1. The Five-Sentence Paragraph
A Framework for
Paragraph Writing

2. Your teacher gives you a prompt. “Write about your favorite pet.”
What do you do???
Don’t panic.
Follow this plan…
(Watch for the color-coding, it will help you organize your ideas.)

3. You ONLY Need Three Ideas!
What is your main idea or topic?
(repeat key words from the prompt)
What are three reasons that “show” your topic sentence is true? (Be sure to “show” not “tell”.)
That’s all you need for a great paragraph!!!

4. Use Correct Paragraph Form
A paragraph includes:
Topic Sentence
Three “Showing” Examples
Conclusion
No paragraph should be less
than five sentences.

5. Five-Sentence Paragraph
Introduction or Topic Sentence (Uses key words from the prompt)
First Subtopic (A “Showing” Example)
Second Subtopic (A “Showing” Example)
Third Sentence (A “Showing” Example)
Conclusion (Restates Introduction)

6. Introduction or Topic Sentence (Your First Sentence)
Start with a topic sentence that uses the key words from the prompt.
“Write about your favorite pet.”
My favorite pet is my dog, Romeo.

7. Three Examples
Then write three reasons for the topic sentence being true:
He is beautiful and easy to care for.Playing with him is lots of fun. He always takes care of me.

8. Now end your paragraph with a conclusion:
Remember, each paragraph must have a concluding sentence. Finish with a sentence that restates your topic sentence using different words.
Romeo is the best pet anyone could ever have.

9. The Completed Paragraph
My favorite pet is my dog, Romeo. He is beautiful and easy to care for. Playing with him is lots of fun. He always takes care of me. Romeo is the best pet anyone could ever have.

10. There you have it. It’s easy to write a paragraph
There you have it! It’s easy to write a paragraph. All you need is a topic, three ideas, and a conclusion!