English Language ArtsLevel 7 #33

Today’s Objectives

• Paragraph Elements Review• The Topic Sentence• Writing the Well–Constructed

Paragraph• The Narrative Paragraph

Part 1 - Paragraph Defined

The Paragraph Defined: A paragraph is a series of sentences that comprise a single idea. Writing well constructed paragraphs is the corner-stone of good English writing.

Paragraph Defined

Paragraphs should contain sentences that convey ideas concisely and directly. This lesson focuses on helping you develop a strategy for combining various ideas into

Paragraph Defined

well formed sentences, which then combine to produce effective paragraphs.

The Topic Sentence

A topic sentence contains the main idea upon which a paragraph is developed. Often it appears at (or near) the beginning of a paragraph, introducing the main idea and suggesting the direction that

The Topic Sentence

the paragraph will take. Following the topic sentence are a number of supporting sentences that develop the main idea with specific details.

Topic Sentence

The topic sentence is the most important sentence in your paragraph. Carefully worded and restricted, it helps you generate and control your information.

The Topic Sentence

Place your topic sentence effectively within your paragraph. Let the purpose of your paragraph and the nature of your evidence guide you.

The Topic Sentence

Let your paragraph's evidence--the selected details, the examples--illustrate or clarify the idea expressed in your topic sentence.

Part 2

Writing a well-constructed paragraph.

Paragraph Elements

A good paragraph has an effective topic sentence that helps the reader grasp your main idea quickly. As you draft your paragraphs, pay close attention to the following three guidelines:

Paragraph Elements

1. Put your topic sentence first. 2. Make sure your supporting sentences stay on the topic.3. The concluding sentence should restate the main idea.

Writing the Paragraph

The following information is about Elvis Presley. Combine the information to make a logical paragraph.

(See Handout)

Elvis Presley Paragraph

Elvis Presley was an American.He was a singer and an actor.He was famous for rock-and-roll.He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.

He was born on January 8, 1935.

Elvis Presley Paragraph

He started singing in church.He taught himself to play the guitar.He first became popular on the local touring circuit for country-and-western music.He sang romantic songs.

Example Answer

Elvis Presley, a singer of romantic songs and an actor, was born in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. He started singing in church and taught himself to play the guitar.

Example Answer

He first became popular on the local touring circuit for country-and-western music but was famous for rock-and-roll. (See Example Answer Handout.)

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Part 3

What is a narrative?

A Narrative Paragraph…

-Tells a story.

-Has chronological order and sequence of

events.

-Has action.

-Has conflicts or problems.

What are the key words that show that these are narrative

prompts?

Tell about a time when you made a serious mistake.

Two little girls found a wallet on the sidewalk. Tell what happened next.

The Narrative Paragraph

http://youtu.be/i1VZwULQ9UE

7:56

Use this type of

web for a Narrative Paragraph

DETAILS

Introduction

Event

Event

Event Ending

The Narrative Paragraph

While it is true, a narrative is a story, there is more in the telling of the story. The narrative, or story, needs to make the reader feel involved, teach a lesson, help get an idea across, or feel emotionally about the topic.

The Narrative Paragraph

Although a narrative paragraph tells a story. Usually, the details in the paragraph should answer the 5 W’s:who? what? when? where? why? and the how? question.

The Narrative Paragraph

The narrative needs to explain who is in the story, tell what is happening, when it happened, why it happened, where it happened and sometimes “how” it happened.

The Narrative Paragraph

A good way to plan for a well developed narrative paragraph is to write out a topic sentence. After that, write events in chronological order and then write a conclusion. Use the following guide.

Name Date Class Period Event Spider

Directions: Write the topic in the center rectangle and the events in chronological order. Use the connected horizontal lines for details.

Event 1 Event 2

Topic

Copyright 2012 by Chad Manis, Teacher-Wri en Eduware/ DailyTeachingTools.com

Event 3 Event 4

Common Transitional expressions are:

after, finally, soon, (as soon as), later, then before,

meanwhile, upon, during, next, when, first, now, and while.

Some typical story transition words:

One day…

Suddenly…During…Until…Yesterday…Meanwhile…Afterwards…While…

Typically transitions are about time: After, before, since, later…

Putting it all Together

Use the following web chart provided, to gather information that will be used to write a narrative paragraph. The topic is:Tell of a time when you learned a lesson you will never forget.

Save Your Paragraph!

Please save this paragraph because you will use it as a possible topic paragraph of an essay in a later lesson.

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Part 4 - The Idiom

Idioms are spoken phrases that cannot be found in the dictionary. An idiom is an expression that means something other than the literal meanings of its individual words.

Up to Something

An expression that means working on something, or planning to do something . Usually planning something secretly. It frequently refers to planning something bad, but it can also mean planning something good.

Up to Something

Example usage:He seems like an angel on the surface, but I can tell he’s up to something (planning something).

Lesson Review

During this lesson, we reviewed the topic sentence and you were introduced to the narrative paragraph, which is designed to tell a story. We learned new transition words to use when writing a narrative.

Next Lesson

In our next lesson we will discuss how to write a descriptive paragraph.