Central Idea & Supporting Details

Details

Facts, statistics, examples, stories, quotations, definitions, reasons, comparisons which support your main idea; details help make the main idea clear

Summarizing

Retelling the main ideas of a text in your own words.

Background Knowledge

Your personal experiences, what you already know.

Statistic

a type of supporting detail that gives numerical facts (decimals, percentages, fractions, or ratios, etc.)

Anecdote

a type of supporting detail that gives someone's account or experience of an event

Define/Definition

a type of supporting detail that gives the precise meaning of a word or phrase

Quote/Direct Quotation

a type of supporting detail that repeats exactly what someone else has said or written (exact words from the story/person)

conclusion

an ending or wrap-up for your writing

Explanation / Elaboration

explains how your examples support your idea

Supporting Details

information or facts that support or add more to the main idea

Main Idea

the central or most important idea about a topic that the writer wants to communicate to readers.

Sequence/Sequencing

the order in which steps are taken

topic

the person or thing the passage is about--usually one or two words

Support

to bear, hold up, or prove *any material that serves to prove a claim