The Recipe for Main Ideas

1
The Recipe for Main Ideas

• What is the Main Idea?
• The Main Idea is what the story is mostly about.
• The Nitty Gritty
• The Meat and Potatoes
• What the sentences of the passage relate to

2
Here We Go!

• Step 1 Read the story quickly.
• In eighteenth-century England, unusually
  severe punishments were often given out for minor
  crimes.
• The laws listed over two-hundred kinds of
  crimes punishable by death.
• A person could be hanged for stealing rabbits,
  being too friendly with gypsies, or cutting down
  a tree that stood on public land.

3
Next Step

• Step 2 Eliminate one or two absurd answers if
  possible
• What is absurd?
• It just doesnt fit or work.
• HOWEVER, if the story mentions anything at all
  concerning a possible answer, DO NOT ELIMINATE IT.

4
Getting Rid of the Absurd

• Combine the incomplete statement with the 1st
  possible answer to make a question.
• Does the story mainly tell about how the 18th
  English caught criminals?
• NO. THE STORY IS MORE ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE OR
  PUNISHMENT IN 18TH CENTURY ENGLAND

5
Proving the Answer

• Now we must PROVE which of the three remaining
  answers is correct.
• Like a bike we are going to give the wheels
  support by using spokes.

6
Step Three

• Prove possible answers by re-reading the story
  one sentence at a time. Use Wheels to record
  supports.

7
No More Guessing

• There are three possible answers, so we must use
  three circles. We write the answers in the
  middle of the circles.

how 18th century England dealt with small
crimes (C)
what life in England was like (D)
what the punishment for stealing rabbits was (A)
8
Now for the Spokes of Support
what the punishment for stealing rabbits was (A)
severe punishment
what life in England was like (D)
severe punishment
how 18th century England dealt with small
crimes (C)
9
Which has the most spokes?

• Step 4 Choose the wheel with the most spokes
  (supports) as the correct answer and bubble in.

death
how 18th century England dealt with small
crimes (C)
minor crimes
a person could
10
What is the answer?

• YES, the wheel with the most spokes is..
• Answer C