In short, all these different types of paragraphs simply involve layering on a different purpose or intent. When students have the foundations, it’s just this simple.

What are you trying to do? What’s your purpose here? Do you want to describe? Do you want to evaluate? Do you want to narrate? Do you want to persuade…?

When students don’t have the foundations, these questions are meaningless to them. They don’t have control over their writing; they are not fluent writers. It’s likely they won’t even understand what you are talking about.

In Pattern Based Writing, when a student wants to:
• Describe   >>>>    they write a    >>>>    Descriptive paragraph
• Inform    >>>>    they write a   >>>>   Informative paragraph
• Narrate    >>>>    they write a    >>>>    Narrative paragraph
• Persuade     >>>>    they write a    >>>>    Persuasive paragraph

It’s easy! For Writing Success… CLICK HERE! Get your students writing paragraphs like these… as well as entire essays filled with paragraphs just like these. (Gr. 2-6 and for remediation in middle school and above.)

Descriptive Paragraph

1.  Describe:   I am going to DESCRIBE a sunset!

Sunset is the time of day where our sky meets the outer space solar winds. There are blue, pink, and purple swirls, spinning and twisting like a cloud of balloons caught in a blender. The sun moves slowly beyond the horizon, while the moon races to take its place in prominence atop the night sky. People slow to a crawl, entranced, fully forgetting the deeds that still must get done. There is a coolness… a calmness… whenever the sun does set.

Informational Paragraph and a Narrative Paragraph

2. Inform:   I am going to INFORM you about the Apollo 11 space mission.    

Headed to the moon, the Apollo 11 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16. 1969. The crew consisted of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. They landed on the moon in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. The moonwalk took place the day after the landing on July 21, 1969. At 10:56 EDT Neil Armstrong took the first step onto the moon’s surface and famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This moment is considered by many to be one of the most famous and glorious moments in all of history.

Narrate:   I am going to NARRATE a story about the Apollo 11 space mission.

Neil Armstrong had quite a day on July 21, 1969. This was the day he became the first man to walk on the moon. The journey began several days earlier when on July 16th the Apollo 11 launched from Earth headed to the moon. On board with Neil Armstrong were Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. The crew had landed on the moon in the Sea of Tranquility a day before the actual walk. Upon Neil’s first step onto the surface of the Earth’s moon, he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It sure was. What a day!

Process or How-to Paragraph

3.  Process:   I am going to explain the PROCESS of how to clean and/or organize your room.
OR
How-to:   I am going to describe HOW-TO clean and/or organize your room.

Here is the perfect system for cleaning your room. First, move all the stuff that does not have a place to the center of the room. Get rid of at least five things that you have not used in the last year. Take out all the trash and put all dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. Now find a place for all the items you put in the center of the room. For any remaining items, see if you can squeeze them in under your bed or stuff them in the back of your closet. See, that was easy!

Compare and Contrast Paragraph

4.  Compare/Contrast:   I am going to COMPARE and CONTRAST an ocean and a lake.

Oceans and lakes have a lot in common, but they are also quite different. They are both bodies of water. A main difference is that an ocean is very large and is salt water, while a lake is usually much smaller and is fresh water. Lakes are usually surrounded by land while oceans are what surround continents. Both have plants and animals that live in them. The ocean is home to the largest animals on the planet, whereas lakes contain much smaller animals. When it is time for a vacation, both will make a great place to visit and have fun.

Critical Paragraph

5.     Critique:   I am going to CRITIQUE the Blue Whales’ first baseball game of the new season.

The Blue Whales just played their first baseball game of the new season, and I think there is a lot to be excited about. Though they lost, they were playing the team that won the championship last year. The Blue Whales fell behind early but showed excellent teamwork and came back to tie the game. They had 15 hits and scored 8 runs. That’s excellent! However, they had 5 fielding errors which kept the other team in the lead nearly the entire game. The game ended with the umpire making a bad call, and if the call had gone the other way, the Blue Whales may have actually won. It wasn’t a victory, but I say the Blue Whales look like they have a shot at the championship if they continue to improve.

Persuasive Paragraph and Argumentative Paragraph

6.  Persuade:   I am going to PERSUADE my neighbors to buy tickets to the school fair.

The school fair is just around the corner and tickets have just gone on sale. We are only selling a limited number of tickets so you will want to move fast and get your tickets while they are still available. This will be an event you will not want to miss! First off, the school fair is a great value when compared with other forms of entertainment. Also, your ticket purchase will help our school, and when you help the school, it helps the entire community.  There is even more exciting news; every ticket you purchase enters you in a drawing in which you can win fabulous prizes. Don’t forget, you are going to have tons of fun! There are lots of great rides, fun games, and many other attractions. Spend time with your family and friend at your community’s school fair. Buy your tickets now!

Argue:   I am going to present a logical ARGUMENT as to why my neighbor should attend the school fair.

The school fair is just around the corner and tickets have just gone on sale. Even though you may be busy, you will still want to take just one day out of the entire year to relax and have fun at the school fair. Even if you don’t have much money, you won’t have to worry. The school fair is a great bargain! Maybe you feel you are too old for fairs, or you just don’t like them. Well, that’s what my grandpa thought until he came to last year’s fair and had the best time of his life. For every reason you can think of not to come, I know you can also find two reasons why you should come. I’ll see you there!

Problem and Solution Paragraph (Narrative version and Informational Version)

7.  Problem/Solution: I am going to describe a kitty door PROBLEM and then explain the kitty door SOLUTION.

Narrative version (1st person)-

Last week we installed a kitty door so our cat could come and go as she pleases. Unfortunately, we ran into a problem. Our cat was afraid of the kitty door. We tried pushing her through and that made her even more afraid. The door was dark and she couldn’t see what was on the other side. The first step in solving the problem was we taped the kitty door open. After a couple days she was confidently coming and going through the open door. However, when we removed the tape and closed the door, once again, she would not go through. They say you catch more bees with honey, so we decided to use food as bait. We would sit next to the kitty door with a can of wet food while we clicked the top of the can. When she came through the closed door we would open the can and feed her. It only took five days of doing this to make her unafraid of using the kitty door. Now we have just one last problem; our kitty controls our lives!

Informational article – (This started off as one paragraph, but needed two, one for the “problem” and the other for the “solution.”) Also, notice the second paragraph is a “process” paragraph. It would be very easy to add a simple introduction and conclusion to this and have a complete essay!

People often install a kitty door only to find out they have a problem. The problem is their cat will not use the kitty door. There are several reasons cats won’t use kitty doors. First, they may not understand exactly how a kitty door works. They do not understand it is a little doorway just for them. Second, many kitty doors are dark and cats cannot see to the other side. They do not know what is on the other side, so they won’t take the risk. One last reason is that sometimes cats don’t like the feeling of pushing through and then having the door drag across their back. There are solutions to these problems.

The first step for solving the problem is to prop the door open with tape. This means your cat will now be able to see to the other side; your cat will usually start using the kitty door immediately. Once your cat has gotten used to using the kitty door remove the tape. Sometimes cats will continue using the kitty door without any more prompting. If this does not happen, you will want to use food to bribe your cat. When it’s feeding time, simply sit on the opposite side of the door from your cat and either click the top of the can or crinkle the cat food bag. Open the door to show your cat that it is both you and their food waiting for them on the other side. Repeat this a couple times, and then feed your cat. After a couple days of this your problem will be gone.

Cause and Effect Paragraph

8.  Cause/Effect: I am going to explain the CAUSES that had the EFFECT of making me a high achieving student.

(Note: This is also a first person narrative.)

I do well in school. People think I am smart. That is not true. In fact, three years ago I struggled in school. Two years ago I decided to make five changes. I decided I would be interested in what was being taught regardless of what anyone else thought. I decided I would work hard every day and never give up on any assignment. I decided to never fall behind. And I decided to make school my first priority over friends and fun. Soon I became an active participant in the classroom discussions. Then my test scores started to rise. I still remember the first time that someone made fun of me because “I was smart.” It seems to me that being smart is simply working hard and being interested. After all, learning a new video game is hard work even if you are interested; it just doesn’t help you out in school.

Personal Narrative Paragraph

9.  Personal Narrative: I am going to give a PERSONAL NARRATION of an event that changed my life.

Last year was the first time I had ever been the new kid at school. For the first four days I was completely alone. I don’t think I even spoke to a single person. Finally, at lunch on the fifth day, Karen Watson approached me and sat down next to me. Even though I was new, I had already figured out who Karen Watson was. She was popular. Pretty soon all of Karen’s friends were sitting right there next to me. I never became great friends with Karen, but after that, it seemed like all sorts of people started becoming my friend. You cannot convince me that Karen did not know what she was doing. I have a great respect for her and I learned a lot about what a true leader is.

Hamburger paragraphs don't work!

The title of this essay is not “Hamburger Paragraphs are not Fun” or “Hamburger Paragraphs are not Colorful.” They are fun and they are colorful. They just don’t work.

NO CONNECTION

The thing about teaching writing, the thing about teaching paragraphs, the thing about teaching paragraph writing to children, is that you must teach how ideas are connected.

Nothing in a hamburger is connected. A bun is not connected to meat. Lettuce and buns have no connection. An onion is nothing like mustard. There is no connection between the parts. In other words, you are teaching kids that you take all kinds of things which are not connected, and you put them together. The parts in a hamburger do go well together, but they are not connected when separated. There is a difference. Hamburgers do not teach coherence and they do not teach unity.

To a child, any detail can be lettuce; any detail can be a tomato. The bun does enclose all the inner contents, but so does a box. In fact, I would say the box the burger came in does a better job of teaching paragraph structure than the bun does.

The main problem for students who don’t write fantastic paragraphs… and well-structured multi-paragraph essays is that they do not see how ideas are connected. Ask your students. This is what they don’t get.

Okay, let’s look at the hamburger and see how students REALLY connect the ideas:

• Bun – I went to the park with my family.
• Onions – Playing on the swings is so much fun.
• Tomatoes – Going to the movies is also fun.
• Lettuce – Johnny, my best friend, is going to have a movie party for his birthday.
• Burger – For my next birthday I want to have a pizza party.
• Bun – For my last birthday we went to the park. It was fun.

Can you see the reasoning of how children connect ideas? Can you see how ideas connected incorrectly are one of the greatest problems in student writing?

Four Details in a Box

This is silly, but yet I guarantee this will work better, work faster, and with better comprehension than the hamburger. (I don’t teach this or use this. Go to the homepage to check out the writing program.)

Okay kids, this is a box. The box is your trip to the park. Put four details about your trip to the park in the box. Put the lid on. Now, write your paragraph.

Do you want to be creative? Make each detail a separate color. If two details are connected, make them the same color.

Want to take it to the next level? “Okay kids, we have five boxes here, one stacked on top of the other. We are going to write an essay.”

At least “Four Details in a Box” does not MIS-TEACH. (Actually, I kind of like “Four Details in a Box.” I just came up with it. I’m going to use it… WITH THE COLORS.)

However, it is still teaching things as unconnected. It does not REALLY connect ideas. (Go to the homepage and check out, “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay!”)

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) – How the Brian Organizes Ideas and Creates Meaning

What I like about “Four Detail in a Box” is the hands on aspect and the visual colors aspect. I’ve studied quite a bit about NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming.) About a third of NLP deals with VAK (Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic.)

On a side note, we are all visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, and if you really want to tell what MODE a person is in, listen to their words as they speak. Their words will REALLY REVEAL whether they are in a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic mood, mode… or state.

About, another 50% of NLP has to do with patterns found in language. Not just spoken and written language, but about how the brain organizes thoughts and ideas creating meaning. CONNECTIONS!

How are you teaching writing? Are you looking for a faster, more effective way? If so, check out the writing program!

In Defense of the Hamburger Paragraph

I cannot guarantee 100% that I will never, ever mention the hamburger or sandwich when talking about paragraphs or essays. I doubt I ever will, but if I ever end up in a 1st grade class, or possibly as 2nd grade class, I might. It can work nicely as in introduction to paragraphs.

Here are a Couple Pros of the Hamburger Paragraph:

• It is visual. Small children will see the structure of a paragraph, even though they won’t understand how the ideas are connected. In this sense it does work as “a first introduction to paragraphs.”

• There are some fun kinesthetic activities you can do with young kids.

• The hamburger/sandwich talk can be fun and engaging; however my experience is that beyond that it doesn’t build any real understanding which helps kids understand why their paragraphs work or don’t work.

In Conclusion

Alexander Bain outlined the rules for paragraphs in 1871. I have a feeling in 1872 someone invented both the sandwich and the hamburger paragraph. If the hamburger did work, the issue of paragraph writing would never be an issue after 3rd or 4th grade. Has that been your experience? (Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay!)

“A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main idea or topic. A paragraph usually contains between 5-8 sentences about that one main idea or topic. All of your sentences in the paragraph must be about that one main idea or topic. These supporting detail sentences are supporting the author’s main idea. The main idea is what is most important in that paragraph. It is what the author truly wants you to understand.”

Explain, demonstrate, and practice… It would take me a long time to get the kinds of results I wanted for my students, and the longer the writing assignment, the more the rules would fly out the window…

“Listen kids, when you want to write about a new main idea, you must start a new paragraph. Does this make sense?” They would all gleefully cheer, “Yes!”

They would try to show me how well they understood by writing an entire page and a half about ONE MAIN IDEA. That’s how well they understood…

“Okay kids, let me explain a paragraph one more time. You see… a paragraph can give information about one main idea, it can explain one topic or you can give your opinion about the main idea or topic. Be sure to put the sentences in an order that will make sense to your reader. You want it to be a logical and natural sounding order. Does this make sense?”

I would be quite enthusiastic when the class would greet me with a resounding, “Yes, Mr. Barger! We get it! Can we start writing now?! Can we show you how well we understand?”

Now the students were able to produce TWO PAGES that contained TWO PARAGRAPHS!

“Listen kids… I want you to choose a topic sentence and I want you to think about that topic sentence… and choose JUST three details that support that main idea. These are supporting details and they support the main idea or topic sentence. Your topic sentence is a kind of general statement about the topic and the supporting details are more specific. Does this make sense?”

I think you know the answer… Luckily I am very patient.

“Listen kids… a topic sentence can be anywhere in the paragraph, but most often the topic sentence is the FIRST SENTENCE in a paragraph. It’s true that sometimes the topic sentence is in the middle of a paragraph and sometimes it is at the end of a paragraph, but USUALLY it is the first sentence in a paragraph. Let’s keep it simple.”

The children would be very excited that I wanted to keep things simple.

“Children, I want you to put your topic sentence first and I want you to follow that topic sentence with 3- 5 supporting details and then I want you to write a conclusion sentence. For now, your conclusion sentence can either sum up what the entire paragraph was about, or it can repeat the topic sentence in a new and creative way. How does this sound? Does all this make sense? Oh… and we have state testing coming up, and I want you all to really concentrate on great paragraphs, because they are really important on this state testing that we are going to be doing. Okay…?…? Okay??”

Students would assure me they understood. In fact, they could repeat back every single word I had said! It was almost impressive…

However, students would continue to struggle with paragraphs. Basically, a run on sentence is the easiest way to see that children don’t understand what a paragraph is. If a sentence goes on and on, they don’t understand what a paragraph is…

Often the source of the difficulty is something like, “What’s a topic?”

“Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” takes children from simple sentences to complete essays FAST and with AMAZING comprehension! It just makes sense to them…

But not all paragraphs are good… let alone perfect. In fact, it doesn’t take much to make a seemingly good paragraph go bad. I have rounded up two paragraphs that I am sad to say have gone bad. One we can salvage… the other is just plain bad. That second one has no future. We will simply have to scratch it and start over.

This Paragraph Can Be Saved

If you have even one detail that is not about the topic sentence, then it IS NOT perfect. Notice how “Detail B” is out of control off doing his own thing. “Detail B” is not talking about the “topic sentence.”  The solution with this paragraph is to edit or revise.

Detail B has gone bad!

Example:
Over the weekend my family and I went to the park. I played on the swings with my little sister until she was all tuckered out.  I hope next weekend I can see the new “Space World” movie.  The best part of the park was the wonderful picnic my mom packed. Going to the park with my family is always a lot of fun!

Warning! Danger! This is a Bad, Bad Paragraph

This is a collection of disconnected sentences. Some may claim that it is a paragraph… but it is not. It tries to be one… but it can’t. It’s an imposter…. a fake. There is no main idea to this paragraph. This will be difficult for others to read. It’s sad to see good sentences turn so bad… start over.

So sad...

Example:

Over the weekend my family and I went to the park. It was fun. I want to see the new “Space World” movie. My birthday is next week. I hope one day my parents let me have a dog. Well, that’s all I have to say.

Be sure to read the next post which is “Biggest Teacher Mistakes in Teaching Paragraphs.” Hint: Don’t spend too long teaching paragraphs!

(“Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” spends just the right amount of time on paragraphs before making the jump to complete essays!)

A paragraph is a collection of sentences with unity of purpose. A paragraph handles and exhausts a distinct topic.
                                                                   Alexander Bain – 1871
 
This description of a paragraph is about as good as it gets! Alexander Bain is also credited as having been the first person to have formally laid down the rules of paragraph construction.  (Bain’s original rules for paragraphs are outlined below.)

A Modern Look at Paragraph Rules

There is a beauty and logic to all of Bain’s rules for paragraphs, however modern paragraph theory is a little more generalized and seems to center on these three principles. All-in-all they do contain most of Bain’s ideas, however, they also allow a little more freedom for creativity in paragraph construction.

1. Unity – Single minded focus of ideas. All the sentences must have unity of purpose AND there must be no information in the paragraph which does not serve that purpose.

2. Coherence – Ideas flow in a manner which makes them easily understandable.

3. Development – Ideas support and develop a topic sentence or main idea.

Alexander Bain’s Six Paragraph Rules Paraphrased for Easy Reading and Easy Understanding

1. The direction and purpose of each sentence should connect to what came prior. This must be explicit and unmistakable.

2. When several consecutive sentences repeat or illustrate the same idea, they should, as much possible be formed alike. (Parallel construction) The main subject and predicate should maintain their positions throughout.

3. The opening sentence (topic sentence) is expected to indicate the subject of the paragraph.

4. Each sentence in a paragraph should be found in its most suitable location within the paragraph. Every paragraph has a plan dictated by the nature of the composition. As such, sentences should be laid out in accordance of this plan. An out of place sentence brings confusion.

5. A paragraph should possess unity and contain a definite purpose. There should be no sentences or information contained in that paragraph which does not support that purpose. 

6. The big sentences within the paragraph should be the important ideas. The smaller sentences should be the less important ideas. Everything should have bulk and prominence according to its importance.

Interesting concepts! Proportion, symmetry, parallelism, balance…

Paragraph Writing is an Art, but Don’t Forget the Rules!

It wasn’t until the 1600’s when the growing importance of the printing press would put the paragraph on the road to its current prominence in the written English language. (In fact, some still consider the paragraphs most important attribute to be the visual aspect that helps the reader to clearly survey the printed page.)

It’s a little surprising to think that before 1871 the rules of paragraphs had not been clearly laid down. When you think about it… 1871 is not that long ago! 

Though the rules of paragraphs have become more universally understood and taught, there remains much art in what writers actually do. Most confident writers rarely think of the rules of paragraphs as they write. Confident writers just know when to start a new paragraph without even thinking about it. (Most then make changes to their paragraphs as they reread and edit.)

Supporting the argument that there is an art to paragraph writing… beyond rules, is that studies have shown that when paragraph formatting is removed from a piece of writing, few people will re-paragraph it the same way it was before. In fact, the same person may not re-paragraph it the same way two times in a row.

Teaching Kids Paragraphs

Early in my teaching career I remember spending lots of time trying to get students to master paragraphs. I thought, “If I can just get them to master these paragraphs… it’s going to change everything!” 

What I learned was that students don’t develop paragraph mastery until they develop an understanding of how paragraphs fit together within an essay, and understand the relationship between paragraphs and the introduction and conclusion.

A paragraph in multi-paragraph writing reveals the truer purpose and the truer need for the paragraph. Paragraphs make sense to students when they discover how to create a unique “unity of purpose” for each distinct paragraph in their multi-paragraph writing.

It’s a great feeling when you see your students stop thinking about the rules, but still maintain wonderful paragraph structure and paragraph form! That’s what I call a “confident writer!”

Find out how to make this happen at the “Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” homepage!

The Different Kinds of Paragraphs

1. How-to Paragraph (Process Paragraph) – First, Next, Then, Finally
2. Compare and Contrast Paragraph – Eggplant is both good…and bad!
3. Descriptive Paragraph – It was a dark and stormy night, yet the moon had an enchanting glow.
4. Explanatory Paragraph – There are many reasons that “doctors” consider eggplant to be healthy.
5. Classifying Paragraph – There are two kinds of vegetables. There are bad vegetables and there are so-so vegetables.
6. Narrative Paragraph – It was a dark and stormy night, and Johnny had many chores that still needed to get done.
7. Persuasive paragraph – There are many reasons that parents should let children choose if they want to eat their vegetables.
8. Definition Paragraph – Some people think that being lazy is sitting around all day doing nothing. That is not true. A person might be thinking very deeply, and that is not lazy.
9. Evaluation Paragraph – Vegetables are not as good for you as many people think. In fact, there is much evidence indicating that vegetables are actually unhealthy.

Structure of a Paragraph

• Tell them, tell them, and tell them! Tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them. Then tell them what you told them.
• You transitions smoothly and naturally between ideas.
• All of the sentences in a paragraph are connected. You should know how.

Strategies for Teaching Paragraphs to Children

• What idea does not belong in this paragraph?
• Which of these is not a paragraph?
• Follow this formula or pattern.
• Use this graphic organizer to map out your ideas and then write your paragraph.
• Explain, demonstrate, imitate, and practice.
• Topic sentence. Three details. Repeat topic sentence in a creative way.
• Use these words to create a paragraph.
• Pretend you are talking to someone who has no idea of what you are talking about. Maybe they are from another planet and you need to talk to them in a way that will make them understand… Understand?

Analogies of What a Paragraph Is

• A paragraph is a formula or pattern of ideas that you put together in a special way.
• A paragraph is a family of ideas that are all related and connected.
• A paragraph is a sandwich of ideas.
• A paragraph is a cohesive unit of ideas about one topic or main idea.

General Philosophies about Paragraphs

• A paragraph is 3-5 sentences.
• A paragraph is 5- 12 sentences.
• A paragraph is about one main idea.
• All other sentences in that paragraph must support that main idea.
• The sentences in the paragraph must be in a logical order.
• You start a new paragraph when you have changed to a new main idea.
• You can give information about the main idea OR you can explain the main idea OR you can give your opinion about the main idea.
• The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in a paragraph.
• The topic sentence usually contains the main idea of the paragraph.
• Topic sentence, supporting details, concluding sentence.

Main Idea and Topic Sentence

• ??????????

General and Specific

• ??????????

You can get children to repeat everything on this page like clockwork and have it all fly out the window when it is most important. If this happens, the reason is they don’t really understand what a main idea is or what a topic sentence is. They don’t understand “general” and “specific.” You have failed to get their mind around these concepts…

If they don’t truly understand these concepts… multi-paragraph writing will be VERY hard…

Fourteen years of teaching writing and I have perfected a way of making children understand these concepts and not just be able to repeat the words… (Be sure to go to the home page to check out the writing program…)