📖 Reading Comprehension & Test Prep · Lesson 4 of 6
Main idea and title
What the whole text is about, in one sentence.
Topic vs. main idea
| Topic | One or two words: “honeybees” |
|---|---|
| Main idea | A sentence about the topic: “Honeybees work as a team to keep the hive alive.” |
| Details | Facts that support the main idea: bees dance to share where flowers are |
How to find it
- Read your margin notes for all the paragraphs
- Ask: what do they have in common?
- Write one sentence that covers all of them
- Check: does every paragraph fit under your sentence?
Too big, too small, just right
On tests, wrong main-idea answers are often a detail (too small — only one paragraph is about it) or too general (too big — “Animals are interesting”). The right answer covers the whole passage and nothing more.
Choosing a title
A good title fits the main idea. If a question asks for the best title, pick the one that would fit every paragraph — not one that matches just the first paragraph.
Tip
💡 In nonfiction, the main idea is often in the first or last paragraph. In stories, the “central message” or theme is the lesson the character learns.
✏️ Practice: your turn
- Read a nonfiction passage and write the topic in 2 words
- Write the main idea in one sentence
- List 3 details that support it
- Invent a new title for the passage
🧠 Quick quiz
Answer all 4 questions correctly to mark this lesson as done.
0 of 4 correct
All lessons in Reading Comprehension & Test Prep
- 🎯 1. Read with a purposePeek at the questions first, then read
- 🔎 2. Finding details in the textQuestions whose answer is written right there
- 🕵️ 3. Making inferencesWhen the answer isn’t written, but you can figure it out
- 💡 4. Main idea and titleWhat the whole text is about, in one sentence
- ✍️ 5. Written answers with RACEA complete, supported and short answer
- 📝 6. Test dayTime, order, multiple choice and a final check