Reading Strategies and Finding the Main Idea
Key vocabulary and habits for active reading, annotation, and identifying central ideas with evidence.
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Questions Covered in This Set
10 cards to master
What are the three passes of the Three-Pass Method?
1) Preview (~30 seconds: title, headings, first sentences, last paragraph), 2) Read and annotate at full speed, 3) Recall — say the text's point in one sentence without looking.
What is the purpose of the Preview pass?
To build a 'mental shelf' — figure out roughly what the text is about and what kind of text it is (news, argument, memoir, textbook) before reading closely.
What does the Recall step reveal when you can't summarize?
It exposes the exact gap in your understanding — that's the method working, and it tells you what to reread.
Define 'topic' versus 'main idea'.
Topic is what the text is about, stated as a word or phrase ('honeybee decline'). Main idea is what the text says about the topic, stated as a complete sentence.
What is a theme, and how does it differ from a main idea?
A theme is a general insight about life drawn from fiction, written as a sentence with no character names (e.g., 'Loyalty can blind people to the truth').
What do the annotation marks ★, ?, !, and → mean?
★ = author's central claim; ? = confusion or unknown word; ! = something surprising or contradicting expectations; → = a 3–5 word margin summary of the paragraph.
Why is highlighting 80% of a page a problem?
If almost everything is highlighted, nothing stands out — you've effectively highlighted nothing. Annotation should be selective and coded.
How do you find a main idea that is only implied?
List the details, then ask: 'What one sentence do all of these details support?' The correct main idea must cover every detail, not just some.
What's the test that your stated main idea is too narrow?
If it only covers half the paragraph's details, it's a supporting detail in disguise, not the main idea.
What are the three moves of the Claim–Evidence–Reasoning habit?
Claim: state the central idea in a sentence. Evidence: quote or cite specific details from the text. Reasoning: explain how the evidence supports the claim.
