Week 11 (11-9 to ) Main Idea (2) Monday ( ) Locating the Main Idea

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1 Week 11 (11-9 to ) Main Idea (2) Monday ( ) Locating the Main Idea Authors often begin a paragraph with the main idea. The rest of the paragraph then supports the main idea with details. Here is an example: Pain causes aggression. When two rats in the same cage were given foot shocks, they attacked each other immediately. In addition, stronger shocks resulted in more violent aggression. Pairs of various other animals reacted similarly. A stubbed toe or a headache has been known to cause similar responses in humans. The author's main idea is presented in the first sentence and explained with examples in the rest of the paragraph. However, topic sentences may appear anywhere within a paragraph. See if you can find the topic sentence in the following paragraph. Everyone has heard of accountants, salespeople, and lawyers. But have you heard of kiss mixer or belly builder? Most jobs have common titles; but there also many unusual position titles. A kiss mixer, for instance, is the person who mixes the ingredients for candy kisses. A belly builder is the individual who assembles and fits the inside parts of pianos. (Answer: Most jobs have common titles; but there also many unusual position titles.) Topic sentences also come at the end of the paragraph. When that's the case, the previous sentences build up to the main idea. A couple's daughter had just graduated from college. So they were not surprised when a florist's truck pulled in front of their house. However, they were surprised when they saw that the dozen red roses were addressed to them. The card read, "Thanks, Mom and Dad, for making this day possible. I couldn't have done without your love and support." In an unusual switch, the graduate had given her parents a graduation gift. 1

2 TUESDAY, Activity 1 The topic sentence appears in different locations in the following paragraphs. Locate the topic sentence and write it on your notebook. 1) In the past, America's homeless made important contributions to society. Homeless scouts blazed the trails for the first pioneers. Later, hobos cut timber, worked in mines, did farm work, laid railroad tracks, and built towns. Traveling freely from town to town, they made up a flexible work force, one available to do whatever work was needed at any particular time. 2) People have bombarded fleas with all kinds of chemicals. The surviving fleas are super fleas-harder to kill than ever. Similarly, the overuse of bacteria has led to bacteria that resist all medicines. Obviously, in the effort to get rid of some of our tiny enemies we have created even worse ones. 3) Occasionally someone will act in a most unexpected way, like the woman who walked down a busy Chicago street with no shoes on. But usually social behavior is quite predictable. You can generally assume your English teacher will come to class instead of going swimming. You can also expect groceries at the grocery store and most drivers stopping at red lights. 4) The yo-yo is, of course, a harmless toy. Children spend hours perfecting their skill at making the wheel-like body descend the string and rebound smoothly into the hand. Early yo-yos were not used as toys, however, but as deadly weapons. The typical hunting yo-yo was made of a four-pound stone tied to a twenty-foot vine. From his hiding place in a tree, a hunter would throw the heavy stone at his prey or enemy. Then he would quickly draw the weapon back up for a second blow. 5) One family saved money on groceries by buying a lot of often-used items when the price was right. In fact, over a year, this family saved three thousand dollars on groceries by using several methods. Another method was to sit down together on Sunday and look over supermarket ads for the best buys. Also, the family was careful to wrap and date leftovers for use in soups, casseroles, and sandwiches. REVIEW 1) The topic sentence states the (supporting details, introductory details, main idea) 2) To find the topic sentence of a passage, look for a (general, specific) statement. 2

3 3) The supporting details of a passage are more (general, specific) than the main idea. Answer Key: 1) In the past, America's homeless made important contributions to society. Homeless scouts blazed the trails for the first pioneers. Later, hobos cut timber, worked in mines, did farm work, laid railroad tracks, and built towns. Traveling freely from town to town, they made up a flexible work force, one available to do whatever work was needed at any particular time. 2) People have bombarded fleas with all kinds of chemicals. The surviving fleas are super fleas-harder to kill than ever. Similarly, the overuse of bacteria has led to bacteria that resist all medicines. Obviously, in the effort to get rid of some of our tiny enemies we have created even worse ones. 3) Occasionally someone will act in a most unexpected way, like the woman who walked down a busy Chicago street with no shoes on. But usually social behavior is quite predictable. You can generally assume your English teacher will come to class instead of going swimming. You can also expect groceries at the grocery store and most drivers stopping at red lights. 4) The yo-yo is, of course, a harmless toy. Children spend hours perfecting their skill at making the wheel-like body descend the string and rebound smoothly into the hand. Early yo-yos were not used as toys, however, but as deadly weapons. The typical hunting yo-yo was made of a four-pound stone tied to a twenty-foot vine. From his hiding place in a tree, a hunter would throw the heavy stone at his prey or enemy. Then he would quickly draw the weapon back up for a second blow. 5) One family saved money on groceries by buying a lot of often-used items when the price was right. In fact, over a year, this family saved three thousand dollars on groceries by using several methods. Another method was to sit down together on Sunday and look over supermarket ads for the best buys. Also, the family was careful to wrap and date leftovers for use in soups, casseroles, and sandwiches. Wednesday, Veterans Day 3

4 Thursday & Friday to Main Idea: Shark Myths In the 1970s, the movie Jaws made people afraid to go in the ocean. Even today, the shark is seen as the ultimate eating machine, ready to turn surfers and swimmers into midnight snacks. But most sharks aren't giant monsters, and they don't want to eat people. They do, however, bite. Eating Machines? Sharks are eating machines. They swim constantly throughout their lives just to keep the water flowing through their gills, and they don't stop for anything. All that work means they need constant energy, so sharks are always on the prowl for food. Great white sharks are the world's largest fish predator, and can grow to over twenty feet in length. The great white, and most other sharks, have rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth. Sharks of all sizes are strong, fast, and equipped to kill and eat their prey. The Ultimate Hunter? Teeth and hunger aren't the only things that make sharks dangerous. Sharks have a sharp sense of smell, which allows them to detect even a few drops of blood in the salty ocean waters. 4

5 Sharks even have senses we don't, including an electrical detection sense, thanks to special organs called the Ampullae of Lorenzini. All animals give off weak electrical signals, and sharks can literally feel them through the water. Then they can zone in on prey long before seeing it (Wikipedia, 2006). Spit It Out! But sharks don't like eating people: "In the majority of recorded attacks, the shark bites the victim, hangs on for a few seconds (possibly dragging the victim through the water or under the surface), and then lets go" (Grabianowski, 2006). A shark's powerful senses can tell it that an animal is in the water, but not whether it's a turtle, a sea lion, or a human. And sharks don't like the way we taste imagine biting into what you thought was a hot dog, and it turned out to be chimpanzee meat. You'd spit it out, too. Sharks aren't "man-eaters," they're accidental "man biters." The problem with humans is that we're not fat enough for the average shark. For example, "Sharks love fat. Fat produces twice the energy of muscle, so it's the most efficient food for sharks. Great whites prefer baby seals, which can have up to 50 percent fat content" (Carey, 2005). However, some people are killed by sharks. A big bite can put a lot of blood in the water, and some other sharks may be attracted to the smell and the movements of a swimmer trying to get away. But this is very rare. People are less likely to be killed by a shark than they are by another dangerous animal. For instance, "About six people are killed by sharks every year. Some 50,000 people die of snake bites. Elephants kill 500 people a year" (Carey, 2005). Sure, there have been movies about snakes. None of them, though, were as popular or scary as Jaws. And even Hollywood can't make the sight of an elephant's trunk cutting through the leaves and branches of a jungle all that scary. So we still see elephants as large, happy, animals. Even though other animals are far more dangerous to us, unfortunately, people still think sharks are deadly monsters. 5

6 1) The second paragraph of the section "Spit It Out!" is mostly about A. how much fat humans have. B. which animals have the most fat. C. why sharks don't like to eat humans. D. how fat is converted into muscle. 2) Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage? A. Ever since the movie Jaws, people have been afraid of sharks. B. People's ideas of which animals are most dangerous are wrong. C. Sharks are the largest and most dangerous fish predators in the sea. D. Although sharks can be dangerous, they are not as bad as most people think. 3) If this passage needed a new title, which would best summarize the point of the passage? A. From Egg to Predator: The Life Cycle of the Shark B. Our Friendly Neighbor: The Shark C. The Truth about Sharks D. Sharks: Nicer than Snakes 4) The last paragraph of the passage is mostly about A. what makes movies scary. B. why Jaws was so popular. C. why people aren't afraid of elephants. D. how movies affect the way we think of animals. 5) The first two sections of the passage focus on the topic of A. a shark's unique sense of smell. B. what makes sharks dangerous. C. why sharks need to eat so much. D. how sharks are different from other predators. ANSWER KEY: Shark Myths (main idea) 1)c 2)d 3)c 4)d 5)b 6