His literary work has appeared in "The Southampton Review," "Feathertale," "Kalliope" and "The Rose and Thorn Journal. But, that is a whole other blog post. When teaching students about paragraphs, we talk about the hard and fast rules, such as indenting, having approximately 3-5 sentences, and the structure of it. Have each student write a one-paragraph biography about a family member. Your students will need to understand that all paragraphs need a topic sentence, supporting details and a closing sentence. Writing aside, analysis should be incorporated into your students' studies of paragraph construction. For example, a student could write about how her father is a great cook and then give a few examples of the meals he prepares and then finish by saying how much she and her family love eating the food he cooks. 2. Have each student choose one characteristic about this family member to state, support and conclude with a personal opinion. You can make the lessons engaging by tapping into individual topics they care about and incorporating cooperative activities. A question such as "How do I know this?" Furthermore, lessons in paragraph construction don't have to be dry and boring. Ideas to Teach Writing a Paragraph. For example, the prompt for a topic sentence can be "What is the point of my paragraph?" All content © Upper Elementary Snapshots • Template by Georgia Lou Studios • Blog Design by Chalk & Apples Design, Of course, some students require more practice and time than others, but I have found that this "burger method" works wonders for my students year after year! It has supporting sentences or relevant details. We have a whole class discussion about what makes a fantastic burger and the purpose of each component. Paragraphs need to have topic sentences. Paragraph Writing Lessons for Elementary. Here are the steps I took to teach paragraph writing. Have each student mark the topic sentence, supporting details and conclusions in the passages they read. ", Creative Writing Activities for Sixth Graders, How to Teach Note-Taking Skills in the Fifth & Sixth Grades, How to Teach Middle School Students to Write Research Papers, Busy Teachers Cafe: How to Write a Paragraph, How to Help a Third-Grader Learn to Write a Paragraph. Make Paragraph Writing Concrete Just like we use manipulatives in math, writing needs to be concrete too. When I first introduce paragraph writing, I begin with a burger. I like going on hikes with my brother and fishing with my dad. Character Traits: A Lesson for Upper Elementary Students, 5 Types of Context Clues to Boost Reading Comprehension, 9 Strategies You Should be Using to Teach Main Idea. It answers questions like why, how, or where. Pair up students and have them read each others' paragraphs. Furthermore, this is a good time to stress the importance of proofreading by having them check each others' work. 3. The weather is perfect for outside activities. Start with the basics. To teach them about the roles of these types of sentences, prompt your students with questions. Once my students have mastered putting together a great burger...I mean, paragraph...I move on to adding "toppings" to their burger to make it better (statistics, questions, interesting facts, dialogue, etc.). Another way to teach the components of a paragraph is to use the analogy of a traffic light. Once your students understand the elements that compose a strong paragraph, they will need context for practice. Furthermore, it will be much easier for them to analyze another student's work than their own because they won't be emotionally attached to the writing. Explain to your students that their topic sentence is like the green light, and means they should go ahead and state their idea directly. Finally, their conclusions are like red lights, and they need to stop. Writing strong paragraphs is all about organization, and teaching elementary students to organize their thoughts on paper might provide the most important lesson they ever learn about writing. Their supporting details are like the yellow light, in which they continue with their idea, but move more slowly, explaining with individual details. Christopher Cascio is a memoirist and holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and literature from Southampton Arts at Stony Brook Southampton, and a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in the rhetoric of fiction from Pennsylvania State University.