5 paragraph essay for kids

You will be amazed at how eagerly your students will take to this five paragraph essay lesson. I guarantee that they will beg to write a little show and tell never hurts either! Organizing thoughts in expository writing sometimes referred to as "explanatory writing" is difficult for children. Often they do not even understand that there is a different way to read these types of texts, let alone write them.

Essay Writing: Lesson for Kids

You will be amazed at how eagerly your students will take to this five paragraph essay lesson. I guarantee that they will beg to write a little show and tell never hurts either! Organizing thoughts in expository writing sometimes referred to as "explanatory writing" is difficult for children.

Often they do not even understand that there is a different way to read these types of texts, let alone write them. The five paragraph essay is a tool to aid beginning writers who are learning how to use transitions, opening, and closing paragraphs. However, I also have used it for my middle school son and it made a world of difference for him. He finally understood what it means to organize an essay.

For kids who see things in black and white, this lesson is a life saver. This sample five paragraph essay lesson plan shows the students how to keep details together, write effective opening and closing paragraphs, and use transition words.

Crinkle crinkle! That's the sound of my All About Me bag opening. In my bag, I have three things: a flower, a map and a book. Each one of these things tells something special about me. First, I have a flower. This flower is a daisy because that is my favorite type of flower. My mom always grows daisies out front in the summer. My dog likes them too, but he eats them and makes my mom really mad.

I also have a map in my bag. I have been to many different places in the world, like Germany and the Bahamas.

My favorite place to go though, was Florida. I found a shark tooth on the beach! Finally, I have a book. I love to read - my mom says I am voracious with books. Right now I am reading A-Z Mysteries. I didn't even know I would like mysteries until I started this series. I think most kids in second grade would love this series.

Of course there are lots of other things that are important about me, but those are my favorite ones. Now I would love to know more about you. Do you have three things you can share? I can't wait to read about you! This student used a five paragraph essay outline, included transition words, had effective opening and closing sentences, utilized new vocabulary and learned about how colons help writers to list information. That's a lot for an 8 year old…or is it?

Note: Get your own bag ready with three things. You will need it to do a guided writing experience with the students on Day One. Primary - very basic Intermediate Advanced.

Day One : Introduce Paragraph Writing. Take the students to your writing area, and tell them you brought your own bag to share with them. When you get to the line: "In my bag, I have three things:" be sure to point out the use of the colon and how it designates a list.

The students will write their supporting details in the same order as the list. Open your bag with a flourish.

The bag is the introduction. The objects inside are the details, or body of the essay. Take out the first object. Write a simple sentence that tells what the object is, uses a transition word such as "first" , and make that sentence in YELLOW.

Using RED , write two supporting sentences that go with the object. When you are ready for the closing paragraph, close up the bag dramatically and tell the students that since the bag is closed, you cannot write anything more about what is inside the bag.

This is a key concept for students to understand about how details are not found in the opening and closing paragraphs in an essay. The closing paragraph is about wrapping it all up effectively, like a present. I like to call this a "circle sentence. You should also find some time to do a mini-lesson on Transition Words. Transition words are like bridges in a five paragraph essay, and the students will need guidance to anchor this process.

This is a Guided Writing experience, and students will need their bags. You will write a five paragraph essay with the students, leaving blanks for them to fill in. I like to give the kids Green , Yellow and Red strips of paper to write on. This will provide a kinesthetic writing experience for them. Older students can do it with an outline such as this one, or use markers to underline as they write. Do you want to know some secret things about me? Each one of these tells something special about me.

For older students, you can allow them more choice with words and sentence structure. Younger kids need more teacher guidance, and just learning about using a colon as an organizational tool is enough. Next, instruct the students to take out their first listed object and place it on their desk. They will write one Yellow sentence about the object, such as:. Then, the students will write two Red sentences, which tell more about the Yellow sentence.

Again, guide the writing of the sentences, but this time, instead of copying from you, they will need to add two of their own sentences. Guide them with questions such as, "Where did you get this?

Day Three: Review and Guided Writing. Begin Day Three by reviewing yesterday's lesson. Have the students read what they wrote, taking out their first object as they read about it, and get ready for the next paragraph.

You will follow the same procedure for their bags as you did for Day Two. For each object, take it out of the bag, write a Yellow sentence, write two Red detail sentences, and then put it down. You can end Day Three here if you are short on time, or move on to Day Four, the closing paragraph. This will be in Green. After the students review what they have written so far and taken the objects out of their bags, instruct them to put them back into their bags and close them up.

Remind the students that by closing the bags they are showing that there will be no more sentences about the objects - we will not be mixing up details with the opening and closing paragraphs. Talk with the kids about how that sentence can be re-worded, such as "Now my three things aren't really a secret! Explain that these are "Circle Sentences," when sentences repeat the same idea but use different words. Give them some choices of sentences to write, or let them do their own if they are able.

And there it is - Stoplight Writing. It is definitely a long process, but it is excellent explicit teaching. Try using some of these topics , prompts or writing activities after your kids have mastered the five paragraph essay!

Like what you Read? Subscribe to Chalk Bits the K5Chalkbox monthly newsletter. K5 Chalk Box. This is the topic sentence for the first paragraph.

Essay Writing Organizer. This is a helpful resource which can be printed and given to students while writing an essay. The five paragraph essay is the most common structure for writing essays. Online instruction like the Time4Writing essay writing courses for elementary.

Writing essays is a skill that will serve kids well throughout their lives. Knowing how to present facts and opinions in an interesting, understandable way is valuable regardless of whether they attend college or go directly into the workforce. This fill-in-the-blank style of writing has one main goal - training students to write essays that are easy to grade in the classroom and on standardized tests. As a homeschooling parent, you can help your children learn to produce informational writing that is meaningful and alive.

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This post may contain affiliate links. See here for more info. Overview: The five-paragraph essay is a helpful tool — here are ideas for teaching it!

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As the parent, you play an important part in how well your child learns. One of the most significant subjects to focus on is writing. For now, let's take a quick look at tips and tricks for helping your child learn to create a five paragraph essay. If your child is struggling with creating a single paragraph, creating a five-paragraph essay is going to seem like an astronomical task. This is why you must first focus on creating a single paragraph, and this starts with making sure your child understands how to develop structured sentences. Once your child can write in sentences, you can then move on to creating single paragraphs by following this helpful outline:.

Tips for Teaching and Grading Five Paragraph Essays

When I look back to my first experience teaching five paragraph essays to fifth graders, I can remember how terribly unprepared I felt. I researched the few grade-appropriate essays I could find online these were the days before Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers and determined that there was a structure to follow. Every essay followed the same basic structure. I taught the structure to my students and they did well. I have been teaching five paragraph essay structure and everything that goes with it for a lot of years now. I hope that after you read this blog post, you will have a good understanding of how to teach and grade five paragraph essays. We always start with simple paragraphs. Yes, this is basic, but if your students cannot write excellent paragraphs, their five paragraph essays will be train wrecks. Trust me! We spend a while cementing paragraph structure:.

Like many moms, you face new challenges as the high school years approach.

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How to teach the five-paragraph essay in your homeschool

This is the format that is most commonly used and also looked for during testing and also writing samples for applications—I have been asked throughout all of my high school career to use this format and this is what led to high SAT scores and a high acceptance rate to colleges. But first, what is the 5-paragraph essay? It follows the same basic structure and is largely used for critical, analytical, and argumentative writing. The first paragraph works as an introductory paragraph that leads into a topic and is always ended by a thesis statement. The three following body paragraphs contain the main argument or claim that the person is making based on the thesis. The last and final paragraph works as a conclusion that summarizes the paper and ties up any loose ends. This all sounds a little overwhelming, and can be until you master the structure. At MathGenie we cover various types of writing so that the 5-paragraph essay becomes not only accessible but also mastered by the students who practice it. In the meantime, this is what you can do to help:. Prosperity Associates Inc. All rights reserved. Your child's individual results and duration to achieve them will vary. Results are not guaranteed and should not be viewed as typical.

Structuring the Five-Paragraph Essay: Examples of Five-Paragraph Essays

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