Make sure your writers have the buns and the meat in their paragraph burgers with paragraph exercises. The resource gradually leads up to individuals writing their own paragraphs, starting with identification exercises, moving on to a...

Organization can take a paragraph from mundane to first-rate. Try out a graphic organizer for an accordion-style paragraph, which includes a topic sentence, three reasons with details and transitions, three explanations, and a concluding...

Eight graphic organizers to choose from? That's right! Each of these organizers relates to writing or reading. From narrowing a writing topic, to responding to literature, to planning a writing project, you'll find many purposes for...

Help your young writers produce high-quality topic and thesis statements that go beyond basic wording and really illustrate complex ideas and critical thinking skills. From however and compound sentence statements to using rhetorical...

Key parts of an introductory paragraph (grabber sentence, connecting information, thesis) are highlighted in a presentation that uses color-coded sample paragraphs to illustrate how these parts combine to form a complete opening paragraph.

A great look at topic sentences is presented here. First, the function of a topic sentence is explained and common errors are listed. Then, you will walk your class through the five example topic sentences to discuss their quality. 

Teach emerging writers how to master the topic sentence, supporting details, and concrete details. A list of transition words is also included. Several practice opportunities are listed here, presenting certain topic sentences (for...

Provide your essay writers with a diagram of the expository essay. The graphic models how the introductory paragraph begins with a hook, gradually becomes more specific, and leads to the thesis statement. Each body paragraph begins with...

Students write a topic sentence to a paragraph and explain that it introduces the main idea. After a whole-class demonstration, students write a complete paragraph with their topic sentence and supporting sentences. There are some...

Does your class need practice identifying the topic sentence of a paragraph, eliminating erroneous sentences, and finding transitional words? This two-page activity gives kids six short paragraphs to work with in the first activity....

Emergent writers are asked to distinguish between topic sentences and supporting details. Presented with pairs of sentences, learners label one the topic sentence and the other a supporting detail.

The value in this PowerPoint about the five-paragraph expository essay comes from the clear explanations and specific examples provided to illustrate each aspect; however, a complete, model essay is not included. Beware the typos!

Distinguishing between topic sentences and supporting details is the challenge presented here. Learners examine pairs of sentences and label one the topic sentence and the other a supporting detail sentence. The exercise could be used as...

In this grammar worksheet, learners identify: topic sentences, simple predicate, simple subjects, and combined multiple sentences. They answer fifteen multiple choice questions.

Whether introducing the structure of expository essays or reviewing the format with your high schoolers, take the time to check out this resource. Examples of seven common forms of introductory paragraphs and six types of conclusions, as...

Need to review the five-paragraph format with your high schoolers? Although the presentation does not include a complete essay as a model, the concise definitions and explanations would serve as a good review before learners are assigned...

The seven slides in this presentation provide a quick review of the format for the traditional five-paragraph essay. Although no models are included, the sample worksheet could be reproduced for your pupils' notebooks.

To describe the ecological and aesthetic importance of the Potomac River, Middle schoolers name the ways in which the river's values are jeopardized and explain the purpose of Earth Day. They write a response to a newspaper article in a...

Practice the strategy of summarizing to gain meaning and knowledge from an informational text. Young readers highlight supporting details and main ideas, and then they use this to summarize two articles: "The Great Quake" and "What is an...

Use a traffic light to model a very basic paragraph plan. The Go, or topic sentence, is written in green and expresses an opinion about the topic. Information that supports the opinion of the Go sentence is written in yellow and the...

Learn how to summarize by identifying main ideas and supporting details. Readers cross out unimportant information as they read through a text. Is it a random detail? Cross it out! They then draw a concept map, placing the main idea in...

Discuss the reading comprehension strategy of summarization with your elementary schoolers! They read a chapter from their social studies textbook, Regions Near and Far, and create a map, or word web, for the chapter. They identify...

Need a recipe for a paragraph? Young writers cook up the opening paragraph for a speech on food preparation. They prepare by reading the directions and cutting out the provided sentence strips. Then, they mix up the strips and paste the...

Review the components of a well-written paragraph with your class. Be sure your writers include a topic sentence supported with main ideas and followed by a conclusion. Unity, coherence, and transition words are emphasized. Experiment...