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

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

When students don’t have a foundation, these questions don’t mean much 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 amazing paragraphs — Wait… why stop there?! Why not get your students writing entire essays filled to the brim with amazing paragraphs?! (Gr. 2-6 and for remediation in middle school and above.) Check out the Pattern Based Writing program!

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.

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!)