Unit 1: Identifying Key Ideas and Details
Unit 1 covers the first reading competency: knowledge of key ideas and details based on text selections. This unit asks you to identify textual evidence by examining supporting points, details, and how an author presents their purpose. These identifications allow the reader to better connect direct and implied ideas to an author's conclusions.
In this unit, you'll also learn strategies for using your exam time effectively and annotating the readings you encounter. These strategies will help you manage the test and understand the types of questions you can expect on the exam.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- choose textual evidence supporting primary conclusion(s);
- analyze inferences and conclusions based on textual evidence;
- categorize inferences, conclusions, and assumptions based on their textual evidence;
- analyze how central ideas are established and supported;
- summarize key ideas and details of texts;
- explain how specific individuals, events, and ideas are developed by the textual evidence; and
- evaluate cause and effect relationship(s) among individuals, events, and ideas using textual evidence.
1.1: Identifying Textual Evidence
When we identify or point out specific evidence in a text, we can begin to draw conclusions about the text, figure out what evidence is important, and make other inferences or assumptions about what we've read. This section will help you find and use textual evidence.
Before we jump into textual evidence, let's look at some simple strategies to help you balance the time you use during the test and help you keep track of the important parts of a text passage.
The exam is a timed test, meaning that if you take too long on one section, you may need to rush through another section or not complete the entire test. For this reason, it's essential to manage your time carefully. Review the resource on time management to help you balance the time you spend on each passage and not become "held up" anywhere in the test.One way to manage both your time and the information you're reading is to annotate. Annotating, or taking notes, can help you remember critical details without becoming overwhelmed or lost in a text. Review this article for ideas on how to annotate a text in the way that works best for you.
Textual evidence consists of all the parts of a text an author uses to support their claims. This includes a main idea or theme, supporting details, and even the implied ideas (the things the author says without explicitly stating them).
As you read, it's essential to keep track of which ideas are important for understanding the reading's meaning and purpose. Review this article on textual evidence and complete the exercises to practice finding and using these details.Now that we know how to find textual evidence, we can use it to summarize a text. As you read, be sure to take notes or annotate your text to keep track of important details. In the exam, you may be able to underline, highlight, or add notes in the margin to help you, or you may have a piece of paper where you can keep track of what you read. Either way, tracking the textual evidence will help you determine the general meaning of the text and describe it in your own words.
Read this lesson and complete the exercises to practice summarizing a text.This knowledge check will allow you to review what we've covered so far. Feel free to go back over anything you're still unsure of.
1.2: Drawing Conclusions, Analyzing, and Critiquing a Text
After we can point out different textual elements, we can start to put them together to analyze their relationships and draw conclusions. The following resources will help you pull the ideas from the text together to better comprehend a text.
In addition to the explicit details an author provides, many readings also include inferred meaning. This means that an author is indirect with their main idea or supporting point and expects the reader to figure it out themselves. But how do we do this? As we read, we can keep an eye out for signposts, certain types of content (like questions or repeated terms), and keywords.
Once we figure out what the author is trying to tell us, we can draw conclusions about the reading's purpose. This video will show you how to make inferences and "read between the lines" of a text.While it's essential to identify the ideas, keywords, and inferences in a text, it's equally important to understand how a text is structured. Cause and effect is an organizational structure used in many fields, from arts and humanities to science and technology. When we're able to examine how a text is structured, we can look for connections and see how the author develops relationships between ideas.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the unit, you have some options with which strategies you want to use on your exam. One option you have is the order that you review the material. You could read first, then answer questions, or review questions first and then read – it's up to you to decide what works best.
This brief article describes both strategies. You can practice each and choose which you prefer in the practice exercises for this unit.It's time to check your knowledge! Complete this exercise to see how well you understand these topics. Review the resources again if you need to before moving on to the Unit 1 Assessment.
Unit 1 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.