Teaching Paragraphing
Before we can ask students to write complete and thoughtful essays, they need to be able to write complete and thoughtful paragraphs. Over the past couple years I have used the following formula to teach and reteach a basic format for paragraphs that has helped turn struggling writers into proficient and confident writers. It has also helped challenge my proficient students to progress towards sophisticated writing.
So without further ado, it’s time to spill the TEA, as the kids say.
T - Topic Sentence
Every good paragraph needs a topic sentence. Whether a single paragraph response or a piece of an essay, the reader needs to be told what the focus of the paragraph is.
E - Evidence or Examples
Here is the heart of the paragraph. After identifying the paragraph’s focus in the topic sentence, students work to provide logical evidence and examples to support it. Encourage students to provide a variety of evidence and examples when working on an essay.
A - Analysis
This is where the real flair and flavor of the TEA comes in. In this section students analyze the claims made in the topic sentence, work to explain their thinking, and draw connections between the topic sentence, the evidence, and the overall point they are trying to make. This section also provides a place for individual thoughts to shine. Once they have said all that needs to be said and are ready for the next thought or idea, they will progress to a new paragraph. So, when students ask “Is this enough for a paragraph?” you can respond with: “Did you thoroughly explain your evidence in the analysis? Does your evidence and analysis connect to your topic sentence?” Force their thinking to deepen in regards to their writing through questioning, and in return strengthen their entire writing process.
There are additional things you can work on when teaching paragraphing, such as transition sentences between adjoining paragraphs and closing sentences to finalize a point.
Modern teaching practices push us away from formulaic writing, but kids learn from imitation. When we give them structure, students can practice the skills they see from us, organize their thinking, and then work on adding their own techniques.
And, even though I teach a paragraph structure to my students, there is not a sentence count and as my students get more comfortable with their writing, I stress natural paragraphing. I want students to get away from asking “how many sentences are in a paragraph” and focus their efforts instead on whether or not their ideas are logical and are supporting a claim.
If you see students struggling to form thoughtful paragraphs or want to return to basics, tell them to spill the TEA and see for yourself how quickly their writing will improve.
Happy teaching.