Tutor profile: Hannah H.

Identify the main idea of the paragraph below. Winnie the Golden Retriever loved to take naps in the sunshine. Each day when the sun streamed through the window on her eighth-floor apartment, she stretched out as far as she could and basked in the warmth. She loved the way the sun felt on her fur and made her feel like she was sunbathing on a tropical beach. Even when the sun was so bright that she had to squint her eyes, Winnie loved the sunshine.

The main idea of the paragraph is that Winnie loves laying in the sun. The paragraph begins and ends with this idea, and the body of the paragraph explains why she likes the sunshine. Each paragraph of a piece of writing should have a central theme or idea. This enables the reader to follow the writing more easily and understand what the author is trying to convey.

What are three different methods to memorize a set of information?

1. Create flashcards and either quiz yourself or have a friend or relative quiz you. 2. Write out the information by hand multiple times. 3. Create a pneumonic device to help you remember the information. (For example, "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" is a common pneumonic device to remember the correct order of operations in a math expression: Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract). Different memory tricks are effective for different people. It's best to try out a number of different methods to determine what works best for you.

Correct the sentence below to make it grammatically correct: Each of the three boys ate their cereal for breakfast.

Correct answer: Each of the three boys ate his cereal for breakfast. Explanation: The original sentence does not have correct subject/verb agreement. When the subject of a sentence is "each," the verb must agree with a singular subject.