WEBVTT 00:00:00.290 --> 00:00:01.140 - [David] Hello readers. 00:00:01.140 --> 00:00:03.340 Today I'm in this peaceful forest 00:00:03.340 --> 00:00:04.980 to tell you all about the skill 00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:07.820 of figuring out the main idea of a text. 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:10.330 - [Squirrel] Say, what's the big idea? 00:00:10.330 --> 00:00:11.470 - [David] Yes, exactly. 00:00:11.470 --> 00:00:12.303 Wait, what? 00:00:12.303 --> 00:00:13.570 Oh, hello squirrel. 00:00:13.570 --> 00:00:14.690 - [Squirrel] You heard me, big legs. 00:00:14.690 --> 00:00:15.930 What's the big idea? 00:00:15.930 --> 00:00:18.310 Were you tromping all over my patch of forest 00:00:18.310 --> 00:00:19.860 without so much as a how do you do? 00:00:19.860 --> 00:00:20.693 - [David] I'm sorry. 00:00:20.693 --> 00:00:22.050 How do you do? - Hello. 00:00:22.050 --> 00:00:23.150 - [David] How can I make it up to you? 00:00:23.150 --> 00:00:24.150 - [Squirrel] Well, okay. 00:00:24.150 --> 00:00:26.010 I'm working on a school assignment. 00:00:26.010 --> 00:00:26.843 - [David] Squirrels have school? 00:00:26.843 --> 00:00:28.030 - Yeah. - All right, all right. 00:00:28.030 --> 00:00:28.863 Sorry, go on. 00:00:28.863 --> 00:00:30.290 - [Squirrel] So I've got this newspaper article, 00:00:30.290 --> 00:00:32.520 and Mr. Badgerton says I have to draw out 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:34.430 what the main idea is. 00:00:34.430 --> 00:00:36.480 How is that different from a summary? 00:00:36.480 --> 00:00:38.160 - [David] Okay, a summary is all of 00:00:38.160 --> 00:00:40.590 the key details of an article or a story, 00:00:40.590 --> 00:00:43.340 but a main idea is bigger than details. 00:00:43.340 --> 00:00:45.510 It's what those details add up to. 00:00:45.510 --> 00:00:48.310 A main idea is the key information 00:00:48.310 --> 00:00:49.890 that the author wants you to know 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:52.520 after you've finished reading the text. 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:54.800 So, for example, what's going on in your article? 00:00:54.800 --> 00:00:56.320 - [Squirrel] It's about the creek in the forest, 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.370 and how everyone wants to drink from it, 00:00:58.370 --> 00:01:01.600 but the otters wanna swim in it, the bears wanna fish in it, 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:03.630 and the beavers wanna build a dam in it 00:01:03.630 --> 00:01:05.300 and turn the whole thing into a pond. 00:01:05.300 --> 00:01:06.650 - [David] Not as peaceful of a forest 00:01:06.650 --> 00:01:07.680 as I thought, huh? 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:08.970 - [Squirrel] Not so much, no. 00:01:08.970 --> 00:01:09.803 - [David] What you just told me 00:01:09.803 --> 00:01:12.440 is a summary of the events of the news story. 00:01:12.440 --> 00:01:16.340 But the big idea there is that there's a conflict or fight 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:18.710 over who has access to the creek. 00:01:18.710 --> 00:01:21.270 - [Squirrel] So you just zipped all the supporting details 00:01:21.270 --> 00:01:24.080 out of my summary, and made it more about the ideas? 00:01:24.080 --> 00:01:25.120 - [David] Yeah, exactly. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:28.260 The main idea is that different animals wanna use the creek. 00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:30.360 - [Squirrel] Can you give me a more complicated example? 00:01:30.360 --> 00:01:31.860 - [David] I would love to. 00:01:31.860 --> 00:01:34.570 Why don't we take a look at this text about brain growth? 00:01:34.570 --> 00:01:36.930 So here's a passage about training your brain. 00:01:36.930 --> 00:01:39.690 I'm going to read it, I'm gonna make notes, 00:01:39.690 --> 00:01:42.970 and then I'm gonna summarize each paragraph. 00:01:42.970 --> 00:01:44.610 And then, I'll take all those summaries, 00:01:44.610 --> 00:01:46.040 put 'em together, and that'll help us 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:47.830 come up with a main idea. 00:01:47.830 --> 00:01:49.970 So, here we go. 00:01:49.970 --> 00:01:52.770 Your brain gets stronger when you exercise it, 00:01:52.770 --> 00:01:56.070 just like muscles get stronger when you exercise them. 00:01:56.070 --> 00:01:59.040 Training your brain isn't always easy or comfortable. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:01.330 In fact, your brain uses up 20% 00:02:01.330 --> 00:02:03.410 of the oxygen and blood in your body 00:02:03.410 --> 00:02:05.490 because it works so hard. 00:02:05.490 --> 00:02:10.490 Okay, so, your brain can get stronger, but it's not easy. 00:02:11.630 --> 00:02:13.740 Here are some examples of how your brain grows 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:15.290 when you learn new things. 00:02:15.290 --> 00:02:17.650 Learning math strengthens the parts of the brain 00:02:17.650 --> 00:02:20.610 that are linked to memory, thought, and action. 00:02:20.610 --> 00:02:21.770 Imagine that! 00:02:21.770 --> 00:02:24.490 Remember when you first learned how to add and subtract? 00:02:24.490 --> 00:02:27.280 You got faster and faster with more practice. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:29.910 That's because your neurons, those are brain cells, 00:02:29.910 --> 00:02:32.180 your neurons were learning how to work with each other, 00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:34.380 and then your memory improved. 00:02:34.380 --> 00:02:37.080 But memory is useful for more than just math. 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:38.960 I'm gonna underline more than just math. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:40.130 That same part of your brain 00:02:40.130 --> 00:02:43.250 helps you remember basketball plays, dance routines, 00:02:43.250 --> 00:02:46.250 and even nice memories with your friends and family. 00:02:46.250 --> 00:02:47.960 So it's not just about math. 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:51.910 Learning and practicing things helps your brain work faster. 00:02:51.910 --> 00:02:54.880 Learning or practicing anything, yes anything! 00:02:54.880 --> 00:02:56.810 Learning and practicing helps strengthen 00:02:56.810 --> 00:02:58.723 and change our brains. 00:02:59.600 --> 00:03:04.180 Your brain is changing and creating new neural pathways, 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:05.606 which is just another way of saying 00:03:05.606 --> 00:03:07.983 brain connections, right? 00:03:08.890 --> 00:03:12.020 Neural is similar to neuron. 00:03:12.020 --> 00:03:16.100 So it's like, having to do with brain cells. 00:03:16.100 --> 00:03:18.860 Your brain is changing and creating new neural pathways 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:21.300 when you struggle to learn something new. 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:23.020 So struggle is important. 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:25.480 In other words, there's a lot happening in your brain 00:03:25.480 --> 00:03:26.810 when you're learning. 00:03:26.810 --> 00:03:29.720 All learning can build new information pathways, 00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:31.920 but learning things that are challenging for you 00:03:31.920 --> 00:03:34.630 can supercharge your brain growth. 00:03:34.630 --> 00:03:36.340 In other words, the more you're challenged, 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:37.513 the faster you learn. 00:03:38.850 --> 00:03:42.010 So here are my paragraph summaries. 00:03:42.010 --> 00:03:44.450 Your brain can get stronger, but it's not easy. 00:03:44.450 --> 00:03:46.970 Learning and practicing helps your brain work faster. 00:03:46.970 --> 00:03:50.450 And the more you're challenged, the faster you learn. 00:03:50.450 --> 00:03:51.880 Putting those three things together, 00:03:51.880 --> 00:03:54.710 I would say that the main idea of this passage 00:03:54.710 --> 00:03:58.620 is that learning new information can strengthen your brain. 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:00.680 Let's get our little thinky pinky back in there. 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:03.470 What I did was I took something from each paragraph 00:04:03.470 --> 00:04:05.560 and found what they all had in common. 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:07.030 There were some details, for example, 00:04:07.030 --> 00:04:11.410 about math or dance practice, that are important, 00:04:11.410 --> 00:04:12.470 but aren't so important 00:04:12.470 --> 00:04:14.800 that they need to be included in the main idea. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:16.520 All of that can just sort of be pushed 00:04:16.520 --> 00:04:20.340 into this broader idea of learning new information 00:04:20.340 --> 00:04:23.153 makes your brain stronger, can strengthen your brain. 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:27.040 - [Squirrel] So how should I be thinking about main ideas? 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:27.873 - [David] All right. 00:04:27.873 --> 00:04:29.677 So, are you familiar with the expression, 00:04:29.677 --> 00:04:31.780 "You can't see the forest for the trees"? 00:04:31.780 --> 00:04:33.640 - [Squirrel] David, I live in a forest. 00:04:33.640 --> 00:04:34.750 Of course I'm familiar. 00:04:34.750 --> 00:04:35.790 - [David] So it means, right, 00:04:35.790 --> 00:04:37.610 don't get so hung up on details 00:04:37.610 --> 00:04:39.310 that you can't see the big picture. 00:04:39.310 --> 00:04:42.560 The trees, one by one, are all part of the forest. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:43.780 They make up the forest. 00:04:43.780 --> 00:04:44.960 Right, you with me? - Yes. 00:04:44.960 --> 00:04:46.370 - [David] A summary of the forest 00:04:46.370 --> 00:04:48.310 is all the important details. 00:04:48.310 --> 00:04:51.210 There's a stream here, there's a birch tree here, 00:04:51.210 --> 00:04:55.840 a Douglas fir tree here, a red oak tree here, a rock there. 00:04:55.840 --> 00:04:58.830 But the main idea is this is a forest. 00:04:58.830 --> 00:05:00.150 All of those things together 00:05:00.150 --> 00:05:03.510 add up to the idea of a forest. 00:05:03.510 --> 00:05:04.345 - [Squirrel] But do they add up 00:05:04.345 --> 00:05:06.670 to you doing my homework assignment? 00:05:06.670 --> 00:05:07.700 - [David] They do not. 00:05:07.700 --> 00:05:08.860 - [Squirrel] Aw, nuts. 00:05:08.860 --> 00:05:10.230 - [David] You can learn anything. 00:05:10.230 --> 00:05:11.063 David, out.