Central Idea Lesson: Topic vs. Central Idea, Grades 6-8 Reading

Ask a middle schooler for the central idea and you often get the topic: "cats." This lesson teaches the difference. The topic is a word or phrase that names what a text is about. The central idea is the writer's most important point about it, said as a full sentence.

What's inside

• 15 slides, with speaker notes on all 15
• Lesson plan, 2 pages
• Reading passage, 1 page
• Student worksheet, 2 pages
• Answer key, 1 page
• All printables in one ready-to-print PDF, 6 pages

Answer key included

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