MAIN IDEA

BENCHMARKS:
Elementary School
LA.A.2.2.1 - Reads text and determines the maind idea or essential message, identifies relevant supporting details and facts, and arranges events in chronological order.

Middle School
LA.A.2.3.1 - Determines the main idea or essential message in a text and identifies relevant details and facts and patterns of organization.

High School
LA.A.2.4.1 - Determines the main idea and identifies relevant details, methods of development, and their effectiveness in a variety of types of written material.

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DEFINITION:
Every paragraph has a main idea (stated or implied). Every passage combines these main ideas into one essential message.

The stated main idea identifies the topic and states the overall meaning of the paragraph of passage. It answers the question, "Which idea is most important to the topic?" The stated main idea is often found in the first or last sentence of the paragraph or passage.

The implied main idea is not stated in the paragraph or passage. It is inferred by the various details therein. Implied main idea signals include title, topic, subtopics, details.