Central Idea vs Main Idea

This tells what the story is mostly about. It's like a one-sentence summary.

• Main Idea

• Theme

This is a central message, lesson, or moral of the story.

• Main Idea

• Theme

Another term for central idea is:

• summary

• the topic

• inference

• main idea

Identifying the main idea of a paragraph helps the reader to:

• Memorize the paragraph

• Understand what the paragraph is mostly about

• Ignore the details in the paragraph

• Focus on the least important information

She knew she would have to work hard, but Jana had always wanted to win the spelling bee.

• Theme

• Main Idea

This tells what the story is mostly about. It's like a one-sentence summary.

• Main Idea

• Theme

• Plot

• Setting

This is a central message, lesson, or moral of the story.

• Main Idea

• Theme

• Character

• Setting

Another term for central idea is:

• summary

• the topic

• inference

• main idea

Identifying the main idea of a paragraph helps the reader to:

• Memorize the paragraph

• Understand what the paragraph is mostly about

• Ignore the details in the paragraph

• Focus on the least important information

She knew she would have to work hard, but Jana had always wanted to win the spelling bee.

• Theme

• Main Idea

• Character

• Setting