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!

State writing standards can be a little difficult to digest. Here is a combined list of elementary and middle school state writing standards that provide a very good overview of what is important in both elementary and middle school writing.

“Pattern Based Writing: Quick and Easy Essay” will provide a rock solid foundation for addressing each and every one of these important state writing standards.

These standards have been simplified and rephrased in a way that should make them a bit easier to understand. Even one serious read through should provide some very important guidance in planning your writing instruction!

• Write stories that have a beginning, middle, and end and contain details creating and supporting the setting, character development, and plot.

• Write an interpretation or explanation of an informational text using evidence from the text that supports the interpretation or explanation. 

• Write formal business letters to professional audiences such as businesses, newspapers, or government leaders.

• Write multi-paragraph essays and reports that contain easy to follow organization, topic development, effective use of detail, and a variety of sentence structures.

• Student writing develops a central idea. Their writing demonstrates knowledge of their audience and their purpose.

• Students successfully utilize all the stages of the writing process which include prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing successive versions.

• Students successfully write multiple-paragraph compositions that have an introductory paragraph, establish and support a main idea, contain supporting paragraphs that develop the main idea, and conclude with a paragraph that summarizes what was written.

• Use appropriate structures for communicating information such as compare and contrast, cause and effect, asking and answering a question, and chronological order.

• Students write expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive compositions of between 500 and 1000 words.

• Students create narrative compositions that establish and develop a plot or situation. They describe the setting and present an ending.

• Students create multiple-paragraph expository compositions that establish a topic and develop it with important ideas and events. They provide details and transitions linking paragraphs and ideas. The composition contains a concluding paragraph which summarizes important ideas and details.

• Students write narratives that include sensory details and concrete language which develop the plot and characters.

Through my weblogs, I get to see what searches brought people to this website. Here are some of my favorite searches that showed up on the weblogs. If you look at them, they really tell a story! It would be funny, if it weren’t so… true!

• tools to teach toddlers prewriting skills
• how to teach 1st grader to write an essay
• how to teach my 7 year old son to write fast
• small easy essays for grade 2
• my middle school students don’t write sentences
• my 8th grade son does not know how to write an essay
• how do i teach complete sentences? “middle school”

I consider “Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay” good common sense in elementary, and the only REAL remedial solution in middle school. (Excellent rapport with middle school students is another really helpful solution!) It’s interesting to see the change of tone in the searches for what I would consider remedial middle school writing instruction.

Have You Taught Middle School Writers… Who You Would Consider to be Remedial?

It may be that you need to have taught middle school students who were “remedial writers” to truly understand and feel the full hidden subtext of pain and frustration in the searches related to middle school students.

Have you ever tried to back it up on middle school students? Backing it up in math, they appreciate! Backing it up in writing, whew… they can turn into a fiery hornets’ nest!

With writing, middle school students think they understand it. “We studied this in elementary school. I know this stuff! This stuff is easy.” By middle school they have definitely been TOLD all the rules of correct writing. However…

My feeling is “you don’t understand it, if you don’t use it.” Writing naturally in correct paragraph form, with nice introductions and conclusions should feel… natural. It should be painful to write with poor paragraph form. It should feel unnatural to have no introduction and a poor conclusion. You should be able to feel beginning, middle ending… beginning middle, ending, both within your paragraphs, and within the full context of the essay, report, or story.

You shouldn’t have to think about it. You should feel it within. Rhythm! Fluency! Natural patterns of communication!

The Best Writers and the Remedial Writers

The best writers in middle school start to feel how to toy with all of these. The remedial writers don’t feel or understand any of these. Remedial writers are writing idea by idea, and sometimes even word by word.

Middle school writers who are not remedial should be focused on:

1. Writing with an academic tone and authority (includes all the exciting aspects of citing references and quoting authorities etc.)
2. Playing with voice, and expression.
3. Playing with structure (Think about the movies Memento, The Usual Suspects, and Groundhog Day as an inspiration for playing with structure. Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay should make playing around with structure for middle school students as easy as A, B, C!)
4. Writing with a purpose. This means purpose within paragraphs and purpose within the larger structure of a piece of writing.
5. Being persuasive in their writing! Logic, following a line of thinking through to its conclusion, framing an argument in a way that naturally leads to their stated point of view.

As middle school students work on all of this… there should be no sacrifice to “PARAGRAPH FORM.” If paragraph form continually falls apart, they don’t understand structure at the level they need to. They need to back it up and you need to teach in strictly visual and kinesthetic terms. No more “explanations.” They have heard it all!

Be sure to read “Teaching Writing in Inner City Middle Schools”

If you are struggling with remedial middle school or Jr. High writers, be sure to read an upcoming post on teaching writing in “Inner City Middle Schools.” A MAIN, MAIN, MAIN problem in inner city middle schools is that the majority are “remedial writers.” The majority don’t get it.

Get your middle school students writing correctly… lots of your problems go away… and they start to take pride… (I had written “all of your problems go away.” But no… you may still have your hands full!)