There are magic words that signal to the student it is time to write: “You’re about to write a paragraph.” When students hear these words, they should take out a sheet of notebook paper and do the following immediately.
· Put your name and date at the top right hand corner of the paper.
· Put “Prewrite” on the top line in the middle.
· Write “One Main Idea:” on the first line of your paper with the number 1 below it.
· Make a cluster in the middle of your paper, put your pencil down and wait for the topic.
Writing a paragraph is easy. All you need to do is develop one main idea. Next, you need to write that main idea which is called your topic sentence. Then you will write five to seven sentences that support that main idea. Finally, you need to have a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the paragraph.
Before you finish, be sure that your paragraph is indented, you have good spelling, and you have proper punctuation. If you follow these simple steps, you will have no problem writing a paragraph.
· The Topic Sentence: “What is a paragraph about?” Answer: One Main Idea. "What sentence tells the One Main Idea?" Answer: The Topic Sentence. Have the students point to the one main idea on their prewriting. Point out that we have already written the one main idea. Would this make a good topic sentence? Absolutely! Thus, we’ve already written the first sentence of our paragraph.
· Supporting Details: Write a sentence for each of the items in the cluster. Items are numbered. What is great about this system is that the students are now able to focus on how to phrase their sentences rather that what to say in their sentences. Vary sentence patterns for increased readability.
· Closing Sentence: Think of the closing sentence as the bow on the package. Whenever a gift is wrapped, the bow adds that nice final touch. The closing sentence does this for the paragraph. The closing sentence can serve three purposes. First, it can summarize the one main idea. Since you’ve already written the one main idea, you can simply restate it at the end such as “If you know these simple steps, you will have no problem writing a paragraph.” Second, it can give final thoughts or opinions about the topic. An example would be“Following these steps is a good way to keep your writing organized.” Finally, it can serve as a transition to the next paragraph’s main idea. If your next paragraph is about how to write an essay, your closing sentence could be “You can follow these simple steps to master many other types of writing.”
· Put your name and date at the top right hand corner of the paper.
· Put “Prewrite” on the top line in the middle.
· Write “One Main Idea:” on the first line of your paper with the number 1 below it.
· Make a cluster in the middle of your paper, put your pencil down and wait for the topic.
Writing a paragraph is easy. All you need to do is develop one main idea. Next, you need to write that main idea which is called your topic sentence. Then you will write five to seven sentences that support that main idea. Finally, you need to have a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the paragraph.
Before you finish, be sure that your paragraph is indented, you have good spelling, and you have proper punctuation. If you follow these simple steps, you will have no problem writing a paragraph.
· The Topic Sentence: “What is a paragraph about?” Answer: One Main Idea. "What sentence tells the One Main Idea?" Answer: The Topic Sentence. Have the students point to the one main idea on their prewriting. Point out that we have already written the one main idea. Would this make a good topic sentence? Absolutely! Thus, we’ve already written the first sentence of our paragraph.
· Supporting Details: Write a sentence for each of the items in the cluster. Items are numbered. What is great about this system is that the students are now able to focus on how to phrase their sentences rather that what to say in their sentences. Vary sentence patterns for increased readability.
· Closing Sentence: Think of the closing sentence as the bow on the package. Whenever a gift is wrapped, the bow adds that nice final touch. The closing sentence does this for the paragraph. The closing sentence can serve three purposes. First, it can summarize the one main idea. Since you’ve already written the one main idea, you can simply restate it at the end such as “If you know these simple steps, you will have no problem writing a paragraph.” Second, it can give final thoughts or opinions about the topic. An example would be“Following these steps is a good way to keep your writing organized.” Finally, it can serve as a transition to the next paragraph’s main idea. If your next paragraph is about how to write an essay, your closing sentence could be “You can follow these simple steps to master many other types of writing.”