Research Shows That a Passage Is Easier to Read if the Main Idea Is
READING FOR Significant: IDENTIFYING THE MAIN Thought OF THE STORY
Nosotros have all been at that place, though it tin can often experience every bit futile as the search for that proverbial needle in a haystack…
Finding the main idea of a piece of writing tin can exist a challenge, only it is an essential reading comprehension skill for our students to develop. Students that become skilled in this art will benefit from it far across the perimeters of the schoolhouse gates. From the modest impress of an insurance document to writing a book review, the ability to filter a text and identify its fundamental idea is as much a crucial life skill as an essential literacy-based learning objective. Though it isn't ever easy, luckily there is much we can do to assistance our students hone their abilities in this area.
WHAT IS 'THE Primary IDEA'? DEFINITION
Whether we are talking about the main thought of a paragraph, a poem, a chapter, or a longer text, finding the main idea requires the reader to place the topic of a piece of writing and then uncover what the writer wants usa to know about that topic.
As is and so often the instance, it is best to start small. When working with students on how to identify the main idea, brainstorm by having students locate the primary idea in a sentence before building up to locating it in a longer paragraph. As students gradually build their conviction in identifying the chief idea in paragraphs, they volition soon exist ready to movement onto longer texts in the class of capacity and eventually total-length books.
A Consummate DIGITAL READING Unit of measurement FOR STUDENTS
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A Word ON PARAGRAPHS
The chief thought of a sentence is usually fairly straightforward to place. Often information technology is as simple every bit identifying the subject of the judgement. Whole chapters or books, on the other paw, can seldom be easily reduced to expression in the course of a unmarried, primary idea. For these reasons, the paragraph offers the pupil the most suitable format in which to do their main idea identification skills.
Usually, if the author knows what they are doing, nosotros can identify a single main idea in every paragraph. We can think of this every bit the key indicate that is usually expressed in the grade of a topic judgement. Information technology is often establish in the paragraph's starting time sentence, with subsequent sentences providing the supporting details. It can, however, occur in the middle, at the cease, or even be split across the paragraph. It may even not exist at that place at all – at to the lowest degree not explicitly.
Writers are a artistic agglomeration, then students will crave more sophisticated ways to accurately place the main idea in all cases and that is exactly what this commodity volition help you assistance your students to do.
HOW IS A MAIN IDEA EXPRESSED?
It tin can appear to be a adequately clear-cut task to define the principal idea, so why is it oftentimes so problematic for students to identify information technology? Well, the truth is that it needn't exist then. Ofttimes the key concept is expressed direct in the text and is every bit like shooting fish in a barrel to place every bit your own face in the mirror.
Yet, the master idea will non e'er be expressed so explicitly and students must learn to place information technology whether it is expressed directly or but implied if they are to fully comprehend what they are reading.
THE Argument OF THE MAIN Thought
Attention is the key to pulling the chief idea from a text, any the genre. Students demand to identify the most relevant data from the work and use it to develop a statement that expresses what they perceive the main idea to exist.
We can refer to this equally The Statement of the Master Idea. This statement should be a lean sentence or ii. The process of composing this statement starts with request questions about the text. Non all questions volition apply to every text, just they will provide a good starting indicate for extracting the main idea from whatever piece of writing.
● Who – Can the student identify the person or people the text is about?
● What – Can the student identify the topic or underlying theme of the text?
● When – Tin the pupil identify a reference to a specific time or period?
● Where – Can the educatee identify a specific place or a setting?
● Why – Tin the student identify a reason or caption for what happens in the text?
● How – Can the pupil identify a method or theory in the text?
These questions, and variations of these questions, can assistance students draw out what the text is virtually. The two most important questions of those above are who and what. These will exist sufficient to elicit the data required to identify the main idea in most circumstances. Merely, the true litmus test of whether the student has been able to absorb the text'southward primary idea is whether or not they are able to summarize what they have read in their own words.
The Litmus Examination: Summarizing and Paraphrasing
We know through our feel in the classroom that learning-through-teaching is an extremely effective instructional strategy. It also offers teachers opportunities to find and assess their students' grasp of the concepts they have been working on. Similarly, when we ask our students to summarize or paraphrase the master idea of an extract, we are creating an opportunity to discover their comprehension of what they have read and their ability to identify the principal idea therein.
Y'all tin also encourage students to regularly exercise these skills past challenging them to paraphrase and summarize things you accept said or read to them in grade, even during lessons entirely unrelated to literacy. Encourage them to exist curtailed and to the point, you may even wish to prepare a word limit of 10 or 15 words inside which they must limited the main thought. Keep it lean!
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS IN IDENTIFYING THE MAIN IDEA
Become The Gist
In this method, give each of your students a re-create of a nonfiction paragraph. If you wish, you lot tin differentiate for students' different abilities by choosing extracts of varying complexities. Regardless of the level of difficulty, the approach volition remain the same. Have students:
1. Inquire themselves who or what the paragraph is nearly.
2. Ask themselves what is the most of import information about the who or what.
3. Recapitulate the principal idea in 10 words or less.
You lot tin can model this strategy for your students past walking them through the process kickoff. Project the text onto the whiteboard for shared reading and, with focused support and prompting, take them answer the initial questions.
Part iii of the procedure above tin can be undertaken as a piece of shared writing which will model the correct approach, earlier students begin to do it independently. Later, when students have written independent statements of the main idea, they can compare their responses and offer each other feedback. After feedback sessions, they tin can be given a further opportunity to redraft and alter their statements for accuracy and brevity.
Through these processes, students will better their power to identify the primary idea and express information technology in a clear and concise manner.
Become the Gist – Longer Texts
As we mentioned earlier, it isn't always easy to reduce a longer extract, such every bit a chapter, downward to a single key idea – much less a whole book! In that location will be times, however, where students volition be asked to do but that. They will demand a systematic arroyo to help them in such circumstances. The following procedure provides for an effective approach:
i. Look at the championship – Often the title provides a good indication of the topic of the text or at least helps to orientate the reader in the management of the main idea.
2. Look at the first and last sentences/paragraphs of the extract – Often the main idea will be introduced and summarized respectively in these parts of the text.
3. Look for repeated words and phrases in the extract -The frequency with which they occur will exist a strong indicator of their relative importance and will point students in the direction of that elusive chief idea.
four. Instruct students to ask themselves, "What does the writer want me to know?" – Answering this question successfully will require the students to uncover the principal idea of the text.
Every bit the students work through each of the above steps they can highlight, underline, or circumvolve the keywords and phrases and and so use these to assist them form their argument of the primary thought.
HOW TO LOCATE THE Primary Idea WHEN It IS Unsaid
Inferring the chief thought requires the student to look for patterns in the details as they read. As when the principal idea is explicit, the educatee must first place what the topic of the writing is earlier determining what it is the author wants the reader to know most that topic. If the main idea is non stated explicitly in a sentence or paragraph, then it is implied and students must consciously work to uncover it by analysing the details to infer the chief idea. Witting practice of this strategy will soon see information technology become 2d nature and the student will apace become skilled in identifying the main idea even when information technology is not stated explicitly.
Determination
To efficiently identify the main thought in a piece of writing, students should first make up one's mind what the topic of the text is. Then, they will need to piece of work out what it is the author wants the states to sympathise almost that topic. This is the essence of how to identify the chief idea. Students should understand that the chief idea may not always be explicit and they may demand to work difficult to uncover exactly what the text implies. Regardless of whether the main idea is explicit or implicit, every paragraph will have a main idea and students should understand that it can exist located at the outset, in the middle, at the end, or even be divide up throughout the paragraph.
With perseverance and hard-earned feel, students will be able to use a variety of methods and, at times, a fusion of these methods, to uncover the main idea with speed and accuracy. Soon they will be able to apply these methods to a broad range of texts over a broad range of lengths and complexities.
Instruction Resources
Use the resources and tools below with your students to improve their writing skills through proven teaching strategies.
THE STORY TELLERS Parcel OF TEACHING Resources
A MASSIVE Drove of resources for narratives and story writing in the classroom covering all elements of crafting amazing stories. WEEKS WORTH OF WRITING LESSONS AND Resources including:
MAIN IDEA GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (FREE DOWNLOAD)
VIDEO TUTORIAL ON Didactics THE Main IDEA
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Content for this folio has been written by Shane Mac Donnchaidh. A former principal of an international schoolhouse and academy English language lecturer with 15 years of teaching and administration experience. Shane's latest Volume the Complete Guide to Nonfiction Writing tin be found here. Editing and support for this commodity accept been provided by the literacyideas team.
Source: https://literacyideas.com/getting-the-main-idea/
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