Paragraph Writing

It's impossible super hard to get my little 2nd graders to understand how and why we write paragraphs. I had to come up with some way to help them start to learn why authors do this, and how we do it.


This is a pretty lame idea, but it's seemed to work...


Before we begin our post write, after we've revised and edited and all that fancy stuff, we sit down and talk about the points in our writing. Each point is basically a new idea, with new reasons, or new points.


I have them put a little sticker wherever we "start a new idea" or "new point" or "new reason" or new whatever. Here's what it looks like:




Then, I teach them the Paragraph Rap. Super lame-o.... but not to them! We stand up, and yell sing
and do movements to "Hop down, two fingers!!!" 

And of course, I model model model and do tons of thinking aloud.


Whenever they see the little sticker while doing their post write, they know it's a new point, so time for a new paragraph. And....in a perfect 2nd grade world, they would hop down to the next line, and put two finger spaces...


First time we did this: Miserable fail. Random two finger spaces, or ALL the lines two finger spaces...a big old mess.


Second time: Some got it, some sorta did, most of us didn't.


Third time: More of us are getting it. And I'm starting to get excited.


Hopefully by the time they get to third grade (which is right around the corner!!!!) they'll have some understanding of paragraphs and why we use them! Hopefully.


How do you help you little ones learn to write paragraphs???


:)

6 comments

  1. I love the sticker idea!! Super cute - I'm all about lame. ;) It works haha!

    We use highlighters a lot in my room. Green for topic sentence, yellow for detail sentences, and red for our conclusion sentence. Once they highlight the red (or pink) they know to start a new paragraph with a new idea. Seems to work pretty well but I also have kids who struggle with paragraphs.

    Second Grade Sugar and Spice

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  2. I am all about consistency and planning and repetition. After the 3rd or 4th time doing the same routine, they are all usually on board.
    Cute sticker idea. :D
    ❤Traci❤
    Dragonflies in First

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  3. Love the sticker idea!!! What a cute visual to help them remember when to start the next paragraph! Our kiddos always struggle with this too. We work and work and our third grade STILL wonders if we have even introduced it! :)

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  4. Love this! As a 4th grade teacher, I know how difficult paragraphing can be. I have many 4th graders that still struggle with it. I bet the upper elementary teachers at your school LOVE you! The kids look like they are well on their way to mastering the paragraph ~Amanda @ http://theteachingthief.blogspot.com/

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  5. I always use hamburger writing to introduce a good paragraph!

    This year to show more paragraphs, I wrote a bunch of sentences about a vacation I'd gone on, and put them on the SmartBoard so I could move them around individually. Sentence strips would've probably worked better, but I was out! Then we could move them around until the topics made sense together, and then we finally talked about how to make it 'look' like a paragraph by adding indents and going until the end of the line.

    Jenny
    Luckeyfrog's Lilypad

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    learnplayandhavefun.blogspot.com

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