1. Reading Paragraphs
Ms. Johnson’s Complete Reading
September 26, 2011

2. Understanding Paragraphs
In order to understand a paragraph completely, you need to first know the following:
Kinds of Paragraphs
Ways paragraphs are organized

3. Kinds of Paragraphs Narrative Paragraph: Tell a Story
They do not try to convince the reader
No specific details about one particular thing
Example: Last year, I went on a trip to South America. My parents took me and we had a lot of fun. I got to experience all kinds of different cultures and lifestyles. Not only did I get to enjoy the beach and sun, but I also got to learn a lot from the people there. It was one of the best trips of my life.

4. Types of Paragraphs
Persuasive Paragraphs: Express an opinion or try to convince the reader
They give specific reasons or examples
Try to make the reader believe the same way the writer does
Try to make you do something
Example: There are many reasons a person should learn a different language. The United States has grown so much in all areas. Many people who now live in the U.S. were born somewhere else or speak a different language. Obviously English is our language, but it would be nice to open your mind and learn another language.

5. Types of Paragraphs
Descriptive Paragraphs: Offer specific details and sensory images to give a picture
These paragraphs make visualizing pretty easy
Example: My favorite beach is in Cancun, Mexico. The sand is almost white it is so clean. The water is also a beautiful blue- green color, but also clear. When you swim, you can see the bottom; which is so neat. It also gives you the ability to see fish in their natural environment. It is such a beautiful place to visit.

6. Types of Paragraphs
Expository Paragraphs: Present facts, opinions, definitions of terms, and examples to inform the reader about a specific topic
Can explain how something works or happens
Can give directions
Example:

7. Understanding Paragraphs
These types of paragraphs may be familiar and seem easy to understand
What may seem less familiar is the way paragraphs are organized
Each sentence in a paragraph fits together around a single, central idea
Knowing some ways details are organized into paragraphs can help you better understand what you are reading

8. Understanding Paragraphs
Understanding the way details of a paragraph are organized can help you in several ways:
1. See what’s important and what’s not
2. Understand the author’s purpose
3. Remember what you read

9. Ways of Organizing Paragraphs
Understanding the order of details listed in paragraphs will greatly improve your ability to understand what you are reading
There are six ways that paragraphs are usually organized
Ask yourself these questions:
What’s the main idea that holds the paragraph together?
Where is the idea located? (beginning, middle, or end)

10. Ways of Organizing Paragraphs
Time order
The writer tells a series of events in more or less the exact order in which they happened.
Just like hearing a story exactly as it happened
No jumping around or confusion
Example: I woke up this morning. After I took a shower, I ate my breakfast. I got dressed for school and headed to the bus stop. I made it to school on time.

11. Ways of Organizing Paragraphs
Location Order
Some paragraphs move in an organized way from one location to another
The idea of this paragraph is to establish what was happening where
Example: I was reading in my bedroom on the second floor of our white house. I heard my brother downstairs watching television in the family room. My mom was folding laundry in her room, which is right next to my room. I also heard dad in the office talking on the phone. Since the office is right next to the family room, my brother couldn’t hear his show.

12. Ways of Organizing Paragraphs
Cause and Effect Order: Can be ordered in two ways:
The writer begins with the cause and moves to the effects
OR begins with the effects and explains the cause

13. Cause and Effect A Cause is something that makes something else happen
Of the two events, it is the event that happens first
Ask the question: “Why did it happen?”
An Effect is what happens as a result of the cause
Of the two events, it is the one that happens second, or last
Ask the question: “ What happened?”

14. Cause and Effect Order
Example: I was late for basketball practice after school. I had to run home and get clothes because I forgot practice clothes at home. Since I was late for practice, I had to run 2 miles at the end.

15. Ways of Organizing Paragraphs
Order of Importance: Can be organized two ways:
Writer begins with most important idea and moves to examples and details to support the idea
OR Writer begins with examples and details to build up and support the main idea
Example: While the North was free soil, it was hardly a paradise for blacks.  Racial prejudice was a fact of everyday life.  Most Yankee states had enacted strict “black laws.”  In Illinois, Lincoln’s home state, blacks paid taxes but could not vote, hold political office, serve on juries, testify in court, or attend schools.  They had a hard time finding jobs.  Often they sold themselves as “indentures” for a period of twenty years – a form of voluntary slavery – just to eat and have a place to live.

16. Order of Importance Most important to Least important
Writer starts with the most important idea (main idea) and lists details to support the main idea
Least important to Most important
Writer starts with the details or examples supporting the main idea then moves to state the main idea at the end of the paragraph

17. Ways of Organizing Paragraphs
Comparison- Contrast Order
Remember our definitions!
Compare: Discusses the ways things are the SAME
Contrast: Discusses the ways things are DIFFERENT
Writers use these paragraphs to show how one thing is like or unlike something else
Making a list of similarities and differences is a good way to understand these paragraphs

18. Compare-Contrast Ordering
Example: The owl’s wing is somewhat like your arm.  It has the same three parts – the hand, the lower arm, and the upper arm.  The owl can bend its upper arm the way you can bend your upper arm.  The owl flaps its large wings to lift itself into the air.

19. Ways of Organizing Paragraphs
Classification Order: the writer tries to group things to show broad similarities
Writers often need to name categories to make it clear how one group is alike or different from another
Classification paragraphs are like a chart put into words

20. Classification Ordering
Example: Different students attend various types of schools; however, they can usually be classified as either public, private religious, private non religious, or alternative. Public schools are funded by the state, and the majority of students attend them in the United States. Private religious schools are based around a particular faith, such as Catholicism, Judaism, and so forth. Therefore, private non religious schools are simply just that: schools which do not receive state funding and have the ability to make their own rules. Alternative schools can be made up of a variety of different categories, such as the Montessori program or technical schools. Most students who attend class in an actual school building go to one of these types of institutions.