Sign Up
School Account Sign Up
Contributor: Allison Crews. Lesson ID: 13443
Starting an essay can sometimes be the hardest part of writing! By utilizing the storyboarding method of prewriting, you'll be able to organize your thoughts before you start writing.
The main idea is that the woman pictured has won a prize.
The main idea is the most important part of a story or essay. It is the part that all the details in the story or essay relate to in some way.
In this lesson, you'll learn the storyboard method of prewriting and practice this skill by developing main ideas.
Main Idea Defined
First, it helps to identify the topic. The topic is who or what the piece of writing is about. The main idea is the most essential part of the writing.
Main ideas are expressed in a single sentence in the introductory paragraph, otherwise known as a thesis. Once you know your main idea, you select details to support it.
In the light bulb image above, notice how each section of text is connected back to the light bulb. Like with circuitry, good writing will always be connected, as if the different elements are connected to the main idea in the picture.
Main ideas offer your perspective, hypothesis, theory, or idea about something. By presenting them, you engage in a dialogue about this topic with your reader.
Check out the following video to explore the main idea further.
Identifying Main Ideas
See if you can identify the main idea in the text below.
| Many people in town think Rudy's has the best wings. They're an institution in the city, and their wings have won Reader's Choice awards in the local newspaper several times. Though Rudy's has established a strong reputation for themselves, it may be possible that they are resting easy on the previous accolades in recent years. Cluckville opened near the central library just over a year ago to rave reviews. Their wings are always crispy and more significant than those served at Rudy's, and they have better flavor options. Cluckville is the gold standard for wings in this town. |
This paragraph is about hot wings. You can tell because every sentence relates to hot wings.
If you said the main idea is that Cluckville has the best wings in town, great job! All the other sentences in this paragraph relate to where the best wings in town can be located, and the writer argues that Cluckville is the clear winner.
Storyboarding Defined
Storyboarding is a prewriting method that involves creating a logical and organized graphic organizer (visual representation of information).
Storyboarding assembles all the highlights of your essay in a way that is easy to understand and piece together. Once the storyboard is complete, your essay practically writes itself!
Take a look at an example of storyboarding.
You can design storyboards in any functional way that makes sense for you. You can include images, text, or both, as in the example above. Find a method that helps you organize your thoughts, and essay writing will become much easier!
If you're ready to put these skills into practice, move on to the Got It? section.
Supplies
Additional Resources
FAVORITE
Like