How to Read

1
Finding the Main Idea

• How to Read
• Smarter

2
The Point

• The main idea is the big point (big picture) that
  the writer is communicating to the reader.
• Often the reader can approach the main idea just
  by looking at the title.
• For example, a passage titled Why Doctors
  Deserve More Dollars will include reasons for
  that idea.

3
The Roof Figure

• Try to see the main idea as a roof.
• It should be big enough to include everything in
  the reading passage.
• But it shouldnt be too big for the text.

Main Idea/Thesis
Topic Point Example etc
4
General Versus Specific

• The main idea is a general one.
• The supporting ideas in the passage are specific
  ones.
• Which word is the most general
• Potato or Vegetable?

5
What about the topic?

• The topic is the general subject of a reading
  passage.
• To find the topic, just ask yourself Who or
  what is this passage about?
• The topic can be expressed in a word or a phrase.

6
The Topic Sentence

• Many paragraphs have topic sentences that
  indicate what they are about.
• Find the topic sentence in this paragraph
• Homeless people have many problems. In
  winter, its hard to stay warm, and it gets too
  hot in summer. Its also hard to keep things
  safe without a home. Worst is the lack of
  privacy.

7
Supporting Details

• Supporting details prove the value of the main
  idea. What are they here?
• Homeless people have many problems. In
  winter, its hard to stay warm and it gets too
  hot in summer. Its also hard to keep things
  safe without a home. Worst is the lack of
  privacy.

8
Get the Point?

• Read this short paragraph
• Engineers create wealth for society. So, tennis
  is a game and the resources of the earth are
  scarce. Have you gone mad? Thus the only solution
  is to educate the public on being socially
  responsible.

9
Get the Point?

• We would go crazy if texts were written like this
  all the time.
• It was difficult to understand because it was
  made of different ideas that did not link. There
  was no common thread.
• The good news is that normal passages have main
  ideas!

10

• Lantern fish live near the bottom of the ocean
  where it is very dark, so they carry their own
  lights. The lights look like tiny glowing
  pearls. They are called photophores. A lantern
  fish can flash its photophores on and off.

11

• A backswimmer has a rounded back and its
  underside is flat. When it floats on its back
  it looks like a little boat. It rows itself
  along in the water using its two hind legs like
  oars. The backswimmer spends most of its time
  upside down.

12

• Next time you see lightning, count the number of
  seconds that pass until you hear thunder. The
  lightning is a mile away for every five seconds
  that you count. In this way, you can measure
  how far the lightning is from you. Scientists
  know that the speed of light is faster than the
  speed of sound. So calculating the difference
  between the two speeds, they have developed this
  easy five-second formula.

13

• Niagara Falls is one of the most beautiful
  sights in North America. It is on the Niagara
  River halfway between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
  Niagara Falls is located on the American and
  Canadian border. The American Falls is 167 feet
  high. On the Canadian side, the Horseshoe Falls
  is 161 feet high.

14

• The Statue of Liberty is visited by thousands of
  people every year. The Statue of Liberty is a
  151 foot statue of woman holding a book and a
  torch. It was a gift of friendship from the
  people of France. It has become the universal
  symbol for freedom.

15

• The Erie Canal changed the way people moved
  goods in the 1800s. The 363 mile canal
  connected Albany, New York to Lake Erie in
  Buffalo for the first time. When the Canal
  opened in 1825, building supplies and goods could
  be transported quickly and cheaply across New
  York State. Canal boats pulled by mules carried
  people and supplies across New York.