TEN STEPS to BUILDING COLLEGE READING SKILLS Use the tab key, space bar, arrow keys, or page up/down to move through the slides. FIFTH EDITION This presentation is best viewed in “Slide Show” view. [Go to “Slide Show” pulldown menu and click on “Play from Start.”]

TEN STEPS to BUILDING COLLEGE READING SKILLS FIFTH EDITION John Langan © 2011 Townsend Press

This Chapter in a Nutshell Supporting details are the evidence—such as reasons, examples, facts, and steps—that backs up main ideas. Those details help you understand main ideas. There are two levels of supporting details: —Main items of support are called major details. Pay special attention to them. —Major details themselves are sometimes supported with information called minor details. Words such as several steps or a number of reasons tell you that supporting details may follow. Words such as first, another, and finally often introduce supporting details. Outlines and maps (diagrams) can show you a main idea and its supporting details at a glance.

CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details This Chapter in a Nutshell In the cartoon above, w hat is the frog’s main idea, or point? The frog’s main idea, or point, is that he does not need any insurance.

This Chapter in a Nutshell What is the frog’s support for his point? He supports his point by providing four reasons he doesn’t need insurance: no house, no car, no possessions, no health worries. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

What Are Supporting Details? Supporting details are reasons, examples, steps, or other kinds of evidence that explain a main idea, or point. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

What Are Supporting Details? Poor grades in school can have various causes. For one thing, students may have financial problems. If they need to work long hours to make money, they will have little study time. Another cause of poor grades may be trouble with relationships. A student may be unhappy over family problems or a lack of friends. That unhappiness can harm schoolwork. A final cause of poor grades may be bad study habits. Some students have never learned how to take good notes in class, how to manage their time effectively, or how to study a textbook. Without such study skills, their grades are likely to suffer. In the model paragraph in Chapter 3, the supporting details appear as a series of reasons: What are the second and third reasons that should be added to complete this basic outline of the paragraph? Main idea: Poor grades in school can have various causes. Supporting detail: 1. Financial problems Supporting detail: 2. Supporting detail: 3. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Poor grades in school can have various causes. For one thing, students may have financial problems. If they need to work long hours to make money, they will have little study time. Another cause of poor grades may be trouble with relationships. A student may be unhappy over family problems or a lack of friends. That unhappiness can harm schoolwork. A final cause of poor grades may be bad study habits. Some students have never learned how to take good notes in class, how to manage their time effectively, or how to study a textbook. Without such study skills, their grades are likely to suffer. Main idea Supporting detail What Are Supporting Details? Supporting detail The supporting details provide the added information—the specific causes of poor grades—that is needed for you to fully understand the main idea. Main idea: Poor grades in school can have various causes. Supporting detail: 1. Financial problems Supporting detail: 2. Trouble with relationships Supporting detail: 3. Bad study habits What are the second and third reasons that should be added to complete this basic outline of the paragraph? CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

To read effectively you must recognize both main ideas and the details that support those ideas. What Are Supporting Details? CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Outlining Outlines are lists that show the important parts of a piece of writing. They begin with a main idea, with supporting details placed, in order, underneath the main idea. There may be two levels of supporting details— major and minor. The major details explain and develop the main idea. In turn, the minor details under them help fill out and make clear the major details. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Outlining Main idea: Poor grades in school can have various causes. Major detail: 1. Financial problems Minor details: a. Need to work long hours after school b. No time left to study Major detail: 2. Trouble with relationships Minor details: a. Unhappiness over family problems b. Unhappiness over lack of friends Major detail: 3. Bad study habits Minor details: a. No skill in taking class notes b. No skill in time management c. No skill in studying a textbook Here is a detailed outline of the paragraph on poor grades: The main idea is supported and explained by the major details. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Outlining Main idea: Poor grades in school can have various causes. Major detail: 1. Financial problems Minor details: a. Need to work long hours after school b. No time left to study Major detail: 2. Trouble with relationships Minor details: a. Unhappiness over family problems b. Unhappiness over lack of friends Major detail: 3. Bad study habits Minor details: a. No skill in taking class notes b. No skill in time management c. No skill in studying a textbook Here is a detailed outline of the paragraph on poor grades: The main idea is supported and explained by the major details. In turn the major details are supported and explained by the minor details. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Outlining Main idea: Poor grades in school can have various causes. 1. Financial problems a. Need to work long hours after school b. No time left to study 2. Trouble with relationships a. Unhappiness over family problems b. Unhappiness over lack of friends 3. Bad study habits a. No skill in taking class notes b. No skill in time management c. No skill in studying a textbook Once you know how to outline, you can use the skill to prepare very useful study notes. Good outlines clearly tie ideas together, making them easier to understand and remember. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Outlining Outlining Tips TIP TIP 1Look for words that tell you a list of details is coming. List words were introduced in Chapter 3. Here are some common list words: Poor grades in school can have various causes. To motivate workers, managers should practice several methods of building self-esteem. Examples List Words CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details / Outlining Tips

Outlining TIP 2Look for words that signal major details. Such words are called addition words, and they were also introduced in Chapter 3. Here are some common addition words: Addition Words / Outlining Tips TIP CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Outlining Poor grades in school can have various causes. For one thing, students may have financial problems. If they need to work long hours to make money, they will have little study time. Another cause of poor grades may be trouble with relationships. A student may be unhappy over family problems or a lack of friends. That unhappiness can harm schoolwork. A final cause of poor grades may be bad study habits. Some students have never learned how to take good notes in class, how to manage their time effectively, or how to study a textbook. Without such study skills, their grades are likely to suffer. In Chapter 3, you saw how addition words signaled each major detail in this paragraph. Addition words Addition word / Outlining Tips TIP 2Look for words that signal major details. TIP CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

To motivate workers, managers should practice several methods of building self-esteem. One way to build self-esteem is to show a genuine interest in what workers have to say. Ask for their opinions and really listen to their responses. A second method of improving self-esteem is to practice good conversational habits. Do so in three ways: by looking a worker in the eye, by smiling frequently, and by calling workers by their first name—the most important word in the language to every person. Last of all, managers can build esteem by admitting mistakes. Doing so, they show that it is simply human to do the wrong thing at times. TIP 2Look for words that signal major details. / Outlining Tips Outlining Read the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow. Which word signals the first major detail? Which word signals the second major detail? Which words signal the third major detail? Answer: One second Last of all Addition word Addition words TIP CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Outlining / Outlining Tips TIP 3In your outline, put all supporting details of equal importance at the same distance from the margin. Main idea: Poor grades in school can have various causes. 1. Financial problems a. Need to work long hours after school b. No time left to study 2. Trouble with relationships a. Unhappiness over family problems b. Unhappiness over lack of friends 3. Bad study habits a. No skill in taking class notes b. No skill in time management c. No skill in studying a textbook TIP In the outline of the paragraph on poor grades, the three major supporting details all begin at the same distance from the margin. Likewise, the minor supporting details are all indented at the same distance from the margin. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Preparing Maps Maps, or diagrams, are highly visual outlines in which circles, boxes, or other shapes show the relationship between main ideas and supporting details. Mapping, like outlining, can be very useful in helping you prepare good study notes. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Preparing Maps Trouble with relationships Bad study habits Financial problems Need to work long hours after school No time left to study Unhappiness over family problems Unhappiness over lack of friends No skill in taking class notes No skill in studying a textbook No skill in time management Poor grades in school can have various causes. In a map, each major detail is connected to the main idea. If minor details are included, each is connected to the major detail it explains. CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

Preparing Maps Read the paragraph below. Notice the list words and the words that signal the three major details. People daydream for a variety of reasons. One cause of daydreaming is boredom, at school or on the job. To make life more interesting, people imagine being somewhere else. For example, a student might dream of lying on the beach and flirting with an attractive person on a nearby blanket. A production worker might dream about winning the lottery or becoming the big boss at the company. Another cause of daydreaming is a lack of something. For instance, a starving person might dream about food, or a poor person might dream about owning a house or a car. A third cause of daydreaming is angry feelings. An angry student might dream about dropping a hated math instructor out of a classroom window. Which words in the first sentence tell you that a list of details is coming? Which word signals the first major detail? Which word signals the second major detail? Which word signals the third major detail? Answer: a variety of reasons One Another third Addition word List words CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details

People daydream for a variety of reasons. One cause of daydreaming is boredom, at school or on the job. To make life more interesting, people imagine being somewhere else. For example, a student might dream of lying on the beach and flirting with an attractive person on a nearby blanket. A production worker might dream about winning the lottery or becoming the big boss at the company. Another cause of daydreaming is a lack of something. For instance, a starving person might dream about food, or a poor person might dream about owning a house or a car. A third cause of daydreaming is angry feelings. An angry student might dream about dropping a hated math instructor out of a classroom window. Preparing Maps People daydream for a variety of reasons. Example: Angry person dreams about dropping teacher out window. Example: Poor person dreams about owning car. Example: Worker dreams about winning lottery. What major details are missing from the map below? Lack of something Boredom Angry feelings CHAPTER 4 Supporting Details