1. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
What’s the
Point?:
Finding the BIG
Ideas in Text
Presented By Angela Maiers, 2006

2. What is the BIG IDEA??
1. Define main idea and theme. (Is there any difference?)
Main idea is…
Theme is…
2. How do YOU (as a reader) find the main idea/ themes
within text? What are the specific steps involved in
getting to the BIG IDEAS? List and Discuss.
3. What do your students struggle with most when seeking
the BIG IDEAS in text at your grade level?

3. Harvard Report
Dr. Perry, Director of the Harvard Reading and Study Center
1500 first year college students-30 pg chapter from textbook
Task: Within 20 minutes, write a short statement on what the chapter was about
Outcome: 94.5% students scored well on multiple-choice test on detail
15 out of 1500 top first year college students:
– previewed section
– read headings
– understood and followed the writing/writer’s structure
– skimmed and analyzed visuals
– looked descriptive flags in the margin
– read end of the chapter summaries
– noted key points while reading-signal words and phrased
Major Conclusions: "obedient purposelessness" :
"an enormous amount of wasted effort" in most of first year students.
Students must be jarred out of this approach. This reading act requires self-
confidence, skill, intention, focus, and even courage, on the part of the student who
must decide for himself what to read or skip. Students MUST always ask
themselves what it is they want to get out of a reading assignment, then look
around for those key and important points.

4. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
Thinking Like a Writer!!
The act of reading and
writing involve the same
skills. Both require a student
to use word knowledge,
sentence structure, and
paragraph organization to
either convey a message or
to decode a message.

5. Authors Decisions
• What do I know about, care about, or have researched enough about to
write down? (TOPIC)
• What is my goal in writing this information down? What do I want to
accomplish by writing this information down? (PURPOSE)
• Who would benefit from knowing these facts? (AUDIENCE)
• What would be the best way to share this information with my readers?
(FORMAT)
• How should I organize the information so the reader can easily read and
understand it? (STRUCTURE/ORGANIZATION)
• What can I do hook readers’ attention? (FEATURES/STYLE)
• How do I know this is my very best writing? (CRAFT/CREDIBILITY)

6. Today’s Goals and Agenda:
1. What is the main idea-EXACTLY?
2. Where is it located in fiction/nonfiction text?
3. What is it that we need to explicitly model and
demonstrate to students so they can find the
BIG IDEA on their own.

7. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
Why it is so hard to find?
• Main Idea
• Main Idea Statement
• Most Important Idea
• Central Idea
• Central Thought
• Author’s Message
• Theme
• Thesis
• Critical Understanding
• Writer’s Purpose
•

8. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
Parts of a Paragraph
• A topic identifies who or what the
reading passage is about.
• A main idea (the most important
point the author is making about the
topic). It is often stated in a topic
sentence.
• Supporting details (the specific ideas
to develop, explain, or support the

9. Main Ideas can be…
Stated: A stated main idea is a sentence found in the
reading passage which states the topic and the main point or
points being made about that topic. This sentence is referred
to as the TOPIC SENTENCE.
Implied: An implied main idea means that the author has
chosen not to use a statement in the selection or passage to
tell the reader the topic and main idea. The reader must read
the passage and determine the main idea from the information
that is presented. The READER is responsible for composing
a statement of the main idea. No topic sentence exists.

10. You, along with lions, goats, and bats
belong to a class called mammals. About
4000 species of mammals live here on
earth, and many look different from each
other. But, all mammals have certain
characteristics that set them apart from
other living things. Mammals are all warm
blooded and have fur or hair. They can
survive in cold places because of their
warm blood. Many believe that mammals
are the most intelligent animals on earth.

11. Four Steps to Discovering the
Main Idea
1. What is the topic of this passage?
2. What are the points made about this topic?
(Supporting Details)
3. What point is the writer trying to prove or make?
State that point .
4. Does that statement represent the most important
thing the writer is saying about the topic?

12. L6: Topic Sentence
A reader can be sure they have found
the stated main idea if…
 the sentence contains the topic
 the sentence states the single most important point about the topic
 the sentence is general enough to cover all the information in the
paragraph
 the other sentences explain or tell more about the main idea sentence
 the sentence makes complete sense by itself
 (the reader can comprehend the selection without reading the rest of
the selection).

13. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
What is the Main Idea?
Wilma Rudolph was a crippled child who became
an Olympic running champion. Wilma was born
prematurely in 1940 and spent her childhood battling
illness, including measles, scarlet fever, chicken
pox, pneumonia, and polio, a crippling disease that
at that time had no cure. At the age of four, she was
told that she would never walk normally again. After
years of special treatment and physical therapy,
twelve year old Wilma was determined to walk again
normally. But walking was not enough for Wilma,
who was determined to become an athlete. Before
long, her talent earned her a spot on the 1956
Olympics, where she earned a bronze metal. In the
1960 Olympics, at the height of her career, she won
three gold medals.

14. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
Defining Central
Idea/Thesis
• The central point is the main idea of a
passage made up of two or more
paragraphs.
• The thesis statement is a
STATEMENT (telling sentence) that
states the topic and the author’s
controlling point about the topic for a
passage of two or more paragraphs.

15. Ten Lessons to Support Reading for the Big Idea!!!
Lesson One: Defining Main Idea
Lesson Two: Exploring the Parts of a Paragraph
Lesson Three: Identifying Topic/Subject of the Writing
Lesson Four: Sorting Major/Minor Details
Lesson Five: Using Text Structure to Identify M.I.
Lesson Six: Looking for A Topic Sentence
Lesson Seven: Making Inferences from implied M.I.
.
Lesson Eight : Putting Author’s Point into your own words
Lesson Nine: Monitoring and checking for meaning using M.I. criteria
Lesson Ten: Exploring Differences in Location of Big Ideas across multiple
texts and genres

16. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
L1: Defining Main Idea
Main? Idea?
Main Idea is…….

17. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
L2: Topic, Main Idea, or
Supporting Detail?
____One common cause of headaches is
muscle tension.
____Poor posture that tenses the
muscles in the neck and back can
trigger a headache.
____Headaches are sometimes the result
of stress, anxiety, and depression
that cause the muscles in the neck,
face, and scalp to become tense.
____ Common causes of headaches

18. L3: Identify the TOPIC
The topic is identified as either a word or phrase which best
describes what the reading selection is about. The topic
should not be too broad (covering more than what is
discussed in the selection) or too narrow (not covering
everything discussed in the selection).
Q: "Who or what have I just read about?“
Clues for determining the topic of a selection:
 A word, name, or phrase that appears as a heading or title.
 A word, name or phrase that appears in special type such bold print, italics,
or color.
 A word, name or phrase that is repeated throughout the paragraph.
 A word, name, or phrase that may appear at the beginning of the paragraph
and is then referred to throughout the paragraph by pronouns (or other words).

19. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
L3: What is the Topic?
The rules of conduct during an
examination are clear. No books,
calculators or papers are allowed in the
test room. Proctors will not allow
anyone with such items to take the test.
Anyone caught cheating will be asked
to leave the room. His or her test sheet
will be taken. The incident will be
reported to the proper authority. At the
end of the test period, all materials will
be returned to the proctor. Failure to
abide by these rules will result in a
failing grade for this test.

20. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
L3: What is the Topic?
Most of the policy problems that the
federal government confronts do not
lend themselves to simple solutions.
Whether the issue is space travel or
hunger in America, expert knowledge is
essential to the development of
effective public policy. Much of the
expertise is held by bureaucrats. They
spend their careers working in a
particular policy area. Many of them
have had scientific, technical, or other
specialized training.

21. L4: Sorting for Importance in the Details

24. L5: Knowledge of Text Structure
• Description
• Compare/Contrast
• Cause and Effect
• Chronology/Sequence
• Procedural
• Persuasive
• Question/Answer
• Problem/Solution

25. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
Topic Sentence Location:
1) First sentence
2) Last sentence
3) Middle of paragraph
4) Combination of two sentences

26. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
L7: Implied MI
Implied Main Idea: In some instances an author might choose to
only hint or suggest the topic and main idea rather than
An implied main idea is a sentence that the reader composes
rather
than a statement found in the selection. This reader developed
sentence provides the same information as a topic or stated
main
idea sentence. An implied main idea answers the same two
basic questions as
a stated main idea:
1. Who or what did I just read about?
2. What was the main point or points made by the author.

27. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
L8: Formulating Implied MI
3 Ways Readers Formulate an Implied Main Idea:
1. Add essential words or phrases to an existing
sentence from the paragraph.
2. Combine two sentences from the paragraph to
state the topic and main idea.
3. Develop a new sentence that states the topic and
main idea of the paragraph. This sentence will be
the general inference made by the passage.

28. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
L9: Monitoring the Inference
A correct implied main idea…
1. is a complete sentence.
2. is an expression of the author's most important
general point about the topic.
3. makes sense by itself (without having to read
the rest of the paragraph).
4. Is supported by the details provided by the author

29. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
L10: Genre Differences
Theme is the subject of
story, poem, or piece of
literature usually expressed
as a statement about life’s
universal topics. (love,
happiness, grief, etc…)

30. ©Angela Maiers, 2006
Universal understandings that authors write about in their
stories or poems
growing up jealousy making friends success
fear siblings romance trickery
failure change overcoming injustice
power arrogance death superficial
love courage acceptance selfishness
being ordinary moving on family
relationships (beginning, ending, trials within) wealth
The TOPIC in literature and
poetry is a THEME