Unity may be the most crucial concept in writing. Unity directly relates to this question: What’s your point? We must ask that question at multiple levels of thinking: What’s your point in that sentence? What’s your point in that paragraph? What’s your point in that...
Improve Your Paragraph Instruction by Using Better Terms Correctly
In Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books, logical and calculating Reacher famously says, “Details matter.” Reacher does not say “supporting details” matter. He doesn’t say that because he means that the details matter—the specifics matter. Calling all details supporting...
Topic Sentence Theory, Wisdom, Advice, and Analysis for Teaching Writing
This may be the most informative page ever on topic sentences. You will learn a mountain of topic-sentence theory and advice from five classic books on writing well. However, I also analyze the paragraphs from these classic books to see if they follow their own...
What Is a Paragraph? Really, Teachers and Students Want to Know!
In one of my favorite informal experiments, Professor Arthur A. Stern removed the paragraph breaks from a section of text from “Fundamentals of Good Writing” (1950) and had English teachers reparagraph it. Only 5 out of 100 teachers reparagraphed it as the original...
Why Doesn’t Every Paragraph Have a Topic Sentence? The Truth!
Students want to know, “Why doesn’t every paragraph have a topic sentence? How do real writers create paragraphs?” Do you see topic sentences in all of the paragraphs you read? Well, it’s not your imagination. Not all paragraphs have topic sentences. This is not just...
Four Proven Traits for Creating Clear and Organized Writing
“What’s your point?” That’s the most critical concept in writing. It’s crucial at the paragraph level and the whole composition level. Writers need clear and organized thinking throughout the entire writing process. Let’s look at four key concepts that help writers...
The Truth About Topic Sentences, Main Ideas, and Paragraphs
Are you teaching the truth about paragraphs? Probably not. The truth is not what you think it is. Much of what you have learned about paragraphs is simply not true. In 1866, Alexander Bain created a list of six paragraph rules that became the foundation of modern...
Ten Types of Paragraph Exercises: Unity, Coherence, and Emphasis
When you teach your students how to write paragraphs, what exactly are you teaching them? In short, paragraph instruction involves three basic paragraph concepts: 1) Unity, 2) Coherence, and 3) Emphasis. These three concepts are the three traits of paragraphs. All of...
Teaching Kids Multi-Paragraph Writing: Five Problem Areas
When you teach multi-paragraph writing effectively, your students begin to write in an organized and natural multi-paragraph form in all of their daily writing across the curriculum. Furthermore, when it’s time for a writing assessment, your students easily address...
What Should My Beginning Multi-Paragraph Writers Write About?
What your students write about is one of the most important decisions you make in teaching writing. To a large degree, it defines (1) what you teach about writing, and (2) how you teach writing. Put simply, we can’t leave what our students write about to chance. By...
Paragraph Length: How the Best Student Writers Create Paragraphs on State Writing Assessments
Have you ever glanced at the paragraphing on a piece of student writing and had a gut reaction? How accurate was your gut reaction? My guess is that your gut reaction was surprisingly accurate. I did not say perfectly accurate or even accurate, just surprisingly...
Ultimate Guide to Teaching Paragraphs and Understanding Paragraphs
What is a paragraph? You must be able to answer that question for yourself to teach paragraph and multi-paragraph writing effectively. Well, congratulations! You are about to enter a rare and elite club of teachers who truly understand paragraphs. We are going to...
Paragraph Examples: Expository, Narrative, Persuasive, Descriptive, and More
Point and Purpose in Paragraphs Point and purpose is the key to understanding types of paragraphs and kinds of paragraphs. In writing, the words point and purpose are almost synonymous. Your point is your purpose, and how you decide to make your point clear to your...
Hamburger Paragraphs Don’t Work
The idea of a paragraph is built around these three concepts: 1. Unity: Everything in a paragraph is connected, related, and relevant. As such, a paragraph forms a whole. A paragraph has oneness. 2. Coherence: Paragraphs must be clear, understandable, and easily...
Teaching Children Paragraph Writing is Hard!
You ask, “What is a paragraph and how do you teach children to write a paragraph?” Here’s how! Patiently, very patiently, I explained to the eager young ears, "A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main idea or one topic. A paragraph usually contains between...