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  • - [David] Hello readers.

  • Today I'm in this peaceful forest

  • to tell you all about the skill

  • of figuring out the main idea of a text.

  • - [Squirrel] Say, what's the big idea?

  • - [David] Yes, exactly.

  • Wait, what?

  • Oh, hello squirrel.

  • - [Squirrel] You heard me, big legs.

  • What's the big idea?

  • Were you tromping all over my patch of forest

  • without so much as a how do you do?

  • - [David] I'm sorry.

  • How do you do? - Hello.

  • - [David] How can I make it up to you?

  • - [Squirrel] Well, okay.

  • I'm working on a school assignment.

  • - [David] Squirrels have school?

  • - Yeah. - All right, all right.

  • Sorry, go on.

  • - [Squirrel] So I've got this newspaper article,

  • and Mr. Badgerton says I have to draw out

  • what the main idea is.

  • How is that different from a summary?

  • - [David] Okay, a summary is all of

  • the key details of an article or a story,

  • but a main idea is bigger than details.

  • It's what those details add up to.

  • A main idea is the key information

  • that the author wants you to know

  • after you've finished reading the text.

  • So, for example, what's going on in your article?

  • - [Squirrel] It's about the creek in the forest,

  • and how everyone wants to drink from it,

  • but the otters wanna swim in it, the bears wanna fish in it,

  • and the beavers wanna build a dam in it

  • and turn the whole thing into a pond.

  • - [David] Not as peaceful of a forest

  • as I thought, huh?

  • - [Squirrel] Not so much, no.

  • - [David] What you just told me

  • is a summary of the events of the news story.

  • But the big idea there is that there's a conflict or fight

  • over who has access to the creek.

  • - [Squirrel] So you just zipped all the supporting details

  • out of my summary, and made it more about the ideas?

  • - [David] Yeah, exactly.

  • The main idea is that different animals wanna use the creek.

  • - [Squirrel] Can you give me a more complicated example?

  • - [David] I would love to.

  • Why don't we take a look at this text about brain growth?

  • So here's a passage about training your brain.

  • I'm going to read it, I'm gonna make notes,

  • and then I'm gonna summarize each paragraph.

  • And then, I'll take all those summaries,

  • put 'em together, and that'll help us

  • come up with a main idea.

  • So, here we go.

  • Your brain gets stronger when you exercise it,

  • just like muscles get stronger when you exercise them.

  • Training your brain isn't always easy or comfortable.

  • In fact, your brain uses up 20%

  • of the oxygen and blood in your body

  • because it works so hard.

  • Okay, so, your brain can get stronger, but it's not easy.

  • Here are some examples of how your brain grows

  • when you learn new things.

  • Learning math strengthens the parts of the brain

  • that are linked to memory, thought, and action.

  • Imagine that!

  • Remember when you first learned how to add and subtract?

  • You got faster and faster with more practice.

  • That's because your neurons, those are brain cells,

  • your neurons were learning how to work with each other,

  • and then your memory improved.

  • But memory is useful for more than just math.

  • I'm gonna underline more than just math.

  • That same part of your brain

  • helps you remember basketball plays, dance routines,

  • and even nice memories with your friends and family.

  • So it's not just about math.

  • Learning and practicing things helps your brain work faster.

  • Learning or practicing anything, yes anything!

  • Learning and practicing helps strengthen

  • and change our brains.

  • Your brain is changing and creating new neural pathways,

  • which is just another way of saying

  • brain connections, right?

  • Neural is similar to neuron.

  • So it's like, having to do with brain cells.

  • Your brain is changing and creating new neural pathways

  • when you struggle to learn something new.

  • So struggle is important.

  • In other words, there's a lot happening in your brain

  • when you're learning.

  • All learning can build new information pathways,

  • but learning things that are challenging for you

  • can supercharge your brain growth.

  • In other words, the more you're challenged,

  • the faster you learn.

  • So here are my paragraph summaries.

  • Your brain can get stronger, but it's not easy.

  • Learning and practicing helps your brain work faster.

  • And the more you're challenged, the faster you learn.

  • Putting those three things together,

  • I would say that the main idea of this passage

  • is that learning new information can strengthen your brain.

  • Let's get our little thinky pinky back in there.

  • What I did was I took something from each paragraph

  • and found what they all had in common.

  • There were some details, for example,

  • about math or dance practice, that are important,

  • but aren't so important

  • that they need to be included in the main idea.

  • All of that can just sort of be pushed

  • into this broader idea of learning new information

  • makes your brain stronger, can strengthen your brain.

  • - [Squirrel] So how should I be thinking about main ideas?

  • - [David] All right.

  • So, are you familiar with the expression,

  • "You can't see the forest for the trees"?

  • - [Squirrel] David, I live in a forest.

  • Of course I'm familiar.

  • - [David] So it means, right,

  • don't get so hung up on details

  • that you can't see the big picture.

  • The trees, one by one, are all part of the forest.

  • They make up the forest.

  • Right, you with me? - Yes.

  • - [David] A summary of the forest

  • is all the important details.

  • There's a stream here, there's a birch tree here,

  • a Douglas fir tree here, a red oak tree here, a rock there.

  • But the main idea is this is a forest.

  • All of those things together

  • add up to the idea of a forest.

  • - [Squirrel] But do they add up

  • to you doing my homework assignment?

  • - [David] They do not.

  • - [Squirrel] Aw, nuts.

  • - [David] You can learn anything.

  • David, out.

- [David] Hello readers.

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