Information Paragraphs

What are they? Information paragraphs do exactly that: they provide information to readers about one aspect of a person, place, event, activity or even a natural/scientific phenomenon. It can also be as simple as explaining how something works or giving even simple instructions on how to do something.

Pre-reading and planning The first step in writing an information paragraph is to  Gather the information – this means identifying the main ideas (reading and highlighting) of the text. Step two, is to make sense of the information.  Categorize the information into 3 to 4 simple groups.

For Example If the passage you read was about ‘’Basketball’ You could then categorize some of the information you found in the text into smaller groups like… 1) rules 2) training 3) well known players 4) equipment

Categories EACH category must include at least 3 pieces of supporting information about the topic. Once the categories are filled, you then….  Order the information in each category (1-3 in order of importance) For example under the heading – Basketball rules: 1)5 players on court at time 2)If you stop, you must pass or shoot 3)Must dribble the ball

Planning and Writing Once the information is organized, the next step is to create a topic sentence to introduce what you will be writing about. Topic sentence example: “The sport of basketball is one that requires a lot of training, motivation and some equipment. With some awareness of the rules, anybody can become successful. ”

Writing it out Using the categories of information you collected in steps 1 and 2 and using transition words/phrases you then select the important points from each category and connect the information within a paragraph. Once again, you are focusing on improving the flow in your writing and it must make sense!

Example “The sport of basketball involves 5 players being on the court at a time. (rules) Players score points by shooting the ball through the basketball hoop at their teams end of the court. (equipment). Lebron James, is a well known basketball player who finds many ways to score points (player) which he accomplishes through hard work and effective training”. (training)

To conclude Your conclusion MUST sum up in general terms what the topic of your information paragraph was about. We usually do this be restating/rewording our topic sentence in a different way.

Things to check: A few golden rules for this format of writing: 1)Have you used the right transition and does it flow smoothly? 2)Have you used the correct grammar, spelling, punctuation? 3)Have you given your work a title?