5 paragraph essay template for middle school

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How to teach the five-paragraph essay in your homeschool

Like many moms, you face new challenges as the high school years approach. Biology, chemistry, art, and geometry practically feel like a cakewalk compared with how to teach the five-paragraph essay in your homeschool!

One thing is certain. Regardless of how we get through the high school years, our homeschool teens need to master the basics of five-paragraph essay writing. I get it. Sometimes we need to pause and rewind.

If your middle school or high school student struggles with basic paragraph writing , make that your top priority. Taking a year to teach WriteShop I will cement the fundamentals of concise and concrete writing. Teaching your teens how to write a 5-paragraph essay is a homeschool necessity. Unlike narrative writing, this traditional essay has a stringent structure that includes an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a closing paragraph.

The introductory paragraph sets the stage for the entire essay. The hook pulls the reader into the essay. A question, quotation, opinionated statement, or interesting fact can make an effective, engaging hook.

Next in the lineup is the background information, which gives the reader a short history of the topic. In addition, the introductory paragraph must include at least a couple of sentences that express the main points of the paper. Think of the intro as an outline of the rest of the essay. The thesis statement closes the introduction. Instead, try starting the thesis statement with although or because. These words allow the writer to jump right into the problem. TIP: Use action verbs and limit personal pronouns such as I, me, my, we, and our.

These paragraphs must support the thesis statement and flesh out the argument. So make sure students know how to defend or explain their claims using facts and evidence. All three body paragraphs have the same structure: topic sentence, supporting details, and closing sentence. For older high school kids, the body paragraphs make a great place to practice in-text citations.

Tell them. And then tell them what you told them. To keep it interesting, it should move right along. Start the conclusion with a transitional topic sentence—a general statement that flows nicely from the last sentence of the previous paragraph. After the topic sentence, restate the thesis. Students should not simply copy and paste the same thesis statement.

It helps them decide on the most important reason for the information in the essay. Next, couple that with the WHY. Why does this topic matter? Why do I want my reader to care? The answers to these questions will help students shape the rest of their conclusion. Essays end with a closing sentence. The closing sentence should tie back to the hook from the intro, perhaps by referencing the same example, reiterating a word or a phrase, or ending with a new quote.

When possible, the closing sentence should also tie into the title. Once they have the structure down pat, they can write a wide variety of essays with the same tools. As you teach writing and essay skills, WriteShop is here to help! We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and may earn a small commission for recommendations or links to any products or services from Amazon.

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Wish List · Back to School Five Paragraph Essay Template Simple and effective; elementary to high school students can benefit from t. Provide examples of a hook in writing through informational and narrative texts before introducing this concept to the class. 2. Topic sentence: This is what the.

When it comes to writing essays in college, we all need a place to start. Think of the five-paragraph essay as just that. Some students may find this to be a simple process, while others may spend a greater amount of time understanding this basic building block of college writing. Whatever the case, use the following guidelines to strengthen your knowledge of this preliminary essay format. Five-paragraph essays are incredibly useful in two situations — when writers are just starting out and when a writing assignment is timed.

Its sturdy structure provides students with a safe and organized way to express their thoughts. The introduction enables them to stake a claim with the thesis.

Like many moms, you face new challenges as the high school years approach. Biology, chemistry, art, and geometry practically feel like a cakewalk compared with how to teach the five-paragraph essay in your homeschool!

The Death of the Five Paragraph Essay: Reading and Writing the Modern Essay in Middle School

Our notebooks are the building block of our writerly lives, and I encourage students to use their notebooks beyond our classroom walls. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were. I wonder what it means. A moment of silence. Some confused looks. Others, blank stares.

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

Still, teaching students to organize essays into the five-paragraph format is an easy way to introduce them to writing literary criticism, which will be tested time and again throughout their primary, secondary, and further education. The introduction is the first paragraph in your essay, and it should accomplish a few specific goals: capture the reader's interest, introduce the topic, and make a claim or express an opinion in a thesis statement. Students can practice with creative writing prompts to get some ideas for interesting ways to start an essay. The next few sentences should explain your first statement, and prepare the reader for your thesis statement, which is typically the last sentence in the introduction. To correctly write each of these three body paragraphs, you should state your supporting idea, your topic sentence, then back it up with two or three sentences of evidence. Words to use as you transition from one paragraph to another include: moreover, in fact, on the whole, furthermore, as a result, simply put, for this reason, similarly, likewise, it follows that, naturally, by comparison, surely, and yet. The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim from your thesis sentence. It should point out your main points, but should not repeat specific examples, and should, as always, leave a lasting impression on the reader. The first sentence of the conclusion, therefore, should be used to restate the supporting claims argued in the body paragraphs as they relate to the thesis statement, then the next few sentences should be used to explain how the essay's main points can lead outward, perhaps to further thought on the topic.

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Alternatives to the 5 Paragraph Essay

A typical academic 5-paragraph essay includes five paragraphs. As a rule, a student has to introduce the topic, state and support up to three arguments, and sum up the results in the conclusion — a 5-paragraph outline explains every section in details. Students fail to come up with a good five-paragraph essay because the teachers sometimes do not provide necessary information and ignore the fact not all students are talented writers. Is there a way to overcome problems with homework assignments? What is a five-paragraph essay? It is an informative piece of writing with some descriptions of the chosen topic. This writing task is assigned to check how well a student interacts with the reader, defend the thesis sentence, conduct research, come up with arguments, and summarize the findings. This assignment improves reading, writing, and analytical skills a lot. The 5-paragraph paper is a standard example for educational institutions like high schools and colleges. A student has to ensure the relevance of the topic. It is important to support the arguments in every single paragraph with the help of credible evidence. The knowledge of writing basics is a supporting part of any admission process.

Five-Paragraph Essays

To leave a general comment about our Web site, please click here. Many of these students are not proficient writers as they enter sixth grade and struggle to compose writing that reflects the language of the Common Core State Standards CCSS. This unit will complement the work that is expected of students in other units throughout the school year. My students and I will consider how prose writers make similar craft decisions after introducing students to the genre characteristics of profile and personal experience essays. Students will read two of each type of essay, discussing the craft choices that authors make along the way. Finally, mirroring seminar as closely as possible, students will have the choice to write a profile or personal experience essay.