IXL | Use key details to determine the main idea

Look at these details from a paragraph about the same topic:

When baking, people measure the amounts of ingredients.
People measure how much medicine they need to take.
To stay on time, people measure how long it will take them to complete a task.

Choose the main, or central, idea that ties all the details together.

Most kitchens have tools that are used for measurement.

In sports you might measure the distance to a goal.

Measurement is an important part of everyday life.

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Look at these details from a paragraph about the same topic:

Yayoi Kusama included polka dots in her drawings as a child.
Kusama once wrapped trees in polka-dot fabric for an art show.
Kusama has also created pumpkin figures painted with polka dots.

Choose the main, or central, idea that ties all the details together.

Yayoi Kusama includes polka dots in much of her artwork.

Many artists use dots in their art.

Yayoi Kusama wrapped polka-dot fabric around trees.

key idea

The main, or central, idea of a text is the key point that the author is trying to make. It is the idea you learn from all the parts of the text together.

Details are parts of a text that support, prove, or show the main idea.

You can use the details in a text to figure out the main idea. The main idea should cover all the details, not just some of them.

solution

Look at these details:

Yayoi Kusama included polka dots in her drawings as a child.
Kusama once wrapped trees in polka-dot fabric for an art show.
Kusama has also created pumpkin figures painted with polka dots.

All three details talk about how Kusama used polka dots in her artwork. So, this is the main, or central, idea that ties the details together:

green checkmark, Yayoi Kusama includes polka dots in much of her artwork.

These sentences do not tie all of the details together, so they do not show the main idea:

red X symbol, Many artists use dots in their art.

This sentence talks about the number of artists who use dots in their work. However, the details from the paragraph are only about Kusama.

red X symbol, Yayoi Kusama wrapped polka-dot fabric around trees.

This sentence only talks about one of the details.

Looking for more? Try this:

$Confetti$

Excellent!

Now entering the Challenge Zone—are you ready?

Questions
answeredQuestions

Time
elapsedTime

hr	min	sec
00	00	06

SmartScore
out of 100
IXL's SmartScore is a dynamic measure of progress towards mastery, rather than a percentage grade. It tracks your skill level as you tackle progressively more difficult questions. Consistently answer questions correctly to reach excellence (90), or conquer the Challenge Zone to achieve mastery (100)! Learn more

Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? This can help:

G.1Use key details to determine the main idea

Excellent! You got that right!

Jumping to level 1 of 1

Excellent!