These materials were developed and funded by a CalWORKs Grant awarded to the San Diego Community College District, Continuing Education CalWORKs Program, 2006 Instructor Notes for Paragraph Writing: Introducing Yourself Content: These lessons can serve as an introduction to the writing process and an introduction to U. S. academic paragraph form. The Writing Process Page 1 Prewriting: Brainstorming Page 2 Prewriting: Choosing a Topic Pages 3 and 4 Prewriting: An Outline Pages 5 and 6 Writing: The First Draft Page 7 Writing: The Concluding Sentence Page 8 Revising Page 9 Editing Pages 10 and 11 Publishing Page 12 Target Students: Intermediate to Advanced ESL students who are beginning writers. Objective: Students will be able to use the steps of the writing process to write a well-organized paragraph on a specific topic in U.S. academic form. Lesson Format: Lessons are divided into short segments so that a small amount of class time can be used over a period of two weeks. Alternatively, several segments can be grouped together for a shorter overall time frame.
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These materials were developed and funded by a CalWORKs Grant awarded to the San Diego Community College
These lessons will take you through the steps of the ‘writing process’ as you
develop a well-organized paragraph about yourself. The skills you learn in these
lessons can be used again and again to write paragraphs about other topics as well.
The writing process will show you that good writing comes from working on
your paragraph step by step. Sometimes students are surprised that the first
step is not to begin writing! Before writing your paragraph, you will use prewriting strategies such as brainstorming and outlining. You may also be surprised that
much of the work takes place after you write your paragraph. In these lessons you will learn to revise and edit your paragraph before giving a copy to your instructor.
Writing your paragraph step by step will make writing easier for you in the
future, and you will feel more confident about the good quality of your work!
Brainstorm
Outline
First
Draft
Revise
am a
Edit
Publish
These materials were developed and funded by a CalWORKs Grant awarded to the San Diego Community College
Hello, I would like to introduce myself. One of my talents is cooking. I also like to swim
and play volleyball. I begin cooking with my Mother when I was a small child, and I
have always enjoyed it I still make the dishes my mother teach me a long time ago, but
I also try new resapees. My family frequently attends pot luck picnics where I get
compliments that me make proud.
This is Sara’s first draft. She has done a good job. However, everybody
makes mistakes, especially on the first try. You might have noticed some errors in
Sara’s paragraph. After writing the first draft, it’s necessary to revise and edit
the work. We’ll do that soon in another lesson.
Now it’s your turn! On another piece of paper, write the first draft of a paragraph that introduces you. Use your outline as a guide. Save your first draft
to use later!
These materials were developed and funded by a CalWORKs Grant awarded to the San Diego Community College
After writing a first draft, it is necessary to read it carefully and ask
yourself if it is easy for another person to understand. Ask yourself these
questions when you revise your work:
“Does the paragraph begin with a sentence that tells me the main idea?”
“Are all of the sentences about the same main idea?”
“Are the sentences in an order that makes sense to me?”
“Is there enough information to completely describe the main idea to me?”
“Does each sentence contain important information?”
Let’s practice revising with Sara’s first draft. Read it carefully. Ask
yourself the questions above. Do you see any sentences that don’t belong?
First Draft: Something I am Good at
Hello, I would like to introduce myself. One of my talents is cooking. I also like to swim
and play volleyball. I begin cooking with my Mother when I was a small child, and I
have always enjoyed it I still make the dishes my mother teach me a long time ago, but
I also try new resapees. My family frequently attends pot luck picnics where I get
compliments that me make proud. In brief, creating great food is something that I am
good at.
There are two sentences that Sara should take out to improve her
paragraph. Which ones do you think they are?
It’s your turn! Read your first draft. Are there any sentences that you should take out? If you want to change the order of your sentences, you can draw
circles or arrows to make notes for yourself. If you need to add some information,
you can write additional sentences now. Save this page. You don’t need to rewrite
your paragraph yet.
These materials were developed and funded by a CalWORKs Grant awarded to the San Diego Community College
Before writing an essay, let’s review paragraph organization. Paragraphs are
the building blocks of an essay. Read the model paragraph.
The Benefits of Living Alone
Living alone has several important advantages. First, you can leave your things anywhere you want. You don’t have to keep all of your personal belongings put away. In addition, you can be noisy. You can play your music as loudly as you want no matter the time of day. Finally, you have privacy. No one will watch and comment on your personal life. With these benefits, it is sometimes preferable to live by yourself.
Read the paragraph again with your instructor. Discuss the role of each
Often we’d like to write more than a single paragraph. Students sometimes write essays. An essay is a developed discussion of a single topic. It is similar to a paragraph, but each part is expanded. Look at the comparison below.
Paragraph Essay
Topic
Sentence
Support
Sentences
Conclusion
Introduction
Thesis Statement
Topic Sentence
Support
Close
Topic Sentence
Support
Close
Conclusion
B
O
D
Y
Topic Sentence
Support
Close
These materials were developed and funded by a CalWORKs Grant awarded to the San Diego Community
College District, Continuing Education CalWORKs Program, 2006
The Parts of an Essay: Model
Read the model essay.
The Benefits of Living Alone
One of the most exciting events in a young person’s life is moving away from his or her family for the first time. Many people in the U.S. consider living alone to be an important step toward independence and adulthood. With it come new responsibilities and freedoms. In fact, living alone has several important advantages.
First, you can leave your things anywhere you want. For example, you don’t have to wash the dishes before you leave for work. You can leave your shoes wherever you take them off and forget about your dirty clothes until you feel like washing them. Snacks don’t have to stay in the kitchen, and mail doesn’t have to be put away. If you like to leave your keys on the kitchen table, you can do so. You can create your own chaos and no one will be disturbed.
Another advantage of living alone is that you don’t have to worry about noise. For instance, you can wake up early to loud music on the radio. Then when you are making breakfast, you don’t have to be careful about banging dishes or running water. When you come home after school or work, you can turn on the TV. You can even go to sleep with the stereo still on if you prefer. No one will ask you to be quiet.
Most important, you have privacy when you live alone. No one sees or comments on your personal life. You can leave your letters out, you can put up pictures of special people, and you can walk around in your underwear. Your home is your private sanctuary.
Many people argue that staying with family or friends is a better way to live, especially for young people. Certainly there are some comforts in having others to live with, but there are also some advantages to living on your own. Having your own apartment means you can be messy, be noisy, and keep your privacy.
• Talk with a classmate or your teacher. Show him or her the five paragraphs of the essay and relate each paragraph to a sentence in the paragraph on page three. Note how each sentence of the original paragraph has been expanded.
.
Adapted from Tools for Writing, Fellag and Drean, pg. 95
These materials were developed and funded by a CalWORKs Grant awarded to the San Diego Community
College District, Continuing Education CalWORKs Program, 2006
The Parts of an Essay: Introduction and Thesis Statement
A good essay begins with an introduction that includes a thesis
statement. We learned that paragraphs have a topic sentence to state the
main idea of a single paragraph. However, an essay must have a thesis
statement to state the main ideas of the entire essay.
Look at the introductory paragraph of the model essay. Traditionally,
an introduction starts with some general ideas that lead to the thesis
statement at the end.
One of the most exciting events in a person’s life is moving away from his
or her family for the first time. Many people in the U.S. consider living alone to
be an important step toward independence and adulthood. With it come new
responsibilities and freedoms. In fact, living alone has several important
advantages.
The thesis statement that tells us the topic of the essay is at the end
of the introduction.
One of the most exciting events in a person’s life is moving away from his
or her family for the first time. Many people in the U.S. consider living alone to
be an important step toward independence and adulthood. With it come new
responsibilities and freedoms. In fact, living alone has several important
advantages.
These materials were developed and funded by a CalWORKs Grant awarded to the San Diego Community
College District, Continuing Education CalWORKs Program, 2006
The Parts of an Essay: Introduction and Thesis Statement, Practice
It’s your turn!
Now you can write an introductory paragraph too. Brainstorm general
ideas about the benefits of living with others with your teacher and
classmates. You may look at the models to help you think of ways to state
general ideas. Write three sentences of general ideas that will lead to your