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Fred Hartman Bridge
STUDENT NAME
Readin
g
Table of Contents
Main Idea (1.8.10.F)..................................................................... 4
Details (1.8.10.F).......................................................................... 8
Summarizing (1.8.10.G)............................................................. 12
Theme (4.8.11.D)........................................................................ 16
Text Structure (3.8.10.E, 4.8.12.I).................................................. 20
Cause and Effect (3.8.10.E, 4.8.12.I). ........................................... 24
Flashbacks and Foreshadowing (2.8.12.J)............................. 28
Symbolism (2.8.12.J)................................................................. 32
Style, Tone, and Mood (4.8.12.K). ............................................ 36
Inferences and Generalizations (4.8.10.H). ............................ 40
Conclusions (4.8.10.H).............................................................. 44
TX8 © 2009 Buckle Down – Options Publishing. COPYING IS FORBIDDEN BY LAW.
Connecting Texts (4.8.11.D)...................................................... 48
Compare and Contrast Texts (4.8.11.D). ................................. 52
Text Support (4.8.10.H, 4.8.11.C). .................................................. 56
Connecting Your Experiences (4.8.10.H, 4.8.11.C). ..................... 60
Acknowledgments................................................................ 64
1.8.10.F
TX
At the beginning of each lesson, you will see a box with the shape of
Texas and a TAKS Objective/TEKS Student Expectation code in it.
This code tells you what is being covered in the lesson.
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1.8.10.F
TX
Main Idea
WORD BANK
Oneevening,AuntSofiaandherniece
Beccaweretalkingabouttheirfamily.Atone
point,AuntSofiasaid,“Becca,didyouknow
thatyouhaveyourfather’seyes?”Whenshe
saidthis,AuntSofiawastalkingaboutheredity.
Heredityisthepassingonoftraitsfromaparent
toanoffspring.Traitsarefeaturessuchaseye
colorandheight.Heredityexplainswhychildren
usuallylookliketheirparents.Italsoexplains
whycertaindiseasesoccurmoreofteninone
familythaninthegeneralpopulation
Whatisthemain idea,orthemostimportantfact
orgeneralstatement,ofthisparagraph?
mainidea
details
topicsentence
A
BuIlD A BRIDge
Thesentencethat
statesthemainideaofa
paragraphiscalledthe
topic sentence.The
topicsentenceisusually
locatedatornearthe
beginningofaparagraph.
However,itcanalso
appearinthemiddleorat
theendofaparagraph.
Themainideaoftheparagraphisthatheredityis
thepassingonoftraitsfromparenttooffspring.
Thisgeneralstatementtellsyouwhattheparagraph
ismostlyabout.A
Thefollowinggraphicorganizershowshoweachdetailfromtheparagraphis
connectedtothemainidea.
Main Idea:
Heredity is the passing on of physical traits
from parent to offspring.
Detail:
Heredity
explains why
certain diseases
occur more
often in one
family than in
the general
population.
Detail:
Heredity
explains why
children usually
look like their
parents.
Detail:
Traits are
features such
as eye color
and height.
Underlinethemainidea
oftheparagraph.
Scientistsstudygenetics
formanyreasons.Some
studygeneticsinwildlife
tounderstandanimals
andbreedthemsothat
theyareinthebest
health.Othersstudy
geneticstohelpfight
diseaseinhumans.
TX8©2009BuckleDown–OptionsPublishing.COPYINGISFORBIDDENBYLAW.
Nowreadthelastsentenceintheparagraph.Itcontainsadetail.Detailsarepieces
ofinformationthatsupportortellmoreaboutthemainidea.Inthiscase,thedetail
abouttheoccurrenceofcertaindiseasesaddstothemainideaaboutheredity.
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guIDeD PRACTICe
Nowreadthisparagraph.Asyouread,lookforthemainidea.Onedetailhasbeen
underlinedforyou.
Inthemid-1800s,GregorMendelgrewpea
plantsinaseriesofexperiments.Mendeltracked
traits,suchasthecolorofapea,overmany
generationsofplants.Throughhisexperiments,
Mendeldevelopedthefirstcorrecttheoryof
heredity,whichhepublishedin1866.Today
GregorMendelisseenasapioneeringfigurein
thedevelopmentofgenetics,thescientificstudy
ofheredity.B
1 Whichsentencestatesthemainideaofthe
paragraph?
A Mendelconductedscientificexperiments.
B Geneticsisthescientificstudyofheredity.
C Mendelpublishedhistheoryofheredityin
1866.
TX8©2009BuckleDown–OptionsPublishing.COPYINGISFORBIDDENBYLAW.
D Mendelisconsideredapioneeringfigurein
thedevelopmentofgenetics.
B
BuIlD A BRIDge
LookatNumber1.Use
thehintbelowtohelpyou
identifythemainidea.
First,rereadthe
paragraph.Nowreview
theanswerchoicesfor
Number1.Remember
thatthemainideais
themostimportantfact
orgeneralstatementof
theparagraph.Which
oftheanswerchoices
inQuestion1contains
animportantgeneral
statementaboutGregor
Mendel?
2 Nowuseyouranswertocompletethegraphic
organizerbelow.Twoofthedetailshavebeen
providedforyou.
Main Idea:
Detail:
Detail:
In the mid1800s, Gregor
Mendel grew
pea plants in a
series of
experiments.
Mendel tracked
traits such as
the color of a
pea over many
generations of
plants.
Detail:
Detail:
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Readthisparagraph.
Whatmakesyouyou?Theanswerliesinyour
genes.Genesaretinystructuresthatexistinside
everycellinyourbody.Inmanyways,genesare
themostimportantpartofanyorganism.They
containvitalinstructionsthattelleachcellhow
todevelopandwhattodo.Genesalsocarrythe
traitspasseddownfromgenerationtogeneration.
Humanshaveapproximately20,000to25,000
genesinall.
3 Whatisthemainideaoftheparagraph?C
A Theanswerliesinyourgenes.
B Genesarethemostimportantpartofany
livingorganism.
C Genescarrytraitspasseddownthrough
generations.
D Humanshaveapproximately20,000to
25,000genes.
4 Nowlistdetailsthatsupportthemainidea.One
hasbeendoneforyou.
C
BuIlD A BRIDge
Youknowtheparagraph
isaboutgenes,butwhat
aboutthem?
Remember,detailsall
pointtothemainidea.
Whatideadoallthe
detailsintheparagraph
addupto?Underlinethe
detailsintheparagraph.
develop and what to do.
TX8©2009BuckleDown–OptionsPublishing.COPYINGISFORBIDDENBYLAW.
Genes contain instructions that tell cells how to
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PRACTICe
Nowreadthisparagraph.Asyouread,circlethemainideaandunderlinethedetails.
Onedetailhasbeenunderlinedforyou.
In1990,theUnitedStatesDepartmentofEnergyandtheNationalInstitutes
ofHealthmadehistorywhentheystartedtheHumanGenomeProject.The
project’sgoalwasmoreambitiousthananythingthathadeverbeendonein
thescienceofheredity:toidentifyall20,000to25,000humangenes.The
projectsuccessfullyconcludedin2003.TheHumanGenomeProjectwasone
ofthemostimportanteffortsinthehistoryofmodernscience.
5 Writeacompletesentencethatstatesthemainideaofthisparagraph.
6 Nowfillinthegraphicorganizerbelow.Oneofthedetailshasbeenincluded
foryou.
Main Idea:
TX8©2009BuckleDown–OptionsPublishing.COPYINGISFORBIDDENBYLAW.
Detail:
In 1990, the
U.S.
Department
of Energy and
the National
Institutes of
Health started
the Human
Genome
Project.
Detail:
Detail:
TheDoubleHelix
Ranchhasranchsites
throughoutTexas.The
companyspecializesin
studyingthegeneticsof
TexasLonghornCattle.
TheLonghornisknown
foritswidevarietyof
colorsanditsability
tohavemanyhealthy
babies.
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