topics,main ideas and supporting details.

1. IDENTIFYING TOPICS, MAIN
IDEAS,
AND
SUPPORTING DETAILS

2. At the end of the lesson , you are expected to :
1.discuss what topics, main ideas and supporting details are;
2.identify topics, main ideas, and supporting details in texts
read; and
3.demonstrate full understanding of text perused.
Lesson targets :

3. Bring newspaper. Work in small group and exchange articles culled from
these newspapers. Read the articles and tell what they are about. Use the
guide below.
Activity
Title of the article
Name of the
newspaper
Author of the article
What the article is all
about
What’s interesting
about the article
Your comments

4. Topic, main
idea, and
supporting
details

5. A paragraph is a group of sentences
related to a particular topic or central
theme. Every paragraph has a key
concept or main idea which is considered
the most significant piece of information
the author wants to convey.

6. The main idea is the “key concept” being
expressed by the text or paragraph. It is the most
central piece of information the author wants you
to know. It also tells the topic of the paragraph.
The topic is the broad, general theme or message.
In return, the topic tells what all or most of the
sentences are about. These other sentences are
called details which describe or explain the main
idea. Details, major and minor, support the main
idea by telling how, what, when, where, why, how
much, or how many.

7. A writer may indicate his/her main idea
plainly somewhere in the paragraph. That
main idea may be found at the beginning
of the paragraph, in the middle, or at the
end. The sentence in which the main idea
is stated is the topic sentence.
Sometimes, the main idea is implied or
not overtly stated. You have to analyze
the paragraph carefully so you can
identify what it is about.

8. It is important to find main ideas when
reading because you can’t comprehend
the subject matter if you haven’t
identified the topic, the main idea, and
the supporting details.

9. Tip #1
As soon as you can define the topic, ask yourself “ What
general point does the author want to make about this
topic?” ; “What is this paragraph all about?”
Tip #2
Most main ideas are stated or suggested early on in a
reading; pay more attention to the first three of any passage,
article, or chapter. That is where you are likely to get the best
statement or clearest expression of the main idea.
These are the following tips to better
understand what you are reading

10. Tip #3
Pay attention to any idea that is repeated in different ways. If an
author returns to the same thought in several different sentences or
paragraphs, that idea is the main or central thought under
discussion.
Tip #4
Once you feel sure you have found the main idea, test it.Ask
yourself if the examples, reasons, statistics, studies, and facts
included in the reading lend themselves as evidence or explanation
in support of the main idea you have in mind.If they do, your
comprehension is right in target.If they don’t, you might want to
revise your first notion about the author’s main idea.

11. Tip #5
The main idea of the passage can be expressed in a
number of ways.When you are asked to find the topic
sentence, you are being asked to find the statement that
expresses the main idea in the author’s words.A number of
people can come up with the main idea for a passage, but
only the author of the passage can create the topic sentence.
Tip #6
If you are taking a test that asks you to find the thesis or
theme of a reading, don’t let the terms confuse you, you are
still looking for the main idea.

12. “ Environmental education has been considered an additional or
elective subject in much of traditional K-12 curriculum. At the
elementary school level, environmental education can take the
form of science enrichment curriculum, natural history field trips,
community service projects, and participation in outdoor science
schools. In secondary school, environmental curriculum can be a
focused subject within the sciences or is a part of student interest
groups or clubs. At the undergraduate and graduate level, it can be
considered its own field within education, environmental studies,
environmental science and policy, ecology, or human/cultural
ecology programs.”
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/environmental_education
Look at how foregoing tips are applied below

13. 1.Which is the topic
sentence?
Sentence #1
2.What is the topic of
the paragraph?
The paragraph talks
about Environmental
Education as an
additional subject in
the curriculum
3.What supports the
topic sentence?
These are
environmental
education activities
that students can do
as part of the
curriculum.
4.What specific
details or examples
are given?
Science enrichment
curriculum, natural
history field trips,
community service
projects, and
participation in
outdoor science
schools, as a separate
course