The main idea is the most important idea or event in a passage or a paragraph. The details are smaller ideas that tell more about the main idea. You can identify main ideas and details by finding the important ideas and the details that support them.
To identify main ideas and details,
To identify main ideas and details,
- Read the passage or paragraph. Think about what it is mostly about.
- Find the main idea. The main idea of a passage is often in the first or last paragraph. The main idea of a paragraph is often in the first sentence.
- Look for details that tell about the main idea. They might answer who? what? where? when? and why?