Learning Objective: To understand how to use paragraphs correctly in my work.

Using paragraphs correctly in your work is a key skill for any writing and also an important skill to get right for life! Somebody who cannot paragraph will make their writing very difficult to read! Compare the following to sections of writing...

Paragraphs form a very important part of almost any type of writing in English. They have been used for hundreds of years in all different languages for some of the following reasons. The main reason to use paragraphs is to show where the writer has finished talking about one point and has moved on to talk about a new one. They show a different topic, time or person. When there is speech in writing each sentence spoken by a different character should be in a different paragraph to help the reader see who is talking. Again, without this the writing is too difficult to read. A section of writing which includes paragraphs will be far quicker and easier to read than one which hasn’t. People who don’t use paragraphs are at risk – risk of not being understood by their reader!

Paragraphs form a very important part of almost any type of writing in English. They have been used for hundreds of years in all different languages for some of the following reasons. The main reason to use paragraphs is to show where the writer has finished talking about one point and has moved on to talk about a new one. They show a different topic, time or person. When there is speech in writing each sentence spoken by a different character should be in a different paragraph to help the reader see who is talking. Again, without this the writing is too difficult to read. A section of writing which includes paragraphs will be far quicker and easier to read than one which hasn’t. People who don’t use paragraphs are at risk – risk of not being understood by their reader!

Copy the following into your book: Exciting and must-remember tips for paragraphing: Paragraphs break up big chunks of writing. Tip Top paragraphing is the way to remember when to paragraph. There are two ways to start a new paragraph. When writing by hand, start a new line with a small indent the size of your finger. When typing, start a new line. Paragraphs can be very long or very short but are generally around 4 or 5 lines on a page.

CLOSE YOUR BOOKS! What have your remembered from what you just saw?

Tip Top paragraphs Ti P To P A new paragraph is needed for: Ti me P lace To pic P erson

Speech in writing A new paragraph should be used whenever somebody new speaks, even if they have already spoken. Look at the paragraphing in this conversation below: “So, what do you have to say for yourself then?” enquired the police officer. The young boy replied softly, “ Nothing, you can’t prove anything!” Silence settled in the room for a minute. All that could be heard was the clock patiently ticking on the wall, and the breathing from the two persons trying to outstare each other. Eventually, the silence was broken, and the police officer pulled a clear bag from behind his back and slammed it on the table. “What do you call this then, eh?” Silence. The boy’s favourite hat stared back at him from within the bag. “Oh” was all he could manage.

Now it’s your turn to use your paragraphing knowledge. Write a page in your books telling me about what you got up to over the weekend. It doesn’t matter how boring it may be, so long as you are practising breaking up your writing correctly with paragraphs. EXTENSION: Write a story like the last one which includes a conversation between at least two characters. If you are stuck for ideas, try setting it at school with an argument between a student and teacher about missing homework.