Lesson Plan of Analyzing paragraphs Writing –II
English Grade VI
Students’ Learning Outcomes
· Read and analyze a paragraph as a larger meaningful unit of expression to
v Identify that the main idea in a paragraph is carried in a sentence called a topic sentence.
v Recognize that other sentences in a paragraph support the topic sentence.
Information for Teacher
· A topic sentence is a sentence that holds the meaning of the whole paragraph or group of sentences. It tells what the passage is mainly about.
Sample Paragraph:
First try to find a topic sentence in the paragraph or section of the text to use as a topic sentence. If you can’t find one, then write your own topic sentence by combing important ideas from several sentences. In the subsequent example, the underscored sentence forms a good topic sentence for this passage:
(The Egyptian civilization was one of the most important cultures of the ancient world.
This civilization succeeded along the rich banks and delta of the Nile river for many centuries, from 3200 BC up until the roman conquest in 30BC…… before writing any essay or even a paragraph, it is significant to think, first about the topic and then what you want to say about the topic. Most often, the topic is easy, but the question then turns to what you want to say about it.
Features of effective topic sentence:
1. Specific words
2. Verbs
3. Modifiers (Adverbs, Adjective)
Concept Map
Material / Resources
Chalk/marker, board, duster, worksheets, textbook
Worm up activity
· Introduction of the ‘Topic Sentence’ through elicitation and explanation
· What is the topic sentence?
· The topic sentence contains the central idea around which a paragraph is developed.
· A decent ‘Topic Sentence’ has the following features:
1. It introduces the topic of a sentence without announcing it.
2. It holds the attention of the reader.
3. It makes the reader think.
Development
Activity 1
· Write the following paragraph on the board and ask students to identify the topic sentence. (Topic sentence has been underline for the help of the teacher)
Sample Paragraph
We have two rules about using the cell phone at our house. Our whole family agreed on them. The first rule isn’t to talk longer than 10 minutes. The second rule is to take messages if you answer the phone someone else.
Activity 2
· Give the following paragraphs to students and tell them to read in pairs and find the topic sentences and supporting details:
Paragraph 1
I have just seen a very strange little man in the street outside. He has got a small round body with short legs and big feet. His feet are very strange because they have three toes. He has got six arms and three heads. One head is round with big flapping ears. That head has one eye in the middle and a square mouth. The next head is big and square with pointed ears. The third head is triangular, has three eyes and a big mouth with a lot of teeth.
Paragraph 2
Though the United States has spent billions of dollars on foreign aid programs, it has seized neither the warmth nor esteem of the rest of the world. In many countries today Americans are cordially disliked; in others merely tolerated. The reason for this sad state of affairs is many and varied and some of them are beyond the control of anything this country might try to do to correct them. But harsh as it may seem to the ordinary citizen, much of the foreigners, animosity, has been generated by the way American behave.
Sum up /Conclusion
· Conclude the lesson by repeating the features of an effective “Topic Sentence”.
Assessment
· Divide the students into groups of 4-5.
· Ask them o write the ‘Topic sentence’ for the following paragraph.
(Any logical answer should be accepted)
He too our knives and forks and some of our plates from the kitchen He must have gone into the living room, where he took the radio and a camera. Then he got back to the kitchen and again through the kitchen window ran out of the house
Follow up
· Ask the students to choose two paragraphs from their text book. Identify the topic sentences and then write them in their note books.
