if you're studying for the atit's reading exam it's important that you know key ideas and details that will be covered on the exam this video will outline some of the most important things that you need to know in order to be successful on the exam we'll discuss topics such as main idea and supporting details inferences and interpretations as well as literary devices after this video you should have a pretty good understanding of what to expect on the atit's reading exam and how to prepare for it let's get started so now let's take a closer look at the objectives for key ideas and details so the total scored items for this particular section of the test is going to be 15 questions out of the total 39 for reading so just to summarize you're going to have multiple paragraph details making inferences and drawing conclusions demonstrating comprehension of written directions locating specific information in a passage analyze and interpret charts and graphs as well as interpreting events in a sequence let's break down each one of these of what they're going to look like on your test so we're going to begin by breaking down summarizing multiple paragraph details one of the first things you need to know is how to identify a topic so the topic of a paragraph can usually be found at the beginning of a passage or paragraph usually somewhere within the introduction in some cases the topic may be stated explicitly while in other cases it's more likely to be applied when you're trying to identify the topic of a paragraph ask yourself what is the paragraph mostly about for example if a paragraph is mostly about animals that live in a rainforest the topic of the paragraph is probably related to rain forest animals if a paragraph is mostly about the effects of global warming the topics of the paragraph is most likely global warming examples of topics in nursing textbooks could be things like body systems vital signs as well as palliative care so be on the lookout for those things as well so another sub topic underneath summarizing multiple paragraph details is main idea and supporting details now hang out with me this one's going to be a little bit of a longer one so the main idea of a paragraph can be identified by finding the topic sentence which is usually the first sentence in a paragraph the main idea is the overall point that the author is trying to make in that paragraph what is the author's claim message or thesis all the other sentences in the paragraph support and develop that main idea so to find the main idea of a paragraph you have to ask yourself these questions what is the author talking about in this paragraph what is the overall point that the author is trying to make what are the supporting details in the paragraph so for example if the topic is vital signs collection the main idea could be how to measure temperature or the importance of obtaining accurate blood pressures got it so let's move on to supporting details supporting details can be found by looking for clues including examples reasons consequences purpose or results these details help explain develop and support the main idea so for example if the topic sentence is temperature can be measured in a number of ways the supporting details might explain how the temperature is measured with either the use of a thermometer how to take an oral temperature maybe how to take a rectal temperature right so after kind of getting a breakdown of what these are you might still be asking yourself what's the difference between a topic and the main idea well the topic of the paragraph is the main idea so for example it's noise pollution the main idea is the overall point that the author is trying to make maybe they're discussing ways to reduce noise pollution and then the supporting details help explain develop and support that main idea so for example the author might talk about wearing earplugs lowering volume on technology as well as shutting the door when there's noisy machinery outside hopefully that helps kind of clear up those differences in between topic main idea and supporting details so let's take a look at identifying key points so the key points in a paragraph are the most important pieces of information that the author is trying to communicate key points support details with evidence such as facts and descriptions to find the key points again ask yourself what is the most important idea of this paragraph what information do i need to remember what details support the main idea so for example if the topic sentence is vital signs are important indicators of a patient's health the key points might be that the vital signs you need would be temperature pulse respiratory rate and blood pressure or that vital signs can help identify changes in the patient's condition so again a little bit confusing what's the difference between key points and supporting details well key points are the most important ideas of a paragraph while supporting details help explain and develop those ideas let's take a closer look at explaining supporting details of the main idea the supporting details in a paragraph like i've said before help explain develop and support the main idea what you're going to need to know for the atit's version 7 is how to identify what supporting details support that main idea and which details in the passage truly are irrelevant so when it comes to irrelevant details in a passage these can include things that are clearly not related to the main idea are only marginally related or information that is interesting but ultimately not useful in understanding the main idea if you come across a detail that just doesn't seem to fit ask yourself whether that detail is truly relevant or not for example an irrelevant detail in a paragraph about global warming might be a description of whether on that particular day this information might be interesting but does it actually help explain or develop the main idea of the paragraph which is the effects of global warming not really examples of relevant supporting details about global warming might be the increase in the average global temperatures the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps as well as the rise in sea levels now let's take a closer look at the last sub-topic underneath summarizing multiple paragraph and details and that is paraphrasing key points in a multiple paragraph passage so in a multiple paragraph passage the key points can often be summarized in each paragraph with supporting details it's important to identify what the most important key points are in relation to the topic this is a good opportunity to practice paraphrasing which is the ability to express that same information but in a different way using different words so for example if the key points in a passage about the american revolution are that we fought to gain independence from britain and that it resulted in the formation of the united states of america you might paraphrase these key points as follows the american revolution was a conflict between the american colonies and great britain that resulted in america's independence the war led to the formation of the united states of america as a sovereign nation practice paraphrasing key points in order to improve the reading comprehension as well as test taking skills for the atit's version 7. so now we're going to move on to our next topic and that is making inferences and drawing conclusions and as you guessed it that's the first thing that we're going to talk about so an inference is an educated guess or assumption based on evidence of a topic in a text this can be referred to as reading between the lines for example if you read that john didn't come to school today because he was sick you can infer that john is probably still at home a conclusion is a statement reached after considering all of the evidence it takes the evidence found in a text and considers the next logical step based on the details so for example if you read john didn't come to school today because he was sick you can conclude that john will probably not be at today's school's football game because he's sick you will also need to be able to identify the differences between explicit and implicit evidence so when it comes to explicit evidence this is information that is stated directly in the text there is no confusion regarding what that text means so for example if you read that the doctor diagnosed john with the flu the evidence is explicit there is no room left for interpretation with implicit evidence the information is implied or suggested in the text but not directly stated this type of evidence requires you to make an inference in order to understand what the text is actually trying to say so for example if you read that john didn't come to school today the evidence is implicit because it's not directly stated whether john was sick or john had a family emergency or something else might have been happening with john and our last sub-topic underneath making inferences as well as drawing conclusions is drawing logical conclusions so once you have considered the evidence that's within the text you can draw logical conclusions based on what was stated so if you read that john didn't come to school today because he was sick you could logically conclude that john is probably at home you can also logically conclude that john will probably not be playing in the school's upcoming football game because he's sick so the next topic we're going to look at is demonstrating comprehension of written directions and we are going to take a closer look at identifying words phrases that signify order and relationships procedural texts are instructions that tell you how to do something typically through a sequence of steps they often include words and phrases such as first next then after that and finally these words and phrases signify the order in which you are to perform steps so for example if you read a recipe that says first preheat the oven you know that you should preheat the oven before you do anything else in that recipe next put the chicken in the pan you know that you should put the chicken in the pan after you preheat the oven other words and phrases that signify order and relationship can include before after during while and since these words and phrases can help you understand the order of events that are happening within a text so the next step topic you're going to need to now is identifying priorities and a set of directions directions are often provided in list formats either through bulleted or numbered priority when you are given a set of directions it is important to identify their priorities by using signal words this will help you understand what is most important to do and what can be done in any order for example if you are given the following set of directions first take out the garbage next do your homework then take a shower and finally eat dinner the priorities are first take out the garbage and next do your homework these are the most important things to do and should be done in that order the other two tasks really can be done in any order you may also come across instructions that are not using signal words to signify priority in these cases you will need to use your best judgment to determine what is important so for example if you were given the following set of instructions with no signal words they are make your bed brush your teeth eat breakfast no sigma words right in this case you have to use your best judgment to decide what the priorities are one possible order could be to brush your teeth eat breakfast make your bed another possibility could be eat breakfast brush your teeth make your bed remember the goal is to demonstrate your comprehension of written directions not to follow a set of instructions perfectly let's identify missing information and contraindications in an ideal scenario you will be provided a list of directions that include all the performing tasks that are consistent as well as logical sometimes however you're given a set of instructions that might be missing information or maybe you're unfamiliar with the procedure altogether this missing information is either going to be implied or stated explicitly in the text sometimes directions can't be contradictory without missing information these directions can include signal words like either or or options so for example the directions may say put either the chicken or the beef in the pan in this case you're only putting one or the other into the pan not both if there are no signal words you're going to have to use your best judgment to determine what can be done simultaneously and what needs to be done in a specific order so for example the directions may say put the chicken in the pan and turn on the oven in this case you would put the chicken in the pan and turn the oven on at the exact same time however the directions may say put the chicken in the pan and then turn on the oven in this case you would put the chicken in the pan and then turn on the oven after you had put the chicken in the pan it's really important to never assume steps are optional unless the text explicitly states that that specific step is an option moving on to that next main objective is locating specific information in the passage and we're going to take a closer look at finding relevant information to solve a problem so when you are trying to find specific information in a text there are a few steps that you can take to help locate the information quickly as well as efficiently first you should re-read the question or problem to make sure that you understand what information the question is looking for so ask yourself what problem am i trying to solve or what decision am i attempting to make then scan the text for keywords that are related to the information that you were looking for once you have found the keywords read the sentences around those keywords to find information that you're looking for if you're still having trouble finding that information at that point i would try reading the passage in its entirety you will also need to ask yourself questions to determine what missing information is missing right so it's important to read the passage and understand what information you are needing in order to complete that passage if you're still having trouble finding that information try asking yourself some questions about what it is that you're looking for for example if you're looking for information about how long it'll take to complete a task you can ask yourself how much time is needed and what is the time frame for me to complete these tests if you're looking for specific number then you can ask yourself how many how many of whatever it is that i'm looking for right asking yourself questions like who what when where and how can help determine what information is missing in order for you to complete the passage one of my favorite things on the atit's test is using textual features to navigate information because it's so easy so textual features are the different ways an author organizes information in the text these features can help you locate specific information quickly as well as efficiently examples include glossaries indexes table of contents headings subheadings sidebars footnotes as well as legends so let's take a closer look at each one of these so glossaries indexes and table of contents in longer passages you can identify relevant information using those particular textual features to help you locate specific information that you need to find glossaries are an alphabetical list of terms and their definitions these resources tend to be located in the back of the book table of contexts as well as indexes are a list of topic and page numbers where the topics are located the table of contents is usually located in the front of the book while the indexes are located in the back of the book headings are titles of each section and a passage they are usually big and bold your sub headings are located within sections and help you identify relevant information headings and subheadings break up text and organize it by the main idea and topic this feature allows you to skim through the passage and go directly to the information that you need so for example the heading may be the history of the american revolution and the subheading may be the causes of the american revolution lastly we got sidebars footnotes and legends so sidebars are boxes of texts that are located on the side of the main text and are often used in like history textbooks they usually provide additional information that is related to that main text underline boldface and italicized text features can help you identify relevant information however can be confusing at times since these features can be used in a variety of ways you may need to ask yourself if these features are highlighting a title quotation new topic or organizing information in some way footnotes are small pieces of text located at the bottom of the page and provide more in-depth details about a topic footnotes typically include numbers and some kind of superscript and then lastly legends legends are small pictures or symbols that are located next to a table or a graph these help explain what the table and graph is about and it helps reduce the clutter typically you will see legends on map interpretations another main objective is analyzing and interpreting charts and graphs and we're going to take a closer look at locating information in a graph to help solve a problem so when you're looking at a graph it's important to note that there is a title labels on both the y as well as the x-axis and any other relevant information this will help you understand what the graph is trying to show after understanding what the graph is about you can begin by looking at specific information so let's say you're looking at a graph about the numbers of hours of sleep people get every night the title of the graph is sleep habits of americans the x-axis is labeled number of hours of sleep and the y-axis is labeled percentage of people from this graph you can determine that the average american sleeps around seven hours each night you can also see that a majority of people sleep between six to eight hours each night now that we have a better understanding of what a map represents we can look at interpreting graphic representations of ideas to help solve problems so identifying features and information and graphic representations can help solve problems if you're able to identify and interpret that information common elements of a map include the title legend and scale the title of the map will tell you what that map is representing the legend will explain what the symbols on the map represent and the scale will tell you the relationship between the distance on the map and the actual distance so for example a map of your town may have the title downtown map of any town usa the legend may have symbols that represent different businesses such as restaurants grocery stores or banks and the scale might say one inch is equal to one mile this information can help you solve a problem because you are able to identify where certain businesses are located and how far away these particular businesses are from each other diagrams are another graphic representation that carries in their design their purpose that contains titles subheadings summaries descriptions images representing ideas content vocabulary and steps in a process let's take a closer look at biased or misleading information and graphics it is important to be aware that some information in a graphic may be biased or misleading the creator of the graphic may have included only certain information to support their own ideas and beliefs they may also have left out information that is important but does not support their views it is important to be critical of the information that you see in a graphic and to look for other resources that confirm or deny the information that you originally saw so for example let's say you see a graphic that shows the number of people who support gun control in the united states the graph only shows data from one source it does not include data from other sources this would be an example of a biased or misleading graphic authors may actually try to use graphics to help strengthen arguments as well so graphics can be used to support arguments by providing visual evidence so for example if you're writing a paper about the number of people who support gun control within the united states you can include a graph that shows that data including a graphic in your argument can make it more persuasive because it provides visual evidence to support your claim using this tool can provide your audience with a sense of logic emotion and or morality in that particular graphic so the last main objective we're going to be looking at is interpreting events in a sequence and we're going to begin by identifying and evaluating phrases that indicate a sequence of events when you're trying to understand a sequence of events it can be helpful to look for phrases that indicate the order of the event these phrases are called signal phrases we spoke about that a little bit earlier on in this video signal phrases can be found in different written and spoken languages for example the phrase first indicates that the event you are about to hear or read has happened before any other event that you're going to read after that other signal phrases can include second next then and finally it's important to be able to identify those signal phrases so that you can understand the sequence of events that you're reading in the passage next we're going to identify languages that provide cohesion and ordering events in addition to signal phrases there is also language that can provide cohesion and ordering events this type of language includes words and phrases such as in addition moreover furthermore and however one of my favorites the type of language can help you connect the events in a sequence for example if you hear the signal phrase first followed by the cohesive phrase in addition you know that the event you're about to hear about happen at the same time as the first event cohesion adverbs can include when how often and length of time when cohesion words can include things like today tomorrow now last month how often cohesion words can include always occasionally and seldom and length of time cohesion words can include all month all season and all week you can also draw conclusions based on a series of events once you have identified signal and cohesion phrases you can start to draw conclusions about the events in a sequence so for example if you hear the signal phrase first followed by the cohesive phrase in addition you know that the event that you're about to hear about happened at the same time as the first event you can also use signal and cohesion phrases to make predictions about the future so if you hear the signal phrase next followed by the cohesive phrase moreover you can predict that the event that you're about to hear about happened after the event that was just mentioned and lastly signal and cohesion phrases can also be used to compare and contrast events so for example if you hear the signal phrase however you know that the event that you're about to hear about is different from the event that was just mentioned and the last sub-topic that we're going to talk about is identifying gaps in a sequence of events there are many times when you come across a sequence of events that has a gap a gap is an event that is missing from the sequence so for example if you're reading a story and the protagonist goes to bed but there's no mention of what happened when he wakes up there's a gap of that sequence of events in order to fill in those gaps you will need to use your knowledge of the world and your own experiences so for example if you know that people generally wake up in the morning and brush their teeth you can assume that this is what's going to happen next in the story you can also use your prior knowledge to make predictions about future events so for example if you know that people generally eat breakfast when they wake up you can predict that this is what will happen in the story if you come across a sequence of events that has a gap you can use your knowledge of the of the world as well as your own experiences to fill in that missing information and that is the end of the first section of the atit's reading portion key ideas and details i hope that this video is helpful in understanding these concepts that's going to be on your test if you have any questions make sure that you leave them down below i love answering your questions make sure you head over to www.nursechon.com where there's additional resources to help you break down those concepts and answer those questions effectively and efficiently until next time i hope you're having a wonderful day and i will see you all again soon bye