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Paragraph Writing

Mindprint Rating

Tags

ELA: Writing Elementary School Workbook

Skills

Expressive Language Organization Verbal Reasoning

Mindprint Expert Review

Pros

  • This workbook uses step-by-step instructions and descriptive examples to teach students how to write good paragraphs.
  • The book offers a variety of activities to teach basic writing skills to help students with a range of strengths and needs.
  • The workbook provides comprehensive paragraph checklists for students and teachers to analyze written work.

Considerations

  • Although teacher and student checklists are provided, there is no simple answer key so an adult will need to monitor a student's progress.
  • The book requires a lot of writing which could be problematic for students with weaker fine motor skills. However, adults could give them the option to type their answers.

Mindprint Expert Review

Paragraph Writing is an excellent workbook for teaching the basic skills of paragraph writing. It can be a particularly good choice for students who have difficulty organizing their ideas. Each workbook section provides clear, how-to lessons and descriptive examples. Lessons include how to write the different sentences of a paragraph, different paragraphs of the five paragraph essay, and writing in different subject areas. The lessons are presented with multiple approaches and examples, making this a good option for students with a variety of learning strengths and needs. For example, the lesson on topic sentences offer four different approaches, and the section on paragraph planning provides detailed examples on how to prepare a paragraph using options for a mind map or an outline. The book provides comprehensive paragraph checklists for students and adults to assess written work. The illustrations and the topics in the book are interesting and provide good prompts to help students generate ideas. The variety also makes this a good choice for a wide range of interests. Overall, this workbook provides excellent instruction that will meet the needs of a broad range of learners.

Academic Benefits

Improves academic skills

  • Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
  • Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
  • Presents educational concepts accurately
  • Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
  • Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
  • Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
  • Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

Fun

Engaging for the Mindprint recommended age range

  • Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
  • Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
  • Includes reward stickers
  • Visually stimulating and appealing (uses student-centered pictures, colors, and themes)
  • Graphics and overall feel of the workbook is appropriate for the target age range
  • Relative to most workbooks, fun to use from a child's perspective
  • Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
  • Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

Easy to Use

Understandable for children in the Mindprint recommended age range

  • Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
  • Student should be able to use independently after first use
  • Specific topics/lessons are easy to find
  • Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
  • Overall - Easy to use

Cognitive Concerns

May not be advisable for students with the following cognitive needs

  • Fine Motor Skills
    • Requires a disproportionate amount of writing

Manufacturer Description

Get students to love the thrill of writing with Paragraph Writing Grades 2 to 4 from Evan-Moor. This print teacher reproducible will become an instant go-to resource for writing instruction. Based on the six traits of writing, it offers practice in different writing forms, including narrative, descriptive, how-to, compare and contrast paragraphs and more. Paragraph Writing provides multi-leveled activities that cultivate strong writers; teaching how to form, research and write interesting, descriptive and informative paragraphs. Laments about not knowing what to write will be a thing of the past with this excellent elementary writing resource.

Give your students the structured practice and instruction they need to become strong writers without losing the creative spirit that makes writing fun!

Paragraph Writing is jam-packed with activities that provide students with practice writing narrative, descriptive, how-to, and compare and contrast paragraphs. From writing forms to web diagrams, there are a variety of activities to support students' varied learning levels, styles, and interests. And with resources such as transparencies and a trait-based writing guide, you have everything you need to provide students with motivating writing practice!

You'll love Paragraph Writing because it:
-supports 6-Trait writing. Activities build skills in each trait -- voice, organization, word choice, conventions, ideas, and sentence fluency. And a trait-based writing guide at the beginning of the book makes it easy to see exactly which skills are being developed.
-contains multiple lessons at varied difficulty levels. Help differentiate instruction in your classroom using lessons that fit all of your students' needs.
-introduces students to important paragraph writing skills. From topic sentences and supporting details, to using an outline or web diagram -- it's all covered.
-integrates writing across the curriculum. Writing forms and prompts provide opportunities for students to practice their writing skills in science, social studies, and math.
-inspires reluctant writers. Motivating topics and delightful illustrations make writing fun!
-is correlated to state standards.

Watch students progress as they hone their writing skills through a variety of activities:
Part I: Parts of a Paragraph
-Students learn about main idea, topic sentences, and supporting details through guided and independent practice activities.

Part II: Paragraph Forms
-Students use scaffolded forms to organize information into narrative, descriptive, how-to, and compare/contrast paragraphs.

Part III: Planning Paragraphs Using a Web
-Students practice organizing sentences within paragraphs and paragraphs within reports while using webs.

Part IV: Planning Paragraphs Using an Outline
-Students practice organizing more advanced paragraphs and reports while using outlines.

Part V: Paragraph Writing Center
-Students reinforce writing skills and concepts through engaging writing center activities.

Part VI: Paragraph Writing Across the Curriculum
-Suggestions and writing forms help you integrate writing into every curriculum area. Students practice writing different kinds of paragraphs on science, social studies, and math topics.