Read for the Main Idea

In the last video, you annotated interesting information by bolding it.

Then, you added comments about why you thought it was interesting.

The next step to annotating is to identify main ideas.

In this video, you will annotate by underlining what you think are the main ideas of each paragraph.

As you read each paragraph, look for a sentence or sentences that make an important point that is then explained and supported by the rest of the paragraph.

The main idea often includes...

Another way to figure out the main idea is to ask these questions as you read.

Read each paragraph and underline what you think the main idea is.

Then, add this new category to your annotation key.

If you're discussing this article in class, you can now visually scan for the underlined sentences to help remind you of the most important ideas.

All of your annotations can help you prepare to speak or write about what you’ve read.

Once you have underlined the main idea for each paragraph and added the category to your annotation key, move on to the next video.