1. Writing 101
Topic Sentence

2. Main Idea
The main idea of a paragraph is what all the sentences are about.

3. What is the main idea of this paragraph? Juan dislikes violence.
Juan loves to play games. His favorite game is chess because it requires a great deal of thought. Juan also likes to play less demanding board games that are based mostly on luck. He prefers Monopoly because it requires luck and skill. If he’s alone, Juan likes to play action video games as long as they aren’t too violent.
What is the main idea of this paragraph?
Juan dislikes violence.
Juan likes to think.
Juan enjoys Monopoly.
Juan enjoys playing games.

4. What is the main idea of this paragraph?
Maria is watching too much television. A toddler shouldn’t be spending hours staring blankly at a screen. Worse yet, some of her wild behavior has been inspired by those awful cartoons she watches. We need to spend more time reading books with her and pull the plug on the TV!
What is the main idea of this paragraph?
Watching a lot of television isn’t good for Maria.
Books are good.
All cartoons are bad.
Some cartoons are bad for Maria.

5. Topic sentence
The central idea around which a paragraph develops.

6. The topic sentence has two parts
plus
Direction

7. Take the topic of . . .
Basketball

8. In how many different directions can you take that topic?
high school basketball
college basketball
professional basketball
the history of basketball
etc.

9. Decide where you want your paragraph to go.
Then write your sentence.

10. For Example . . .
High school basketball provides an excellent way to promote teamwork.
Basketball can create a phenomenon on many college campuses.
The NBA is the male professional basketball association in America.
Basketball got its start in Springfield, Massachusetts.

11. Now you try it. Choose a topic . . . Choose a direction . . .
Write your sentence.