Introduction
Finding the main idea is sort of like solving a mystery—you look at all the evidence put together and then figure out what it means. The difference between the main idea and the supporting details is like the difference between the conclusion and the clues.
Students I am asking you to accurately highlight the main idea in a series of paragraphs, and write an objective summary of a text. We need to be able to determine what the main idea is in order to understand the text that we are reading. Identifying the main idea enables us to understand the essence of the selection and to recognize the difference between the main idea and its supporting details.
Task
You are and your friends are at your lockers between class periods and your friend asks you about the movie you went to see over the weekend. Your friend doesn’t have time to hear about the entire two hour movie, but you can tell your friend in a few short sentences what the movie is all about. But how exactly? The main idea of course. The main idea refers to what a paragraph or an article is about. “Main” means what is important, or key. “Idea” means the thought, or topic.
Here's a start:
Find the main idea that ties together all these peices of evidence.
1. Mr. Rodriguez hadn't eaten since breakfast.
2. He saw Mr. Dec sneaking around the corner to get out of his sight.
3. "Hey! Come back here!" Mr. Rodriguez called to him
4. "Give it Bakc! I'm Starving!"
5. Mr. Dec Laughed evilly and ran away.
Think to yourself, what do you think happened in this story? What is it about?
Process
Students should divide into 5 groups, Each group will be asked to search the following websites for news articles:
Each group member should pick one newspaper article to read. Students should then read the article and find out the main idea of it. On a piece of paper, write down the title of the article and the main idea. Once you’ve finished reading your article continue to switch articles with your group member until everyone has read each other’s. You must write the title of the article and it’s main idea for each article you read. Once everyone has read each others’ article we will share and compare answers.
Evaluation
- Three points: Students were highly engaged in class and group discussions; enthusiastically read all the news stories; had a good understanding of the main idea of each story and found at least two supporting details for each example; and demonstrated a solid understanding of the concept of main idea and supporting details.
- Two points: Students generally engaged in class and group discussions; read most of the news stories; had a general sense of the main idea of each story and found at least one supporting detail within each example; and demonstrated a basic understanding of the concept of main idea and supporting details.
- One point: Students participated minimally in class and group discussions; read two or fewer of the news stories; were unable to identify the main idea of each story and found one or fewer supporting details in each example; and did not demonstrate a basic understanding of the concept of main idea and supporting details.
Conclusion
Awesome job students, you have sucessfuly completed today's objective of finding the main idea. You are now able to accuretly recognize the main idea of a passage.
Credits
Special thanks to my mother and educator Cynthia Hurrington for passing down the seed of eductation.