Topic sentence
The topic sentence of a paragraph should tell you the main idea.
The topic sentence.
in the beginning
Usually in the beginning of the story
Find the main idea of the paragraph and the look for the details that support the main idea. A good way to do this is to underline the main idea and then circle the details as you read the paragraph.
first paragraph
Information that supports the main idea
The main idea of a paragraph is what that specific paragraph is about. You have a main idea of the whole writing, but each paragraph (or "passage") has its own main idea, or main point, and each paragraph expands on the whole.
The first and last paragraph of the book you are reading most likely states the main idea in the first paragraph, and then reflects that main idea on the last paragraph.
The topic sentence should state the main idea that will be developed. The reader should easily be able to see the main idea, simply by reading the topic sentence. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in the paragraph, and is the most important thought in the paragraph.
What's the point?
The main idea of a science experiment could be a question, but the main idea of a paragraph should be a statement. You can generally form a question into a statement to use for your paragraph.
The main idea is likely to appear in the first portion of a longer work. For shorter works, the main idea is generally in the first paragraph.
simple sentence with the main idea.
It restates the main idea of the paragraph using different words.
The main idea of the story. The main idea is what is focused mostly on in the story or paragraph.