Reading: Informational Text
Main idea and supporting detail
Find what a passage is mainly about, tell a supporting detail apart from the main idea, and separate what a passage says from what it does not.
Every paragraph has one idea it is really about, and several sentences whose only job is to back that idea up. Reading well starts with telling those two apart — and with noticing the difference between what a passage actually says and what you happen to know already.
The main idea is the one the others serve
It is not the first sentence by rule, and it is not the most interesting fact. Ask of each sentence: are the others here to support this one? Usually exactly one sentence can answer yes — and sometimes none of them can, because the writer has left the main idea for you to work out.
The main idea is broader than the details
"Bicycles are a good way to get about a town" is broad. "They cost nothing to run" is narrow, and it fits underneath. If one sentence would fit under another, the one underneath is the detail.
A good title is the main idea, shortened
It has to cover the whole passage without going past it. A title taken from one detail is too narrow; a title that would suit any passage on the subject is too broad.
Stated is not the same as true
"Wind also carries pollen" is perfectly true, and the bee passage does not say it. When a question asks what a passage says, everything you knew before you read it has to be set aside.
Worked example
Find the main idea: "Cotton keeps you cool. It lets air through, so sweat dries quickly. It washes easily and does not hold smells. It is also cheap to grow."
Take each sentence and ask whether the others support it.
Only the main idea has three sentences standing behind it.
Try it together
Let us find the main idea together.
The paragraph is: "A cactus can live where almost nothing else can. Its thick stem stores water for months. Its leaves have shrunk to spines, so almost no water escapes. Its roots spread wide and shallow to catch the smallest shower."
1.Three of the four sentences describe one part of the plant each. One describes the whole plant instead. Write the first two words of that sentence.
Have a go
In that cactus paragraph, "Its roots spread wide and shallow" is ____.
Ready to practice?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.