Main Ideas & Note-Taking
Identify main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise them; retrieve and record information from non-fiction texts using notes, tables or other methods
What a learner can do afterwards
- Read a multi-paragraph non-fiction text and state the main idea of each paragraph in one sentence
- Summarise a text of 3+ paragraphs in 2-3 sentences capturing the key points
- Retrieve specific information from a non-fiction text and record it using a simple table or notes (e.g., 'Name: hedgehog, Habitat: woodland, Diet: insects')
1 · Read
A longer non-fiction text has many paragraphs, and you already know each one does its own job. Each paragraph also has its own main idea, the one big point it is mostly about. To understand the whole text, read it paragraph by paragraph and ask what each part is really telling you.
The other sentences in a paragraph are details. They fill in the big point with smaller facts, and a detail can be true and fun and still not be the main idea. A main idea is not so big it would fit any text, and not so small it is only one fact from the middle.
The middle chip is the main idea. Too big fits any text, and too small is one stray fact.
Read this text about owls. Paragraph 1: Owls hunt at night, using sharp eyes and ears to find food in the dark. Paragraph 2: Owls have soft feathers, so they can fly almost without a sound. Paragraph 3: Owls eat mice, insects, and other small animals. The main idea of each paragraph: owls hunt at night, owls fly almost silently, and owls eat small animals.
Once you know the main idea of each paragraph, join them in your own words. A summary of the owl text could be: Owls are nighttime hunters whose soft feathers let them fly quietly. They eat small animals like mice. Two short sentences cover the whole text.
A good note keeps the few words that carry the main idea and lets the extra details go. Copying a whole sentence keeps too much. A note that saves only a fun detail loses the point and will not remind you later what the text was about. Every note holds a fact the text really gives you, never one you added yourself.
Copying keeps too much and a fun detail alone keeps too little. The key words sit in between.
When you need to remember facts fast, skip full sentences. Write short notes instead, like Name: owl, Hunts: at night, Eats: mice. A few key words in a list or table hold just as much information as a paragraph, and they are much quicker to read back later.
Find the main idea in each paragraph, join the ideas into a short summary, and jot down key facts as quick notes.
The rewritten reading was written for this dataset.
More to read
Identifying main ideas | Guided practice
A main idea is the big thing an author wants to teach you about a topic. It is what the text is mostly about. Many texts have just one main idea, but some texts have two or more.
Authors add key details to their writing. Key details are smaller facts that help explain the main idea or show why it is true.
Finding main ideas helps you focus on the most important parts of what you read.
How can you find the main idea? First, ask yourself: what is the topic of this text? You can usually say the topic in one word or a short phrase, like bears or pasta. Then ask: what does the author mainly want to tell me about this topic? The answer is the main idea.
Try it with each paragraph you read. Say the main idea of each paragraph in one short sentence. Then put those sentences together to understand the whole text.
Reading strategy: Summarize as you read
Pause while you read and tell yourself what you just read. This is called summarizing.
When you summarize, you say the main ideas and the most important details in your own words. Keep it short.
How often should you pause? It is up to you. For a short text, you might stop after every paragraph. For a longer text, you might stop after a few paragraphs. Pick what works best for you.
If it is hard to find the main idea, ask yourself the 5 W questions: who, what, when, where, and why. You can also ask how. The answers point you to what matters most.
You can summarize in your head, but writing your summary down in a few words makes it even easier to remember.
Downloadable graphic organizers
A graphic organizer is a special page that helps you take notes about what you read. It gives you boxes and spaces to write down facts in a tidy way, so your ideas stay organized.
There are different kinds of organizers for different kinds of texts. A description organizer helps you write facts about a thing, like its name, where it lives, and what it eats. A sequence organizer helps you write events in the order they happened. A cause and effect organizer helps you write what happened and why it happened.
Using an organizer is a great way to remember information from a non-fiction text. You can also use your notes later to help you write your own text.
Notes that help you remember
A note is a little reminder of something you have read or heard. Making notes can help you put ideas in order and understand something new.
Before reading, take a quick look to find out what the text is about. As you read or listen, choose the main ideas. Use your own words to write a few short reminders. Leave out words you do not need.
When you are done, read your notes again. A mark or a few more words can make an idea clearer. Going back over your notes helps you remember.
Analyzing the central idea of a text | Guided practice
Imagine you walk into class late. Everyone is writing and the teacher is talking, but you have no idea what is going on. That is because you missed the central idea, the main thing the class is about that day.
A central idea, also called a main idea, is what a text is mostly about. It is the big thing the author wants you to learn.
Knowing the central idea helps everything else make sense. When you read, ask yourself: what is this text mostly about? Then check if the details in each paragraph connect to that big idea. If a text has more than one paragraph, each paragraph can have its own main idea, and all of them work together to teach you about the topic.
2 · Watch
به انگلیسیTake it off screen
Where it sits
Optional connections
Where this leads
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.