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Main Idea, Reasons, and Reflection

I’d like to stand up for video games. People complain that kids just stare for hours at a screen. No, that’s TV. Video games make kids use their brains and hands. Multiplayer games gather a whole group in one room or online. My life would be lonelier without Mario and Bowser and all the friends who race carts with me.

• Main Idea I’d like to stand up for video games.
• Reasons: People complain that kids just stare for hours at a screen. No, that’s TV. Video games make kids use their brains and hands. Multiplayer games gather a whole group in one room or online.
• Reflection My life would be lonelier without Mario and Bowser and all the friends who race carts with me.

Main Idea, Anecdote, and Reflection

Here’s a key to life: notice it. I trudged to school yesterday like every day, not noticing a thing. Then I thought, “Find something beautiful.” I looked up and saw a squirrel chewing a black walnut. On a nearby porch sat a present in blue paper. How about that tabby in the window? Beauty everywhere. . . . I just had to notice.