The topic is the general subject of a paragraph or essay. Topics are simple and are described with just a word or a phrase. The main idea is a complete sentence; it includes the topic and what the author wants to say about it.
When finding the Topic, generally it’s the Title of what you are reading. So, if you are reading about bees the topic is bees. A main idea would be the “big idea” of the passage or text you read. So If you have a question like “what is the main idea of paragraph three the you summarize what that one paragraph was about.
