Paragraph writing
Teaching Paragraph Writing: The Teaching style for introducing the concept of paragraph writing changes depending on the level of the learner. Therefore there is no universal rule for teaching paragraph writing. If you are facing a junior school student you may have to make her understand what a paragraph is! For a high school student may be the challenge lies in the structure and in the flow of the content. So you must start with an open mind to mould and modulate your action plan depending on the situation. But the basic characteristics of a paragraph remain same. A small paragraph with ten sentences or one with sub sections in them should start with the topic sentence, which states the main idea of that paragraph. The student must understand that one paragraph is for one idea. As you change the track it calls for new paragraphs. They should also learn to make the transition from one sentence to the next. The idea should flow coherently from one to the next. He or she must learn to present an answer or close the argument with in the paragraph. Writing a paragraph shows the ability of logical thinking.
Paragraph Writing lessons: Your lesson plan can make the job of writing a paragraph easier for the learner. First your plan should have some pre test to gauge the ability or level of understanding regarding their knowledge of the language, vocabulary and grammar. Next the plan should engage the learner to know the basic definition, parts, and structure of a paragraph. They should learn how to incorporate the main idea or the topic. The lessons must present examples of a paragraph in the same subject with variable length. That will help them to understand the simple to complex structure of writing. An worksheet with guidelines helps the learner to comprehend the meaning quite easily.
Descriptive Paragraph Writing: In a descriptive paragraph you write about a person, place or event. Before starting the actual writing you should prepare yourself with the information you would require to write the paragraph. Look for the key words in the subject itself which can guide you in making some idea on the subject. This may be described as prewriting. Break the subject into small sub sections. Start with an introduction. The sub sections may not be physically separated but a distinct shift in ideas can be viewed in the paragraph indicating the change. You can prepare a template of helper words which come handy while structuring a paragraph. They include Properties like size, color, shape purpose; Measurement like length, width, mass, volume or speed; Analogy like in like or resembles and Location like in, above, below, north south etc. Armed with fact and figures you should start writing down the paragraph. Try to incorporate your own ideas.
Essay Paragraph Writing: An essay may involve writing of five paragraphs to present a complete perspective. In a compare and contrast paragraph, you need to write about the similarities and differences between two or more people, places, things, or ideas. So you need to find the helper words like Similarities – both, also, similar to, too, and Differences – the other hand, as opposed to, however etc. In an essay you essentially break them in to small paragraphs depending on the logic and flow of the subject. Treat each paragraph as a separate entity and take the same approach for writing a single paragraph. This will ensure a coherent structure to the whole essay.
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