Paragraph Writing

Revising the paragraph

Who can I write a good Paragraph?

Who can I start a paragraph?

How can I end it?

How can I develop my ideas?

How can I make my writing attractive?

Parts of the Paragraph

1- Topic Sentence

2- Supporting Details

3- Closing sentence

• Topic SentenceWhat is the topic sentence? The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph.

What does it do? It introduces the main idea of the paragraph.

How do I write one? Summarize the main idea of your paragraph. Indicate to the reader what your paragraph will be about.

• There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

Exercise

Write a topic sentence about causes of poverty in Palestine.

- Write a topic sentence about the problems of learning English in Palestine

Supporting Details

• What are supporting sentences? They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of a paragraph.

• What do they do? They give details to develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.

• How do I write them? You should give supporting facts, details, and examples.

• Example: • There are three reasons why Canada is one of

the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

• Closing Sentence

• What is the closing sentence? The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph.

• What does it do? It restates the main idea of your paragraph.

• How do I write one? Restate the main idea of the paragraph using different words.

• Example: • There are three reasons why Canada is one of

the best countries in the world. First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally, Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

Writing Paragraphs

• What is the writing stage?The writing stage is when you turn your ideas into sentences. Five Writing Steps:

• 1. Open your notebook and word processor.2. Write the topic sentence, supporting sentences, and closing sentence.3. Write clear and simple sentences to express your meaning.4. Focus on the main idea of your paragraph.5. Use the dictionary to help you find additional words to express your ideas.

• Editing Paragraphs

• What is the editing stage?The editing stage is when you check your paragraph for mistakes and correct them.

• Grammar and Spelling • 1. Check your spelling.

2. Check your grammar.3. Read your essay again.4. Make sure each sentence has a subject.5. See if your subjects and verbs agree with each other.6. Check the verb tenses of each sentence.7. Make sure that each sentence makes sense.

• Style and Organization

• 1. Make sure your paragraph has a topic sentence.2. Make sure your supporting sentences focus on the main idea.3. Make sure you have a closing sentence.4. Check that all your sentences focus on the main idea.5. See if your paragraph is interesting.

Compare and Contrast Paragraph

• In a compare and contrast paragraph, you write about the similarities and differences between two or more people, places, things, or ideas.

• Example:  Write a paragraph comparing using the Laptop computer and the normal computer

Similarities Differences

Is similar to On the other hand

Both However

Also But

Too In contrast

As well Differs from

While

Unlike

• Read the following paragraphs carefully. Then select the most appropriate topic sentence for each of the paragraphs from the choices provided.

• 1Thousands of new people are born on our planet every day. The number of inhabitants in the world has already reached over six billion. If the present growth rate remains unchecked, the world may soon face wide-spread starvation, poverty, and serious health problems. __________________________________ (topic sentence).

• A- Therefore, it is predicted that the world will face serious health problems in the near future.

• B - The rapid growth of the world's human population is the most important problem the world needs to address.

• C- One of the burning issues is the population explosion in third world countries.

• A –is not the best choice because the supporting sentences do not give any detail about what serious health problems will occur.

• B This is a good topic sentence because the supporting sentences provide details about how quickly the world's population will grow and what might be the effects.

• C This is not a good choice because the supporting sentences do not explore the issues around third world population growth. It could be used as a concluding transition sentence leading to the next paragraph.

• Exercise

• Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting traditional universities with distant learning universities

• You can start as

• Traditional universities are similar to distant learning universities in that they have a number of students.

What problems can you find in the following

• I live in a flat with my family. We have two bedrooms and a living room. We have a garden and we have some flowers there. In weekdays I arrive home at five o'clock and I have lunch. Then I do my homework and go to bed. I had a computer but now it doesn't work. I have a brother and a sister and I think I am very lucky to live with them. Sometimes our relatives visit us. Our flat becomes very crowded sometimes but I like it.

Do you think that these sentences refer to the topic

• In weekdays I arrive home at five o'clock and I have lunch.

• Then I do my homework and go to bed.

• I had a computer but now it doesn't work.

The mail idea is

• "the description of your house".

• Now, rewrite the main idea of the example paragraph so that it covers all the sentences the student has written.

• Exercise 2

• Write a paragraph defining the computer.

• Exercise 3

• How can you write a good topic sentence about poverty, learning English,

• Write a paragraph about skills of English language

• Write a paragraph on “Why do you think that this course is important to you”