Odegaard Writing & Research Center
Strong Body Paragraphs
Here's a handy, seven-step guide to crafting good paragraphs in support of a claim. The steps are clearly explained and examples provided.
EngageNY
Determining Main Ideas and Details to Write a Summary Paragraph: “Food”
Let's eat! Scholars read pages 24-25 of The Inuit Thought of It to discover the foods eaten by the Inuit. They sketch a visual gist of the section in their journals and write a summary paragraph about the text.
CC Homestead
Summarize
Designed for third graders but appropriate for older learners as well, this packet of materials underscores the necessity of teaching kids how to summarize, how to identify main ideas and supporting details, and how to ask questions...
Curated OER
Basic Paragraph
Explore basic paragraphs. Young writers compose a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. This lesson plan is intended for use with a SMART Board, a software technology web link is induced.
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Literature Review Paragraph
Tenth graders review the structural elements of a literary paragraph and organizational paragraph formats. They author a paragraph examining and reviewing a piece of literature currently being read in class. Students peer-review the...
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Paragraph Unity
Your class can construct a well-written paragraph. They utilize a sequential method which assists them in formulating a concise expository piece. The paragraph must contain a topic sentence, five supporting sentences, and a conclusion.
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Analyzing Text Structure: “Water Is Life” Paragraphs
Water, water everywhere. Readers revisit paragraphs six through nine in the article "Water is Life" to answer text-dependent questions. They then pair up to reread the article focusing on its structure and record their thoughts on...
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High School Literary Paragraph Development
You can cover literary elements, writing organization, and proofreading skills in this SMART board lesson plan. Using student paragraphs from a previous assignment, the class reviews the best examples of writing. A SMART board activity...
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The TASP 5 Paragraph "Persuasive" Essay
Though this presentation is designed for the Texas Academic Skills Program's (TASP) writing assessment, it could work for any class that is preparing to write a five-paragraph persuasive essay. Slides take intermediate writers through...
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Topic Sentence
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...
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Learning Paragraph Structure Through Design
Learners examine paragraph structure, the writing process, and then design a model for the process. In this writing skills lesson, students explore paragraphs using the SmartBoard. Learners create a class T-chart about paragraph...
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Recognizing the Main Idea
Understanding that paragraphs have a main idea expressed in a topic sentence, followed by supporting details in the subsequent sentences is the focus of this presentation. Students practice by reading short paragraphs in 10 slides, and...
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Vocabulary and Concept Development #2: struct and tract
Focus on the Latin roots struct and tract with this PowerPoint, boasting plenty of practice opportunities. To help develop a definition of each root, viewers match a list of words to their pictures. Then, they compare those words to a...
Curated OER
Paragraph Development Exercise: Contrast
After reading an example, writers compose a paragraph that focuses on contrasting ideas. The resource starts out with some information about topic ideas and functional ideas, but there could be more explanation. Use this as a warm-up...
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Climactic or Emphatic Order
Exercise paragraph writing by focusing on the impact of each statement or idea. For this organizational pattern, writers compose their paragraphs by increasing the force of each idea so that the most important idea is the concluding...
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Problem to Answer
Paragraphs need structure, and here is one possibility! Ask writers to begin their paragraph with a problem, explore several possibilities in the middle of the paragraph, and end the paragraph with the solution. A sample paragraph is...
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Cause to Effect
Focus on logical paragraph writing and ask your class to write cause and effect paragraphs. To get started, learners read information about the format as well as an example. While there is some basic information about how to structure...
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Simple to Complex
Looking for an organizational writing pattern to teach your class? Consider showing them how to structure a paragraph using the complexity of ideas as a guide. Provide the example included here to give them an idea of what is expected.
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Familiar to Unfamiliar
Demonstrate how to draw in readers by starting a paragraph with a familiar topic, and then moving into the more complex ideas after they are already engaged. Writers can read over the example, which is a bit abstract and might need...
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Specific to General
Details, details, details. That's what comes first in this style of paragraph. Writers think of supporting details, list them, and then compose a general statement that encompasses all of the details. A fairly basic resource, use this to...
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Chronological Order
People use time to organize their days and structure their lives. Why not use it to structure a paragraph? Chronological order is logical and fairly straightforward. Ask class members to first read the provided example and then write...
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Analogy
Apply analogy to paragraph writing. After reviewing what an analogy is and how it can be used, show your class the example. Writers can use the sample as a model as they compose their own paragraph that explains an idea through an analogy.
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Paragraph Development Exercise: Illustrating the Idea
How can young writers make their writing engaging? They might paint a picture for the reader through specific examples or illustrations. A sample paragraph is provided here. Class members can use this as a model as they compose a...
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The 5 Paragraph "Persuasive" Essay
If you're not a fan of the animated noises, simply turn your speakers off before this PowerPoint. Located here is a very simple introduction to writing a five-paragraph essay, and very little information details how to write a persuasive...