1. A basic paragraph contains three parts:
Paragraph Writing
A basic paragraph contains three parts:
Topic Sentence
Supporting Details
Concluding Sentence

2. Paragraph Writing Topic Sentence
The topic sentence is usually the first sentence, although it does not have to be.
The topic sentence tells the reader what the paragraph is about.
The topic sentence has two parts: a MAIN IDEA and a CONTROLLING IDEA.
The MAIN IDEA introduces the topic, in a general way.
The CONTROLLING IDEA describes exactly what you are going to read about.

3. Example of a topic sentence
Paragraph Writing
Example of a topic sentence
There are many benefits to driving a car with a manual transmission. 'driving a car' is the main idea and 'benefits of manual transmission' is the controlling idea. Why? Because 'driving a car' introduces the general subject - and there are many things we can say about driving a car. The 'benefits of manual transmission' is exactly what we read about - so this is the controlling idea; it controls what we are going to write about.

4. Examples of a topic sentence
Paragraph Writing
Examples of a topic sentence
Many people like many different kinds of cats. (Not so good, boring and try not to repeat in a sentence.)
A lot of people I know have a great interest in sharing their homes with cats. (much better, more interesting and no repeating).

5. Common mistakes with topic sentences
Paragraph Writing
Common mistakes with topic sentences
War is bad. This is too broad a topic for one paragraph. People write books about wars.  
I ate bananas yesterday. This is a nice statement, but it is too narrow. Once you tell the reader how many bananas, there is really nothing else to say.  
This paragraph will be about student fears. This is an announcement. The reader has no idea what you want to say about fears, or what your purpose is.

6. Paragraph Writing Supporting Sentences
All sentences must be related to the controlling idea (this is why it is ‘controlling’).
Good supporting sentnces are: explanations, reasons, examples, definitions; they answer questions – who? what? why? where? when? why? how?
For every detail you include, you should provide explanation and analysis to link the detail to the idea to the controlling idea in the topic sentence.

7. Paragraph Writing Suppporting details Good supporting sentences:
explain: They moved to the city for economic reasons.
describe: She lived in a beautiful small house surround by a colorful garden.
give reasons: He quit his job because of the stress of working for such a bad boss.
give facts: Just over ten percent of our students are from other countries.
give examples: Grapefruit are the result of a cross between pomelo and orange.
give definitions: My mother has a samovar, which is a traditional Russian tea urn.

8. Paragraph Writing Concluding Sentence
Every paragraph that stands on its own will have a concluding sentence. The concluding sentence will provide a satisfying final thought for your reader. In a short paragraph, you will not need to summarize what you’ve written, so you should think about why your topic or opinion might be important for the reader to consider or what you would like the reader to remember about the topic. A good concluding sentence will be memorable and also links back to the topic sentence. In this way, you create unity in your paragraph.
In the next slide there is an example of a paragraph showing the main points, and the link between the topic sentence and the concluding sentence.

9. Paragraph Writing
One of the best cities to visit on the east coast of the United States is Washington DC. It has some of the most interesting landmarks and tourist spots in the country. There are many monuments to visit, such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Washington Monument, which is the tallest building in Washington. For more excitement, the area called George town in northwest Washington is famous for its shopping and restaurants. Finally there is the White House tour. On this tour the guide leads visitors as they walk through many of the rooms in the White house and view the home of the President of the United States. Washington D.C. might not be as large or as famous as other U.S. cities, but it has an appeal all of it own.
Main idea
Topic sentence
Controlling idea
Explanation
Reason …..
Example
Explanation
More reasons
Another reason
Explanation
Concluding sentence

10. Paragraph Writing Finding something to write about
First choose a subject, then write down as many ideas as you can associated with that subject. Try not to think about the subject, try not to think about what to write, just write down any words or ideas that come into your mind. Some ideas will be useless, and some will be useful.
In the next slide is an example based on the topic 'coffee’.

11. Paragraph Writing

12. Paragraph Writing

13. Paragraph Writing

14. Paragraph Writing Some Common Errors Subject-Verb Agreement
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Parallel Structure

15. Subject-Verb Agreement
Verbs have to agree with their subjects in number.
The boy eats his lunch The boys eat their lunch.
singular, therefore ‘s’ goes on the verb plural, therefore no ‘s’ on the verb
The child plays happily in the park. The children play happily in the park.
(the ‘s’ can be ‘es’ depending on the spelling - go … goes fly … flies

16. Common Errors: Subject-verb agreement
Paragraph Writing
Common Errors: Subject-verb agreement
As we saw previously, subjects must agree in number with their verbs. If you have a single subject, you use the form of the verb + ‘s’. Likewise, if you have a plural subject, you will use the form of the verb with no ‘s’.
The students runs down the street. (Incorrect)
The students run down the street. (Correct)
‘s’ no ‘s’
The president and his advisors walks together on the lawn. (Incorrect)
The president and his advisors walk together on the lawn. (Correct)

17. Common Errors: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Paragraph Writing
Common Errors: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
‘Antecedent’ means ‘what came before’. Therefore pronouns must agree both in number and with the original noun to which they refer.
The can of green beans sits on its shelf.
singular singular
Both do a good job in their office
plural plural
Some of the marbles fell out of their bag
plural plural

18. Common Errors: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Paragraph Writing
Common Errors: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
The student lost their notebook. (Incorrect)
In this example, “student” is the antecedent. Since student is singular, the pronoun needs to be singular. When we know the gender of the student, then we can rewrite the sentence correctly:
The student lost his notebook. (Correct)
The student lost her notebook. (Correct)
You can also take the original sentence and correct it by making the subject and object plural:
The students lost their notebooks. (Correct)
Some pronouns, like each, anybody, everybody and someone, will always be singular. Therefore, they will agree with a singular pronoun.
Has anyone lost their notebook? (Incorrect)
Has anyone lost his or her notebook? (Correct)

19. Paragraph Writing Some Common Errors Parallel Structure
Parallel structure occurs when you list items, phrases, or clauses in the same grammatical form. Look at this example of a sentence with faulty parallel structure:
For exercise, Tara liked snowboarding, surfing, and to run (Incorrect)
For exercise, Tara liked snowboarding, surfing, and running. (Correct)
In some cases, you may have longer items listed as phrases or clauses that will need to agree. Look at this example:
In his observation of the animals, Josef noticed that they would assemble by species in groups next to the water hole, to forage individually in the jungle for food, and then sleep in smaller family groups. (Incorrect) In his observation of the animals, Josef noticed that they would assemble by species in groups next to the water hole, forage individually in the jungle for food, and sleep in smaller, family groups. (Correct)