1. What’s The Big Idea? Recognizing the Main Idea

2. The main idea will tell us exactly what the story/paragraph is about. What we need to look for when identifying the main idea is: what FINALLY happens in the story.

3. What’s In a Paragraph Paragraphs have two essential parts:  The main idea is expressed in the topic sentence  The additional sentences are what’s called supporting details. Now let’s see how to find it

4. Where is it Found? The Main idea can be found in either of 3 places: 1. The first sentence 2. The middle of the paragraph 3. Or the end. When the main idea is clearly stated it’s known as the topic sentence.

5. How do we find it? We can use our hands to find the main idea. Hold up your hands like this… The thumb stands for who The pointer finger stands for what. The middle finger stands for where. The ring finger stands for when. The pink finger stands for why.

6. Recognizing Supporting Details Details are essential to identifying the main idea: What the author wants us to know. These details give us additional information about the main character or topic of the story. Let’s look at an example. We will first identify the supporting details of the story, then we will identify the main idea.

7. Buford really is one of the meanest kids I ever met. Every morning on the way to school I see him throw the newspaper at Mrs. Winston’s little dog. Many times I have seen him tease and make fun of the little kids in our neighborhood. He even beat up Joe Parker’s little brother and stole his lunch money. Once I saw him cheat on a social studies test and when he was caught, he blamed the boy sitting next to him. Let’s see if you have correctly identified the details. Finding the Supporting Details:

8. Buford really is one of the meanest kids I ever met. Every morning on the way to school (1) I see him throw the newspaper at Mrs. Winston’s little dog. Many times (2) I have seen him tease and make fun of the little kids in our neighborhood. (3) He even beat up Joe Parker’s little brother and stole his lunch money. (4) Once I saw him cheat on a social studies test and when he was caught, (5) he blamed the boy sitting next to him. These details supports the main idea, which is what?

9. The Main idea…. Buford really is one of the meanest kids I ever met. Every morning on the way to school I see him throw the newspaper at Mrs. Winston’s little dog. Many times I have seen him tease and make fun of the little kids in our neighborhood. He even beat up Joe Parker’s little brother and stole his lunch money. Once I saw him cheat on a social studies test and when he was caught, he blamed the boy sitting next to him. Can we see why this sentence is the main idea? This is what the author was trying to get us to understand by supplying us with all the previous details.

10. Find the Main Idea Every morning Melanie Miller visits old Mrs. Houston next door, takes out her trash, and washes her breakfast dishes before going to school. She stops by every afternoon after school to help Mrs. Houston take in her laundry from the clothes line and to help her prepare her small meager supper. On weekends Melanie helps Mrs. Houston by going to the grocery store to pick up her groceries and sometimes to the drug store to pick up Mrs. Houston’s medicine. It is no wonder that Melanie deserved to receive the Good Neighbor award from the city. On a scrap piece of paper answer the following: What are the supporting details? Where is the main idea located? a. 1 st sentence b. 2 nd sentence c. at the end. What is the main idea of the story?

11. Let’s see how well you did? What are the supporting details? Every morning Melanie Miller visits old Mrs. Houston next door, takes out her trash, and washes her breakfast dishes before going to school. She stops by every afternoon after school to help Mrs. Houston take in her laundry from the clothes line and to help her prepare her small meager supper. On weekends Melanie helps Mrs. Houston by going to the grocery store to pick up her groceries and sometimes to the drug store to pick up Mrs. Houston’s medicine Where is the main idea located? a. 1st sentence b. 2nd sentence c. at the end. What is the main idea of the story? It is no wonder that Melanie deserved to receive the Good Neighbor award from the city

12. Now let’s see if you can do it on your own.