What Makes a Good Paragraph? Recipe for a Good Paragraph

1.Unity – A topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph. All sentences contain related information that supports the topic sentence. 2.Coherence – All sentences connect to one another smoothly and logically.

UNITY: What’s the big idea? You’ll know your paragraph has unity if all its sentences help explain the main idea. ***Your topic sentences will state your main idea or “big idea.”

MODEL 1.Read the student model. 2.Identify the topic sentence and label it with a “T”. 3.Identify the related information with a “R”.

Writing a Topic Sentence 1.Decide what your main point will be. 2.Write a sentence that states your main point and gives information about the subject. 3.Look for ways to make the topic sentence interesting.

Weak vs. Strong WEAK: I’m going to tell you about a James Armisted. –(doesn’t tell who he was or what the paragraph will say) STRONG: No one suspected that James Armisted was a spy. –(interests the reader and tells what the paragraph will be about.)

YOU TRY IT!! Rewrite these weak topic sentences. 1. It was a frightening experience 2. I’m going to write why I like school uniforms. 3. An accident on the highway. 4. I’m going to tell you about George Washington.

REVIEW What makes a good paragraph? What’s the job of a topic sentence? How can a paragraph have unity? AND NOW LET’S PRACTICE FINDING THOSE TOPIC SENTENCES!!!!