{"synopsis":"Finding the main idea isn\u2019t always a piece of cake. In this BrainPOP movie, Tim and Moby will show you how to figure out the main point of a piece of writing, whether it\u2019s an essay, article, or paragraph. You\u2019ll also discover things like what a topic is and what details are, including why they\u2019re useful in determining the main idea. Plus, you\u2019ll get some helpful hints to keep in mind when you\u2019re reading any passage. Get the idea?","name":"Main Idea","display_name":"","name_app":"","EntryID":"2808","courses":[],"free":"no","permafree":"","d_updated":"0","sensitive_content":"","subtitles":[{"language":"en","label":"English","file":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/movies\/subtitles_en.vtt"}],"show_on_site":"Yes","moe_approved":null,"lesson_plan":"https:\/\/educators.brainpop.com\/bp-topic\/main-idea\/","icons":{"high_res_icon":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/icon.png","high_res_icon_180x180":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/icon_180x180.png","high_res_icon_360x360":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/icon_360x360.png"},"screenshots":["\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/screenshot1.png","\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/screenshot2.png","\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/screenshot3.png"],"movies":{"high":"\/new_common_images\/ipad_movies\/17\/175397.mp4","low":"\/new_common_images\/iphone_movies\/17\/175398.mp4","high_v2":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/movies\/272286.mp4","low_v2":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/movies\/272001.mp4","flash":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/mysteries.swf"},"related_jr_topics":[],"related_topics":[{"EntryID":"345","name":"Five-Paragraph Essay","name_app":"","free":"","show_free_tag":"","d_creation":"1151090160","url":"\/english\/writing\/fiveparagraphessay\/","icons":{"high_res_icon":"\/english\/writing\/fiveparagraphessay\/icon.png","high_res_icon_180x180":"\/english\/writing\/fiveparagraphessay\/icon_180x180.png","high_res_icon_360x360":"\/english\/writing\/fiveparagraphessay\/icon_360x360.png"},"screenshots":["\/english\/writing\/fiveparagraphessay\/screenshot1.png","\/english\/writing\/fiveparagraphessay\/screenshot2.png","\/english\/writing\/fiveparagraphessay\/screenshot3.png"],"d_updated":"1606798800","product":"bp"},{"EntryID":"347","name":"Prewriting: Choosing a Topic","name_app":"","free":"","show_free_tag":"","d_creation":"915166800","url":"\/english\/writing\/prewritingchoosingatopic\/","icons":{"high_res_icon":"\/english\/writing\/prewritingchoosingatopic\/icon.png","high_res_icon_180x180":"\/english\/writing\/prewritingchoosingatopic\/icon_180x180.png","high_res_icon_360x360":"\/english\/writing\/prewritingchoosingatopic\/icon_360x360.png"},"screenshots":["\/english\/writing\/prewritingchoosingatopic\/screenshot1.png","\/english\/writing\/prewritingchoosingatopic\/screenshot2.png","\/english\/writing\/prewritingchoosingatopic\/screenshot3.png"],"d_updated":"-68400","product":"bp"},{"EntryID":"2872","name":"Outlines","name_app":"","free":"","show_free_tag":"","d_creation":"1163137140","url":"\/english\/writing\/outlines\/","icons":{"high_res_icon":"\/english\/writing\/outlines\/icon.png","high_res_icon_180x180":"\/english\/writing\/outlines\/icon_180x180.png","high_res_icon_360x360":"\/english\/writing\/outlines\/icon_360x360.png"},"screenshots":["\/english\/writing\/outlines\/screenshot1.png","\/english\/writing\/outlines\/screenshot2.png","\/english\/writing\/outlines\/screenshot3.png"],"d_updated":"0","product":"bp"},{"EntryID":"7740","name":"Text Structures","name_app":"","free":"","show_free_tag":"","d_creation":"1653105540","url":"\/english\/writing\/textstructures\/","icons":{"high_res_icon":"\/english\/writing\/textstructures\/icon.png","high_res_icon_180x180":"\/english\/writing\/textstructures\/icon_180x180.png","high_res_icon_360x360":"\/english\/writing\/textstructures\/icon_360x360.png"},"screenshots":["\/english\/writing\/textstructures\/screenshot1.png","\/english\/writing\/textstructures\/screenshot2.png","\/english\/writing\/textstructures\/screenshot3.png"],"d_updated":"0","product":"bp"}],"path":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/","related_games":[{"EntryID":"14","name":"Argument Wars","url":"\/games\/argumentwars\/","type":"generic_game","alignments_description":"Ever tried to win a disagreement? In Argument Wars, you will try out your persuasive abilities by arguing a real Supreme Court case. The other lawyer is your competition. Whoever uses the strongest arguments wins! ","alignment_guid":""},{"EntryID":"465","name":"The Meaning of Beep: Main Idea","url":"\/games\/mobmainidea\/","type":"meaningofbeep","alignments_description":"","alignment_guid":"4D8356CE-2F59-11E9-BB33-AC8248A3DF6F"}],"sortify_games":[],"features":[{"type":"quiz","feature_id":"13085","name":"Quiz","feature_name":"Quiz","alignments_description":"","alignment_guid":"","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"Yes","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/quiz\/","icon":"\/assets\/images\/quiz_svg_icon.svg"},{"type":"challenge","feature_id":"32173","name":"Challenge","feature_name":"Challenge","alignments_description":"Interactive tasks that playfully assess knowledge of a topic.","alignment_guid":"482D86EA-2F59-11E9-AC45-B074C711D6AD","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/challenge\/","icon":"\/assets\/images\/challenge_svg_icon.svg"},{"feature_id":"2808","type":"concept_map","name":"Make-a-Map","alignments_description":"A concept mapping tool.","alignment_guid":"48C9372A-2F59-11E9-A272-FC668C07C35A","url":"\/make-a-map\/?topic=\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":""},{"feature_id":"2808","type":"make_a_movie","name":"Make-a-Movie","alignments_description":"A movie-making tool to produce BrainPOP-style movies.","alignment_guid":"49E8BB9E-2F59-11E9-BD21-B770E1A75C35","url":"\/make-a-movie\/?topic=2808","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":""},{"type":"coding","feature_id":"40481","name":"Creative Coding","feature_name":"Creative coding","alignments_description":"Coding projects offered in both text- and block-based coding languages.","alignment_guid":"4B1815BE-2F59-11E9-9BDA-DBCC36E3D649","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/creativecoding\/","icon":"\/assets\/images\/creativecoding_svg_icon.svg","coding_types":{"museum":{"type":"museum","instructions":"Code a digital museum to show what you know about the main idea of a piece of writing."},"story":{"type":"story","instructions":"Code a conversation to show what you know about the main idea of a piece of writing."},"game":{"type":"game","instructions":"Code a sorting game to show what you know about the main idea of a piece of writing."},"flag":{"type":"flag","instructions":"Create a flag that represents the main idea of a piece of writing."},"comic":{"type":"comic","instructions":"Create a comic about the main idea of a piece of writing."},"newscast":{"type":"newscast","instructions":"Create a newscast about the main idea of a piece of writing."},"meme":{"type":"meme","instructions":"Create a meme about the main idea of a piece of writing."}}},{"type":"related_reading","feature_id":"12074","name":"Related Reading","feature_name":"Related Reading","alignments_description":"High-interest, informational texts that extend understanding of a topic.","alignment_guid":"4C502F84-2F59-11E9-A22C-B0373EC9773C","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"Yes","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/relatedreading\/","icon":"\/assets\/images\/relatedreading_svg_icon.svg"},{"type":"transcript","feature_id":"31433","name":"Movie Transcript","feature_name":"Transcript","alignments_description":"","alignment_guid":"","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/transcript\/","icon":""},{"type":"worksheet","feature_id":"43586","name":"Worksheet","feature_name":"Worksheet","alignments_description":"","alignment_guid":"307326B6-0889-11EC-B087-E561EB0A67C2","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/worksheet\/","icon":"\/assets\/images\/worksheet_svg_icon.svg"},{"type":"graphic_organizer","feature_id":"43585","name":"Graphic Organizer","feature_name":"Graphic Organizer","alignments_description":"","alignment_guid":"2FF65FE6-0889-11EC-9B6E-D1953025C306","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/graphicorganizer\/","icon":"\/assets\/images\/graphicorganizer_svg_icon.svg"},{"type":"vocabulary","feature_id":"43587","name":"Vocabulary","feature_name":"Vocabulary","alignments_description":"","alignment_guid":"309931D0-0889-11EC-84A7-CE9D1EECB4DF","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"Yes","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/vocabulary\/","icon":"\/assets\/images\/vocabulary_svg_icon.svg"},{"EntryID":"465","game":"true","name":"Meaning of Beep","game_name":"The Meaning of Beep: Main Idea","alignment_guid":"4D8356CE-2F59-11E9-BB33-AC8248A3DF6F","alignments_description":"","url":"\/games\/mobmainidea\/","type":"meaningofbeep","icon":"\/assets\/images\/meaningofbeep_svg_icon.svg","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"Yes"},{"EntryID":"14","game":"true","name":"GameUp","url":"\/games\/game-finder\/?game_keyword=topic: Main Idea&topic_id=7055286a7fe4c2c7","type":"generic_game","requires_flash":"","small_screen_compatible":"","icon":"\/assets\/images\/gameup_svg_icon.svg","count":2}],"feature_promo":{"featured_1":{"title":"Make-a-Map","type":"make_a_map","url":"\/make-a-map\/?topic=\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/","image":"\/assets\/images\/feature_promo_make-a-map_generic.png"},"featured_2":{"title":"Take the Quiz","type":"quiz","url":"\/english\/writing\/mainidea\/quiz\/","image":"\/assets\/images\/feature_promo_quiz_generic.png"}},"themes":[],"alignment_guid":"4787CC8C-2F59-11E9-897C-B894D50B71B7"}
LOG IN
Please log in to access this feature.
Limited Student Access
This topic is not available for students in Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade and 12th Grade. Contact your administrator for guidance on teaching this topic.