In the English language, the smallest building block used for writing is the letter. It is a graphical representation of a sound. When letters are grouped together, they form words. Words in turn can be grouped together to form a sentence. A sentence contains a complete thought or idea. When you group sentences together, a paragraph is formed, and paragraphs are the building blocks for almost all forms of writing: essays, books, letters, journals, newspapers, etc.

Fortunately, paragraphs are easy to write. All you need are a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a conclusion sentence. A topic sentence's job is to inform the reader what the paragraph is about. It should contain a subject and a focus. Supporting sentences merely expand upon the idea presented in the topic sentence. Generally, they add information and details. The conclusion sentence simply wraps up the paragraph neatly. It can end with the last event, a suggestion, a summary, etc.

In our classroom, we focus on 5 types of paragraphs:

* Descriptive - Describes something and appeals to the 5 senses
* Narrative - Retells a story or event
* Persuasive - Gives an opinion and tries to make people think differently
* Expository - Gives information or explains something
* Compare/Contrast - Tells how things are similar and different

Below is a recipe for making a great paragraph:

The Ingredients of a Great Paragraph

* A Great Paragraph Always Contains One Topic Sentence, At Least Five Supporting Sentences, and One Conclusion Sentence. 1-5-1

* A Great Paragraph Always Has a Topic Sentence That Contains a Subject and a Focus.

* A Great Paragraph Always Stays On The Topic

* A Great Paragraph Always Has Proper Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation, and Capitalization, and Indentation

* A Great Paragraph Never Repeats Ideas or Sentence Beginnings.

* Furthermore, When You Are Writing a Great Paragraph in Mr. D's Classroom, Be Sure To Underline Your Topic and Conclusion Sentences. Also, Be Sure to Circle the First Word of Each Sentence You Write.

When students begin writing paragraphs, I have them write them on a structured sheet. If you would like to print a paragraph sheet from your computer click here If you would like to download a PDF Version of the paragraph sheet, click here Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.

To get more information about the types of paragraphs we write and to see an example for each, click on one of the genres below.

Descriptive

Narrative

Persuasive

Expository

Compare/Contrast