When Reviewing a Story to Find the Theme the Best Clues Are Usually Found in
READING FOR Pregnant: IDENTIFYING THE MAIN Thought OF THE STORY
We accept all been at that place, though information technology can ofttimes feel as futile equally the search for that proverbial needle in a haystack…
Finding the main idea of a slice of writing tin be a challenge, but information technology is an essential reading comprehension skill for our students to develop. Students that become skilled in this art will benefit from information technology far across the perimeters of the schoolhouse gates. From the small print of an insurance certificate to writing a book review, the power to filter a text and place its fundamental idea is as much a crucial life skill as an essential literacy-based learning objective. Though information technology isn't always easy, luckily at that place is much nosotros can do to help our students hone their abilities in this area.
WHAT IS 'THE MAIN IDEA'? DEFINITION
Whether we are talking about the main idea of a paragraph, a poem, a chapter, or a longer text, finding the chief idea requires the reader to identify the topic of a slice of writing and so uncover what the writer wants us to know near that topic.
As is so frequently the case, information technology is best to start small. When working with students on how to identify the master idea, begin by having students locate the principal thought in a sentence before building up to locating it in a longer paragraph. As students gradually build their confidence in identifying the main thought in paragraphs, they will before long be set to move onto longer texts in the form of chapters and eventually full-length books.
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A WORD ON PARAGRAPHS
The main idea of a sentence is usually fairly straightforward to place. Oftentimes it is as simple as identifying the field of study of the judgement. Whole chapters or books, on the other hand, can seldom be easily reduced to expression in the form of a single, main thought. For these reasons, the paragraph offers the pupil the most suitable format in which to practise their main idea identification skills.
Ordinarily, if the writer knows what they are doing, nosotros can identify a unmarried main thought in every paragraph. We can think of this as the key bespeak that is usually expressed in the form of a topic sentence. Information technology is oft found in the paragraph's first sentence, with subsequent sentences providing the supporting details. Information technology tin, however, occur in the middle, at the cease, or even exist separate across the paragraph. It may fifty-fifty not be at that place at all – at least not explicitly.
Writers are a artistic bunch, and so students volition crave more than sophisticated means to accurately identify the chief thought in all cases and that is exactly what this article will help you help your students to practice.
HOW IS A MAIN IDEA EXPRESSED?
It tin can appear to exist a adequately articulate-cut task to define the main idea, so why is it often so problematic for students to identify it? Well, the truth is that it needn't be and then. Often the key concept is expressed directly in the text and is as piece of cake to identify equally your own face up in the mirror.
However, the main idea will non always be expressed so explicitly and students must learn to identify information technology whether it is expressed directly or simply unsaid if they are to fully comprehend what they are reading.
THE STATEMENT OF THE MAIN Idea
Attention is the key to pulling the main idea from a text, any the genre. Students demand to identify the near relevant information from the work and use it to develop a statement that expresses what they perceive the principal idea to be.
We can refer to this as The Statement of the Main Idea. This statement should be a lean judgement or two. The procedure of composing this statement starts with asking questions almost the text. Not all questions will apply to every text, merely they will provide a good starting point for extracting the master idea from any piece of writing.
● Who – Can the student place the person or people the text is well-nigh?
● What – Tin the student identify the topic or underlying theme of the text?
● When – Can the pupil place a reference to a specific time or period?
● Where – Can the student identify a specific place or a setting?
● Why – Can the educatee identify a reason or explanation for what happens in the text?
● How – Can the student identify a method or theory in the text?
These questions, and variations of these questions, can help students depict out what the text is about. The 2 about important questions of those above are who and what. These will be sufficient to elicit the information required to identify the main idea in most circumstances. But, the true litmus test of whether the student has been able to absorb the text's main idea is whether or not they are able to summarize what they take read in their own words.
The Litmus Test: Summarizing and Paraphrasing
We know through our experience in the classroom that learning-through-teaching is an extremely constructive instructional strategy. It too offers teachers opportunities to observe and assess their students' grasp of the concepts they have been working on. Similarly, when we ask our students to summarize or paraphrase the primary idea of an extract, we are creating an opportunity to observe their comprehension of what they have read and their power to identify the main idea therein.
Yous tin likewise encourage students to regularly practice these skills past challenging them to paraphrase and summarize things you have said or read to them in form, even during lessons entirely unrelated to literacy. Encourage them to be concise and to the indicate, you may even wish to set a word limit of ten or xv words within which they must limited the main idea. Go along information technology lean!
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS IN IDENTIFYING THE MAIN IDEA
Get The Gist
In this method, give each of your students a re-create of a nonfiction paragraph. If y'all wish, y'all can 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:
i. Ask themselves who or what the paragraph is about.
2. Ask themselves what is the near of import information near the who or what.
3. Restate the master idea in 10 words or less.
You can model this strategy for your students by walking them through the procedure kickoff. Project the text onto the whiteboard for shared reading and, with focused support and prompting, have them answer the initial questions.
Role 3 of the procedure above can be undertaken as a piece of shared writing which volition model the correct approach, before students begin to do it independently. Later, when students have written independent statements of the master idea, they can compare their responses and offering each other feedback. After feedback sessions, they tin be given a further opportunity to redraft and modify their statements for accuracy and brevity.
Through these processes, students will meliorate their ability to identify the master idea and express it in a clear and concise style.
Get the Gist – Longer Texts
As we mentioned earlier, information technology isn't always easy to reduce a longer excerpt, such as a chapter, down to a single central idea – much less a whole book! There will exist times, nevertheless, where students will be asked to exercise merely that. They volition need a systematic approach to help them in such circumstances. The following process provides for an effective approach:
1. Look at the title – Often the title provides a adept indication of the topic of the text or at to the lowest degree helps to orientate the reader in the direction of the main idea.
two. Look at the first and last sentences/paragraphs of the excerpt – Ofttimes the main thought 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 be a stiff indicator of their relative importance and will point students in the management of that elusive main idea.
4. Instruct students to ask themselves, "What does the writer want me to know?" – Answering this question successfully volition require the students to uncover the main thought of the text.
As the students work through each of the above steps they can highlight, underline, or circle the keywords and phrases and then use these to help them grade their statement of the main idea.
HOW TO LOCATE THE MAIN Thought WHEN It IS Unsaid
Inferring the main idea requires the student to wait for patterns in the details as they read. As when the main idea is explicit, the student must starting time identify what the topic of the writing is before determining what information technology is the writer wants the reader to know about that topic. If the main idea is non stated explicitly in a judgement or paragraph, then information technology is implied and students must consciously piece of work to uncover it past analysing the details to infer the main thought. Conscious practise of this strategy will soon meet it become 2nd nature and the educatee will quickly become skilled in identifying the principal idea fifty-fifty when information technology is not stated explicitly.
Conclusion
To efficiently identify the chief idea in a slice of writing, students should starting time decide what the topic of the text is. Then, they will need to piece of work out what information technology is the writer wants us to empathize about that topic. This is the essence of how to place the chief idea. Students should sympathise that the main idea may not always be explicit and they may need to work hard to uncover exactly what the text implies. Regardless of whether the principal thought is explicit or implicit, every paragraph volition accept a main thought and students should understand that information technology can be located at the first, in the middle, at the end, or even be separate throughout the paragraph.
With perseverance and hard-earned feel, students will exist able to use a diversity of methods and, at times, a fusion of these methods, to uncover the chief thought with speed and accurateness. Soon they will be able to apply these methods to a broad range of texts over a wide range of lengths and complexities.
Teaching Resources
Use the resources and tools below with your students to better their writing skills through proven teaching strategies.
THE STORY TELLERS BUNDLE OF Pedagogy Resource
A MASSIVE COLLECTION of resource for narratives and story writing in the classroom covering all elements of crafting amazing stories. WEEKS WORTH OF WRITING LESSONS AND RESOURCES including:
Principal IDEA GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (Complimentary DOWNLOAD)
VIDEO TUTORIAL ON Pedagogy THE MAIN Idea
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Content for this page has been written by Shane Mac Donnchaidh. A old principal of an international school and academy English lecturer with 15 years of teaching and administration experience. Shane'due south latest Book the Consummate Guide to Nonfiction Writing can exist found here. Editing and back up for this article have been provided by the literacyideas team.
Source: https://literacyideas.com/getting-the-main-idea/
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