1. Main Idea
Study Guide

2. What is Main Idea?
The main idea tells the most important idea about the topic.
Example:
The topic of a newspaper article might be sports concussions.
The main idea might be that sports concussion symptoms last longer in girls than in boys (Newsela.com)

3. How Do I Find the Main Idea?
Sometimes you can find the main idea in the first and last sentence of a paragraph.
After reading a passage, determine the topic. Then, ask yourself, “What idea is most important to the topic?”
If the main idea is not stated, you must infer. This means you will have to figure out the main idea by thinking about all of the ideas you have read and asking yourself, “What is the passage mostly about?”

4. More to Know…
Each paragraph in a passage has a main idea. The entire passage also has a main idea. The main idea of a passage is often found in the first or last paragraph.
The title of a passage can also help you identify the main idea.