Rewrite this weak topic sentence into a stronger one: “Food is important.”
Individual answers
Create a topic sentence for this paragraph idea: recycling helps the environment.
individual answers
Write a concluding sentence for this topic: “Living in a big city has many challenges.”
Students give individual answer.
Identify the controlling idea: “Watching movies at home is more relaxing than going to the cinema.”
more relaxing than cinema
Rearrange these to make a logical paragraph: a) This is why reading every day is important. b) Reading improves your vocabulary. c) Reading also makes you a better writer. d) Reading books has many benefits.
d) b) c) a)
What are “signal phrases” you can use in a concluding sentence?
In conclusion, to conclude, to sum up, indeed, in brief, in short, to summarize, in summary, all in all
A paragraph has this topic sentence: “Exercise reduces stress.” Write one supporting sentence.
Individual answers
Write a supporting sentence for the topic: “Learning to cook is a useful skill.”
individual answers
A topic sentence often gives the controlling idea. What does “controlling idea” mean?
The controlling idea limits or controls the topic to a specific area that you can discuss in the space of a single paragraph.
Give examples for too general, too specific and good TSs
individual answers
Why might some paragraphs not need a concluding sentence?
individual answers