Teaching paragraph writing is critical! I remember a moment in my 5th-grade classroom when I was teaching my students about informational writing. We were in the middle of a lesson about adding voice and style to their work when all of a sudden I realized, forget adding style, my students couldn’t put together a strong paragraph. I had been so caught up in helping them improve the quality of their writing that I never made sure they had a strong foundation in writing a well-organized paragraph. For the next few weeks, I threw away all of my original lesson plans and focused on the basics: paragraph structure.
Here are the four steps I took to teach paragraph writing, plus a few things I’ve learned along the way.
1. Make Paragraph Writing Concrete
Just like we use manipulatives in math, writing needs to be concrete too. When I first introduce paragraph writing, I begin with a burger. Yes, a burger! We have a whole-class discussion about what makes a fantastic burger and the purpose of each part, and we record our thinking on an anchor chart.
Once we all agree on what makes the perfect burger, I relate it to paragraph writing. Each part of a burger has a purpose, just like each part of a paragraph has a purpose. If any important pieces are missing, it’s not really a burger (or a paragraph). We take it even further and say that the topic sentence (top bun) and conclusion sentence (bottom bun) hold everything together, while the details (meat) are what the paragraph is all about. Without the details, it’s just bread. ๐
This works so well because paragraph structure feels abstract to kids, but a burger is something they can picture right away. A student who can’t explain what a conclusion sentence does can definitely tell you what happens to a burger without a bottom bun!
What a Hamburger Paragraph Looks Like
Here’s a simple example I share with students, with each part of the burger labeled.
- Top bun (topic sentence): Honeybees are some of the hardest workers in the animal kingdom.
- The meat (details): A single worker bee can visit dozens of flowers in one trip to collect nectar and pollen. Back at the hive, bees build the honeycomb, feed the young, and guard the entrance from intruders. On hot days, they even fan their wings to help keep the hive cool.
- Bottom bun (conclusion sentence): With so many jobs to do, it’s no wonder we describe hard workers as “busy as a bee.”
Notice how every detail supports the topic sentence. That’s the first thing I check when my students write their own paragraphs.
2. Analyze Professionally Written Texts
This is when my students get to take a look at real articles written by real authors and see how they organize their writing. In the beginning, this is a whole-class activity. I carefully choose a paragraph from an article, and we put each piece into our burger chart. Which sentence is the top bun? Which sentences are the meat?
Once students get the hang of what to look for, they use sticky notes to label the key parts of each paragraph on their own. Don’t worry if this goes slowly the first few times. Students will often debate whether a sentence is a detail or a conclusion, and those conversations are where a lot of the learning happens.
One tip: choose articles from whatever you’re already studying in science or social studies, so you can review content at the same time.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice Writing Paragraphs!
At this point, I like to give my students lots of different ways to practice what they’ve learned. One simple way to do this is a paragraph sort. Cut a paragraph into sentences, mix them up, and have students put them back in the right order, either as a group or independently. Some students may only need to do this once, while others benefit from seeing this type of activity a few times.
I’ve also found that paragraph writing sticks best when students practice it all year long. I share my weekly routine in my post about Paragraph of the Week.
4. Apply the Strategy
Once students understand the parts of a strong paragraph, have analyzed paragraphs written by real authors, and have practiced what they’ve learned, they’re ready to apply it to their own writing.
The best way to do this is to start with a simple writing prompt. Ask students to write one paragraph, keeping in mind the parts you’ve been discussing. I ask my stronger writers to write their paragraph on notebook paper and then highlight and label each part. Students who need more support use a burger organizer to build their paragraph one piece at a time. Depending on the level of your students, you may want to do something different, and that’s okay.
Next Step: Adding the Toppings
Once my students have mastered putting together a great burger… I mean, paragraph… I move on to adding “toppings” to make it even better. I used to say this was a whole other blog post, but here’s a quick look at how I do it.
Toppings are the extras that make a paragraph more interesting to read, like a statistic, a question for the reader, a surprising fact, a line of dialogue, or a comparison. I introduce one topping at a time and give students plenty of practice with it before we add another. The burger has to hold together first, but once the structure comes naturally, the toppings are where students’ personalities really start to show in their writing.
Down the road, I also show students that real authors don’t always follow the five-sentence pattern. Once students know the parts of a paragraph well, they’re ready to make their own choices as writers.
Tips for Teaching Paragraph Writing by Grade Level
The burger method works across the elementary grades, but what you focus on will change as your students grow.
- 2nd and 3rd grade: Start with a topic sentence, two details, and a conclusion sentence. Do plenty of sorting and labeling together as a class, and let students talk through their paragraph with a partner before they write it down.
- 4th and 5th grade: This is where the full paragraph and the work with real articles really pay off. Push students to choose details that actually support the topic sentence rather than details that are simply about the same topic. That skill makes a big difference on state writing tests, too.
- 6th grade and up: Review the burger quickly if students need it, then spend most of your time on toppings, transitions between paragraphs, and using evidence from the text.
Grab the Free Paragraph Writing Organizer
If you’d like to try the burger method with your students, you can grab my burger paragraph organizer for free. Just click the button below, and I’ll send it straight to your inbox.
If you’re looking for more lessons and activities for teaching paragraph structure, you’ll find my full paragraph writing unit in my shop.
Of course, some students need more practice and time than others, but I have found that this burger method works wonders for my students year after year. I hope it helps your students build strong paragraphs, too!
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