Body Paragraphs Writing body paragraphs is always a T.R.E.A.T. T= Transition R= Reason E= Evidence A= Answer questions T= Tie back to Thesis

T= Transition Start every body paragraph with a TRANSITIONAL WORD or PHRASE. You can find a list of these in your writing notebook. Pick 4. Transitions are not PROMPT specific, so you can use them no matter what. Example: First and foremost, Use higher level phrases to show higher level writing

R= Reason State your reason next. This is like your topic sentence. It is a general sentence about your paragraph’s topic. This should be directly beside your transitional phrase and comma. Example: First and foremost, cell phones would be useful for education within the classroom.

E= Evidence Give a detailed example of your reason. This should come from your reading. As you were reading you should have picked out things you thought were important. You can underline, highlight, star, whatever, but doing so while you read will help you after you start writing. Paint a picture for me of why this is something I should bother reading. You should have at least three examples in each body paragraph. It should be an example and a statement.

X states that... X claims that… X agrees that... X strongly argues... X comments that... X suggests that... X takes the view that... X believes that... X comments that... X observes that... X concludes that... X notes that... According to X... As X states... When you are quoting or using something from the passage you can start with these: You can replace the X with “the author,” “the passage,” or “the evidence”

A= Answer Questions Answer the question. There is a second question on most prompts: Write an essay in which you delineate the opinions held about banned cell phones within the classroom. Synthesize the information from the article in your essay to help support your claims.

Answering that second, hidden question is the KEY TO GETTING A BODY PARAGRAPH DEVELOPED! This is the statement that goes with your example. You should have three examples and three answers. These should be paired up. That means you can’t have an example without an answer.

T= Tie Back to Thesis After all of that, tie your body paragraph back to your thesis statement. This is where you all struggle. Tell me why this is important to you, why should I be reading this at all. (Other than I have to.) You could try to really WOW the reader.

First and foremost, cell phones would be useful within the classroom for educational purposes. Originally, the author suggests that cell phones are a distraction within the classroom. Because students are constantly connected to one another through their cell phones, they can often get distracted by these sources of technology. The article asserts that because of students’ constant communication through texting, the legal use of cell phones could help students focus. Since students are fluent in “texting,” they may find it helpful to text answers to teachers or even take notes on their smart phones. Additionally, the author also claims that access to the internet via smart phones would cut down on costs of textbooks. Students could simply use their phones to look up online textbooks instead of spending large sums of money each year on new textbooks. The simple concept of allowing students to use cell phones in the classroom would benefit both schools and students; therefore, it would be a great thing lift bans on cell phones in some school districts.