Main Idea Using Broad-Main-Narrow

Do you remember Goldilocks and the three bears?Goldilocks and the three bears Every time Goldilocks said …. "Ahhh, this porridge is just right," "Ahhh, this chair is just right," She was giving the “main idea” for that section of the story.

Main These ideas give the gist or the main point of the story.gist This is what the author wants you to remember most about what you’ve read. It is the topic you keep seeing being repeated throughout the passage.topic Therefore, it is what the passage is mostly about. These statements are not too general nor are they specific details from the passage.

Imagine Main Idea as being…

Broad Ideas These are ideas that are too general and could work for any number of paragraphs or passages.general They are NOT specific and don’t give enough information to accurately describe a passage.specific

Broad Idea : Lacks details Too general Doesn’t really describe very much Covers many possible topics Too big to be main idea Doesn’t help visualize much in the story Can go lots of different directions Open idea Wide, variety of topics can fit within this statement

Imagine Broad as being…

Narrow Ideas These usually are sentences specifically from the passage. Either word for word or paraphrased. paraphrased They often give too many details about a given topic.details

Narrow Idea: Details about the main idea Gives descriptive information from the story Describes something in the story Helps us visualize part of the story Not enough information to get the whole story It could be a fact from the story Makes you want to know more One single part of the overall subject A specific idea or concept in the story Describes something that happened or what someone did

Imagine Narrow as being…

1. Juan loves to play games. His favorite game is chess because it requires a great deal of thought. Juan also likes to play less demanding board games that are based mostly on luck. He prefers Monopoly because it requires luck and skill. If he’s alone, Juan likes to play action video games as long as they aren’t too violent. What is the main idea of this paragraph? Juan likes playing games that require luck and/or skill. Juan likes to play Monopoly and chess. Juan likes games.

2. Maria is watching too much television. A toddler shouldn’t be spending hours staring blankly at a screen. Worse yet, some of her wild behavior has been inspired by those awful cartoons she watches. We need to spend more time reading books with her and pull the plug on the TV! What is the main idea of this paragraph? Watching a lot of television isn’t good for Maria. Too much television is bad. Maria is inspired to do bad things because of watching bad cartoons.

3. Samantha can’t eat or sleep when her son is gone. She needs to hear his scratchy voice and see his lovely toothless smile. Samantha misses that special way that her son eats spaghetti with his fingers. What is the main idea of this paragraph? Samantha’s son should see a dentist. Samantha misses and needs her son. People miss their kids when they aren’t home.

4. Someday we will all have robots that will be our personal servants. They will look and behave much like real humans. We will be able to talk to these mechanical helpers and they will be able to respond in kind. Amazingly, the robots of the future will be able to learn from experience. They will be smart, strong, and untiring workers whose only goal will be to make our lives easier. Which sentence from the paragraph expresses the main idea? Eventually we will all have robots that will learn, respond, and work to fulfill our every need. We will be able to talk to these mechanical helpers and they will be able to respond in kind. Future robots will work.