Writing Paragraphs

Paragraph Shape
Inden
t

What is a Paragraph?

A paragraph is a group of
sentences that tells about one
subject or area.

Each sentence in a paragraph

must give information about the
topic

Reasons to Write a
Paragraph

1.
2.
3.
4.

Describe something
Tell a story
Explain something
To Persuade

Paragraph
Focus

The topic sentence presents your

main idea in a complete sentence.
It introduces your topic + your
position on the topic.
TOPIC

Your position on topic

Paragraph Unity
Be careful! Dont
lose sight of your
main idea.

Unrelated
details

TOPIC

Paragraph
Development

Topic sentence
1 or 2 general
Conclusion
ideas

Topic sentence
Put lots of
meat in
your
paragraph
sandwich!

Conclusion

Finding Ideas To Write

About

Freewriting
Brainstorming
Clustering
Journal writing
Other?

Arranging Your Ideas

Time

Space

Importance

Paragraph Importance
The paragraph is the building block
of any document. Think carefully
about what you put into each
paragraph and where you break up
your text.
Too short: feels choppy and
disconnected.
Too long: loses the main point.