Infer the main idea

An entire text can be summarized into a single sentence—a main-idea statement.

Use the puzzle-piece analogy to emphasize that a single sentence or “piece” of the text can be the main idea.

Authors imply the main idea or what it’s mostly about through repetition. Tally the repeating ideas.

Tally up the main idea.
PDF | Google Slide | ShamWOW Example

After tallying the repeating ideas, use those words to generate a single sentence summary.

Access a single PDF of all original texts and color-coded versions to indicate evidence.

Support main idea with textual evidence.

If the headline is the main idea, then repeated words and details within the article are the evidence. They are proof of the text’s main idea.

Hot Dog | Template & Example

Infer multiple main ideas

Recognize the build between multiple main ideas within the same text.

2nd main idea in Olympics: Skeleton