Now I Design My Topic Sentence

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Objective

SWBAT create a topic sentence based on the research they have selected to write about.

Big Idea

See how making learning material relevant can allow students to achieve the most rigorous tasks.

Lesson Author

Regan Aymett

Shelbyville, TN

Grade Level

First grade

Subjects

English / Language Arts

Writing

Research Writing and Practices

Standards

W.1.2

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.8

With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

SL.1.1

Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

Hook

10 minutes

Common Core Connection

This is the fifth lesson in the unit on standard W1.8 (Research Writing), writing about research, and this lesson focuses on the creation of a topic sentence. The students have selected important information in their paragraph, but now they need to design their own topic sentence. This is the next step in the process of creating a research based paragraph. But, creating a topic sentence is highly complex, because students have to look at their content and decide how to make a collective statement about it (without being too broad or too specific).

Lesson Overview

I model creating a topic sentence based on my model from the previous day. Then we create a topic sentence about model set of information. Last, the students work with their partner to design their own topic sentence. I have a video on two important strategies I use, Peanut Butter Jelly Partner and Transitions, in the resources.

Introductory Activity

So, now I ask the class to talk about what their research paragraph is going to be about. Then I say that this is your topic sentence. I tell my class that their topic sentence tells the reader what their paragraph is about. It comes first, and it is usually the main idea too. When the students are actually creating all this they really improve their comprehension skills as well.