Reading and Writing
Writing a short paragraph
Turn a few given points into a short paragraph that keeps to one topic and runs in a sensible order.
A paragraph is a group of sentences that all belong to one topic. In your exercise book you will often be given three or four points and asked to build one. The points are the easy part; putting them in an order a reader can follow is where the writing happens.
Say what it is about, first
The opening sentence tells the reader the topic: "The town park has something for everybody." Everything after it has to fit underneath — so make it wide, not narrow.
One topic, and only one
A sentence can be perfectly true and still have to go. "Our neighbour's cat is white" has no business in a paragraph about the school kitchen, however true it is.
Joining words carry the reader along
First, next, then, after that, finally. Because gives a reason; but turns to something different. Without them a paragraph reads like a list; with them it reads like somebody talking.
Close it rather than stopping
A last sentence that looks back over what you have said — "So the park is where the whole town ends up on a Sunday" — tells the reader you have finished on purpose.
The small things still count
Every sentence opens with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, and the whole paragraph runs on as one block rather than starting a new line for each sentence.
Worked example
Build a paragraph from these points: my dog Moti — found as a puppy — follows me everywhere — barks at the postbox.
Open with the topic: "Moti is the dog who found us, not the dog we chose."
The reader now knows what the paragraph is about before the details start.
Try it together
Let us plan a paragraph about the school garden.
The points are: the whole class digs it — it grows tomatoes — the birds come for the seeds. Each answer is one word.
1.Which sentence should come first — the one naming the topic, or the one about tomatoes? Write one word: topic or tomatoes.
Have a go
Which sentence would close a paragraph about why the school garden is worth keeping?
Ready to practise?
Eight questions on what you have just read. Nothing is timed, and you can play as many times as you like.