIN IDEA?

Making a birthday cake is easy! When you go to the store, pick out the cake flavor you want. Read the directions on the box to add the right amount of eggs, water, and oil to the mix. Baker the cake, then let it cool. Once it cools, decorate it with icing and enjoy!

• Making a birthday is easy

• add the eggs, water and oil

• pick out a cake flavor from the store

• cake the cake, decorate it, and enjoy

Read the following passage and then choose the best summary or main idea.
Jose carefully poured out the bag of marbles on his bed. He picked his ten favorite marbles and carefully set them to the side. Then he got out a small bag from his top drawer, and put the ten marbles inside. Just to make sure he wouldn't forget them, he placed the bag of marbles in his backpack. Jose loved show and tell, and he was excited that he would get to show his class some of his favorite marbles.

• Jose had lots of marbles.

• Jose was getting his favorite marbles ready to take to school for show and tell.

•  Jose would rather play marbles than play baseball.

• Jose placed the bag of marbles in his backpack.

When would you most likely summarize a book? 

• when you want to forget a book you've read

• when you want to tell a friend your opinion of a book but not what it was about

• when you want to tell a friend the gist or the main idea of a book

• when you don't understand a vocabulary word you read in a book

When summarizing, I should identify...

• the main idea and supporting details of the plot

• Just the main idea.