Finding the main idea and supporting details Comprehension Toolkit

Comprehension means understanding. The answers to some questions are easy to find, while the answers to others are more difficult to work out. The best way to understand a text is to ask yourself questions as you read it.

Comprehension Toolkit This picture shows two children baking cookies. The main idea of the picture is two children are baking cookies.

Comprehension Toolkit We know that the children are baking cookies because the girl is stirring a mixture in a bowl. The boy is holding a cookie cutter and he’s wearing a chef’s hat. There is a rolling pin and rolled-out dough on the table, and there are star-shaped cookies on a tray. These are the supporting details of the picture.

Comprehension Toolkit If we had to describe the picture, we might write: Lucy made the icing for the cookies, while Jake rolled out the dough and cut it into star shapes with a green cookie cutter. Jake placed the shapes on a tray, ready to go into the oven. The main idea of this paragraph is: Lucy and Jake are baking cookies. The only difference between the main idea of the picture and the main idea of the paragraph is that the paragraph tells us the children’s names.

Comprehension Toolkit What is the evidence that supports the main idea that Lucy and Jake are baking cookies? Lucy made the icing for the cookies, while Jake rolled out the dough and cut it into star shapes with a green cookie cutter. Jake placed the shapes on a tray, ready to go into the oven. These are the details that support the main idea.

Comprehension Toolkit If you can’t find the main idea of a paragraph, try forming a picture of it in your mind. A summary of what you see in the picture is most likely the main idea of the paragraph. Form a picture in your mind as you read this paragraph: It’s a sunny day and the children are playing outside. Jesse is pulling the kite, while Emily untangles the kite’s tail. Little Rosie is trying to keep up with the bigger girls.

Comprehension Toolkit The picture you form in your mind’s eye might look like this: What is the main idea of the paragraph? It’s a sunny day and the children are playing outside.

Comprehension Toolkit What are the supporting details? It’s a sunny day and the children are playing outside. Jesse is pulling the kite, while Emily untangles the kite’s tail. Little Rosie is trying to keep up with the bigger girls.

Comprehension Toolkit