My assignment says to cite the main point and then create a signal phrase. do i actually create a signal phrase or is a signal phrase found already in the article?

Both. you find the signal phrase in the text then create one

A signal phrase is a phrase, clause, or sentence which leads into a quotation or statistic. They include the speaker/author’s name and some justification for using him or her as an expert in this context. It also may help establish the context for the quotation.

Here's a couple of examples:

1. Patti Pena, mother of a child killed by a driver distracted by a cell phone, points out that "..."
(note that the "..." is where the quote or text from source goes)

2. In the words of researchers Redelmeier and Tibshirani, “…”

Therefore, you most likely will have to create parts of it, but some you can find right from the source.

hope this helps!