Hello!  Welcome to one of our writing mini lessons!  Now that your students are WRITING COMPLETE SENTENCES, it is time to transition into paragraph writing!    These lessons are broken down into 3 mini lessons 5-6-7- Topic Sentences, Relevant Details and Closing Sentences.





The first paragraph lesson is:  
MINI LESSON #5 TOPIC SENTENCES

1.  Teach:  Paragraphs need to have topic sentences.  It is a way of organizing and expressing the main idea of the paragraph!

• It answers questions like why, how, or where.
• It has supporting sentences or relevant details.
• It can prove, explain, or describe something.

• It is usually 5 letter spaces.
• The first sentence of every paragraph should be indented to show where the paragraph begins.
• The rest of the sentences should be lined up on the left.  If using notebook paper, these sentences should line up on the pink or red line.

3.  Take notes:  If using interactive notebooks, create something similar to the following.  Students should take notes and show examples.  This will provide them with a great reference for future writing assignments.

Students should brainstorm ideas for a paragraph of their own.


4.  Apply:   Students use their brainstorming skills to write a paragraph using a topic sentence.  Shoulder partners can point out the topic sentence or share as a whole group.  Students can hold a hand up to their ears if they hear the topic sentence.  This will help keep their attention!

5.  Go Deeper:  Do you want your topic sentence to have a Rockin' Beginning?  This can also be helpful to differentiate in your classroom.  Use the following FREE resource to help students write better topic sentences:


6.  Practice:  Provide students with practice.  Have them identify topic sentences, write topic sentences, and write rockin' beginnings.  Task cards are a great way to give students practice especially in centers.  You are welcome to use the samples below when creating your own materials to use in your classroom.


7.  Assessment and Tracking:  Have students work independently on an assignment and record their progress.  This will be helpful when forming small instructional groups and review.


I hope you learned something in lesson #5!  To continue with paragraph writing lessons, click MINI LESSON #6   RELEVANT DETAILS.


Do you need a complete NO PREP Sentence Structure AND Paragraph Unit?  There are anchor charts, interactive notebooks pages, practice worksheets, and task cards for each of the following:  Complete Sentences, Fragments, Run-Ons, Topic Sentences, Rockin Beginnings, Indents, Relevant Details, Transition Words, Closing Sentences, and Clinchers!  As a Bonus- hamburger graphic organizer, and assessment!





ROCK 'N' WRITE!!!!!