All About Paragraph Writing
What makes a good paragraph?
A good paragraph follows all of the requirements for paragraph writing. It involves learning about the topic sentence, supporting detail sentences, transitions, and closing sentence. Once you get used to the formula of what makes a good paragraph, you can organize your ideas better into a group of sentences that flow perfectly from one idea to the next.
- Topic sentence
- Supporting details
- Transitions
- Closing sentence
What is a topic sentence?
A topic sentence begins a paragraph and gives a preview of what the paragraph will mainly support. It shouldn’t be too broad or too specific.
When the topic sentence is too broad, it’s unlikely that the topic sentence will be fully explained in one body paragraph. If it’s too narrow, then your discussion can be limited.
You should always be mindful that your body paragraphs should support your thesis statement, which means that your topic sentence should definitely connect back to the thesis.
How many supporting details do I need in a paragraph?
Many students want to know how many supporting details are needed in a body paragraph. The answer is clear: as many as needed to fully support your topic sentence. Of course you will need to fulfill the requirements set by your teacher, but in this case, quantity does not equate to quality.
Usually, paragraphs can be seen in 5-8 sentences, but it could contain less or more depending on the prompt at hand. Some assignments will require less details while some will simply require more.
What are the most common mistakes in paragraph writing?
- No clear topic sentence.
- Complicated topic sentence.
- Supporting details are off-topic.
- Not sufficient details.
- Too much repetition
- Poor flow or no transitions.
- No sense of closure.
What is a closing sentence and how can I write a good one?
A closing sentence is the last sentence of your body paragraph. It wraps up the main idea and gives a sense of completion for the readers.
To write a good closing sentence, you must go back to your topic sentence. You need to restate the main idea, but that doesn’t mean to copy and paste the topic sentence.
You need to paraphrase it, but because you’ve spent the entire paragraph discussing the topic sentence, your closing sentence should be a deeper analysis than your topic sentence.
Free downloadable resources for educational purposes only:
Paragraph writing
Use the worksheet below to help students who are learning the structures of a basic body paragraph for the first time.
The worksheet below is a basic paragraph organizer with easy transitional words and phrases, created by Janet Parody, a teacher and faculty at Landmark Outreach. Allow students to use the checklist at the end!
Click on the link to find more resources: https://www.landmarkoutreach.org/strategies/process-writing/
The worksheet below can be found in: https://teacherspondering.wordpress.com/
This packet can train students write organized, detailed, and interesting paragraphs.
This is a perfect worksheet to help students transform an acceptable, but boring paragraph into one that is improved! tremendously.
Allow students to make the examples better, and share their best revisions to each other. Students will be surprised to see how the same paragraph changed to each student’s writing style.
Free downloadable resources for educational purposes only:
Topic sentence and concluding sentence writing
Visit the online writing center at: Thompson Rivers University
Use the worksheet by Jessica Payette to read tips and examples for topic sentences and closing sentences. The formulas outlined by Jessica Payette should help students learn about how to make topic and concluding sentences work towards creating effective flow of the essay.
Students should read this reference sheet to gain more knowledge about what makes a good topic and concluding sentence.
The worksheet below is included in the Headway Plus Pre-intermediate Writing Guide.
This is a great worksheet for elementary students preparing to write intermediate level paragraphs.
Refer to the link above for a more detailed practice on writing paragraphs logically.