Main IdeaTopic Sentence

Supporting Details

Outlining is an excellent way of organizing your facts before you start drafting.

Suggestion #1:• Organize your notecards by category. • Place each notecard in chronological order based on the

label you’ve written in the upper left hand corner of each notecard.

• This way, you need only flip notecards as you write your outline.

Suggestion #2: • Rephrase the information on your notecard as you complete

the outline• This ensures that you aren’t PLAGARIZING

Day 1

Outlining

A. Think of a creative way of opening your paper: • a quotation at the beginning could make way for an impressive opening, but the

quotation should be relevant to the topic

• A definition or an explanation of one the terms that has an important influence or connection to your topic

• a short narrative or an interesting fact or an analogy that has a direct connection to the chosen topic.

• The goal is to get your reader INTERESTED your paper

B. Explain your attention-getter• Why was this attention-getter important?

C. Include a thesis statement• A thesis statement is the road map to your entire essay• It states what will be discussed in the paper without stating “In my paper I will

discuss. . .”• This thesis can be as simple as: “(My research topic) led an

interesting life and truly made a positive impact on society”

Day 1

Outlining Introductions

A paragraph:• is a group of sentences related to a particular topic, or central theme. • has a key concept or main idea.

• The main idea is the most important piece of information the author wants you to know about the concept of that paragraph. • When authors write they have an idea in mind that they are trying to get across. This is especially true as authors compose paragraphs.

• An author organizes each paragraph's main idea and supporting details in support of the topic or central theme

• Each paragraph supports the paragraph preceding it.

Day 1

Outlining Body Paragraphs

What is a Topic Sentence?

• A Topic Sentence tells the main idea of a paragraph

• Every paragraph should have a topic sentence.

• A topic sentence usually comes at the beginning of a paragraph. It tells the reader what to expect.

• These topic sentences should be Roman Numerals in your outlines (II, III, IV)

Day 1

Identifying the Topic Sentence:

Let’s start simple. Read the following part of a paragraph. After you are finished I will ask you to identify the topic sentence.

Dogs need to be walked at least three or four times a day, while cats never have to be walked. You can leave cats home alone for longer periods of time than dogs. Also, dogs usually cost more to feed.

What is the topic sentence?

Day 1

Choose the best topic sentence for the following content-area paragraph.

The book tells the story of the young Harry Potter, who goes off to learn to be a wizard at a school called Hogwarts. At Hogwarts, Harry makes two special friends, Ron and Hermione. The three have many adventures. They fight a troll, battle dark forces, and watch as a dragon hatches! Hogwarts is full of interesting characters and events. I’d recommend this book to anyone. I can’t wait to read it again!

a. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a book filled with adventures.

b. Last night I finished reading a bookc. My father said we can read Harry Potter and the

Sorcerer’s Stone together.

Topic Sentence Day 1

Take out a pencil and paper.

I would like you to write at least two topic sentences for each of your research categories.

Day 1

Topic Sentence

Day 1

Topic Sentence

Sample: Research subject: William Shakespeare

I. Introduction

II. ChildhoodA. William Shakespeare’s childhood was one of humble beginnings.

III. Achievements A. While Shakespeare’s childhood was nothing extraordinary, he is remembered today because of his amazing ability as a writer.

IV. Positive Impact on societyA. Through his amazing plays and poems, Shakespeare has had an amazing impact on society and the arts as a whole.

V. Conclusion

Sample: Research subject: William Shakespeare

I. Introduction

II. ChildhoodA. William Shakespeare’s childhood was one of humble beginnings.

III. Achievements A. While Shakespeare’s childhood was nothing extraordinary, he is remembered today because of his amazing ability as a writer.

IV. Positive Impact on societyA. Through his amazing plays and poems, Shakespeare has had an amazing impact on society and the arts as a whole.

V. Conclusion

Day 1

Topic Sentence

Sample: What do you think of these topic

sentences?

What do you notice about the way(s) I refer to my author?

Main Idea

• The main idea of a piece of writing is the central point the author tries to make.

• This can be an opinion, argument, or a general idea.

• Most of the time, the main idea is stated in a topic sentence.

• This sentence is usually near the beginning and sets up what the rest of the writing will be about, although authors may chose place the main idea in the concluding sentence in a paragraph.

• The topic sentence not only supports the thesis, but it also sets up tone, voice, and style.

Day 2

Main Idea•Supporting details are sentences that support the main idea.

•These sentences have information that helps explain and prove the author’s point.

• For example, a paragraph about how animals hide might have supporting details about camouflage.

• Strong paragraphs have clear and organized details that relate to the main idea. The supporting details must include your research!!!

• Transitions, descriptive adjectives, and active verbs are other elements of good writing.

Day 2

Main Idea Day 3

Now I will give you the story about earthquakes. (handout) Answer the questions below and also fill out the graphic organizer. You will need to use your own paper again today because I only have a classroom set.

You may start reading now.

1. Paragraph 1 - which sentence tells the main idea?2. Paragraph 2 – which sentence in this paragraph states the

main idea? How do the details in this paragraph support this main idea?

3. Paragraph 3 – Which details tells how often earthquakes occur in Moodus?

4. Paragraphs 4-6 – What is the main idea of these three paragraphs? What are the three ideas about what causes the quakes?

5. Paragraph 6 – Which sentence tells the main idea of the entire article?

Main Idea Day 3

Now that you have had some small instruction and experience working with Main idea, Topic Sentence and Supporting Details, you will need to keep practicing.

By learning how to do these, you will make life much easier for yourself during your high school and college years. For, you see, when you learn how to pick out the main idea and supporting details, you have conquered the hardest part of your lesson.