Children and teens with attention, language, learning, and executive functioning difficulties often struggle to understand and develop the structure of writing. As a result, it can be hard for them to organize their good ideas into good written paragraphs and reports.
Struggling students can benefit from learning how to organize their ideas based on the purpose of their writing. For instance, if your student is assigned to “outline examples of different types of paragraphs,” he might write the following.
Have you ever thought about how many different types of paragraphs there are? Although there are too many to describe in one paragraph, there are five types writers commonly use to express their thoughts and ideas. For example, a narrative paragraph is used to tell a story with events arranged in the order they occurred. Likewise, a process paragraph explains how to complete a task, step by step following a sequence. Of course, a descriptive paragraph provides specific details about what something looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels like. Moreover, a classification paragraph explains the various parts of a topic by separating them into groups. Finally, an illustration provides examples and explains how those examples prove your point. What other types of paragraphs can you describe?
The “example paragraph” can one of the easiest paragraphs to learn how to write. Specific, concrete and carefully selected examples of a specific topic are used in this type of paragraph. As highlighted above, it is important to use transition words to connect the examples used. Finally, add a good ending and an interesting introduction to get your reader involved.
Next Steps
Once he has mastered this simpler type of paragraph, help your student start writing other types of paragraphs based on the purpose of his writing using the descriptions in the next post in this series. By learning the structure of different types of paragraphs, he can improve his own internal structure for writing.
Need Help Applying These Concepts?
This is a sample of what your student can learn in Student Success and our Summer Success groups!
Contact us to make an appointment.
PLEASE SIGN IN OR REGISTER AS A "MY LIFE SOLUTIONS" MEMBER TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE. Joining "My Life Solutions" is free and your privacy is protected! New members may register by scrolling down and entering the requested information. Membership gives you full access to all of our blog articles and downloadable tools. Plus you will receive our exclusive newsletter containing additional tools and articles of interest. Read our "Terms of Use" and "Privacy Practices" for additional information.