how to teach the five paragraph essay pdf

Join my VIP teacher email club!

When I look back to my first experience teaching five paragraph essays to fifth graders, I can remember how terribly unprepared I felt.

I knew that the five paragraph essay format was what my students needed to help them pass our state’s writing assessment but I had no idea where to start.

I researched the few grade-appropriate essays I could find online (these were the days before Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers) and determined that there was a structure to follow.

Every essay followed the same basic structure. I taught the structure to my students and they did well.

I have been teaching five paragraph essay structure and everything that goes with it for several years now. I hope that after you read this blog post, you will have a good understanding of how to teach and grade five paragraph essays.

Once you’ve learned all about teaching basic essay structure, you’ll be ready to grow your writers from “blah” to brilliant! 

Teaching five paragraph essays is just one part of teaching 5th grade writing. Click here to find out exactly how I teach writing to my 5th graders! 

Start with Simple Paragraphs

We always start with simple paragraphs.

Yes, this is basic, but if your students cannot write excellent paragraphs, their five paragraph essays will be train wrecks. Trust me!

We spend a while cementing paragraph structure:

Topic Sentence

Closing Sentence

I give students topics, they come up with their own topics, we write together, they write with a partner or independently, the more variety, the better.

We have fun with simple paragraphs. Then, it’s time to move on to body paragraphs.

Organize and Write Body Paragraphs

Please refer to my five paragraph essay organizer below.

The three body paragraphs are absolutely crucial to the success of the five paragraph essay.

Some teachers have trouble teaching the structure of five paragraph essays because they start with the introduction paragraph.

Always teach the body paragraphs first!

I had a teacher say to me once, “What’s the point of just writing parts of the essay? They need to write the entire five paragraphs to get all of the practice they need.”

I understand that point. However, think of it as building a house. Should you test out the foundation and make sure it’s sound and sturdy before building on top of it? Absolutely! That’s what we’re doing here.

The three body paragraphs are the foundation of the essay.

Ask students to write out their three body paragraphs just like they have practiced…Topic sentence…Detail 1…Detail 2…Detail 3…Closing Sentence.

I “ooooh and aaaah” over their three paragraphs. Students are on their way to five paragraph essays, so be sure to build their confidence.

Teach the Introduction Paragraph

I have to say, this is my favorite paragraph to teach. The introduction paragraph is what draws readers into the essay and makes them want to read more.

We start with what I call a “hook.” The hook captures the readers’ attention and can come in many forms: asking a question, making a bold statement, sharing a memory, etc.

After the hook, I ask students to add a sentence or two of applicable commentary about the hook or about the prompt in general.

Finally, we add the thesis sentence. The thesis sentence always follows the same formula: Restate the prompt, topic 1, topic 2, and topic 3.

That’s all you need to write an excellent introduction paragraph!

I do suggest having students write the introduction paragraph plus body paragraphs a couple of times before teaching the closing paragraph.

Teach the Closing Paragraph

In the conclusion paragraph, we mainly focus on restating the thesis and including an engaging closing thought.

With my students, I use the analogy of a gift.

The introduction paragraph and body paragraphs are the gift and the conclusion paragraph is the ribbon that ties everything together and finishes the package.

When you talk about restating the thesis sentence, tell students that they need to make it sound different enough from their original thesis sentence to save their readers from boredom.

Who wants to read the same thing twice? No one!

Students can change up the format and wording a bit to make it fresh.

I enjoy teaching the closing thought because it’s so open to however students want to create it.

Ways to write the closing thought: ask a question, personal statement, call to action, or even a quote. 

I especially like reading the essays in which a quote is used as a closing thought or a powerful statement is used.

Example of a full five paragraph essay

Let’s Talk About Color-Coding!

Who doesn’t like to color? This is coloring with a purpose!

Training your students to color-code their paragraphs and essays will make grading so much easier and will provide reminders and reinforcements for students.

When students color-code their writing, they must think about the parts of their paragraphs, like topic sentences, details, and the closing sentence.

They will be able to see if they are missing something or if they’ve written something out of order.

Color-coding is a wonderful help for the teacher because you can skim to ensure that all parts of your students’ paragraphs and essays are present.

Also, when you are grading, you can quickly scan the paragraphs and essays. Trust me, you will develop a quick essay-grading ability.

I start color-coding with my students at the very beginning when they are working on simple paragraphs. I add the additional elements of the color-code as we progress through our five paragraph essays.

This is the code that I use:

Let’s Talk About Grading Five Paragraph Essays!

Imagine a lonely, stressed teacher grading five paragraph essays on the couch while her husband is working the night shift.

That was me!

Seriously, guys, I would spend about ten minutes per essay. I marked every little error, I made notes for improvement and notes of encouragement. I reworked their incorrect structure.

Those papers were full of marks.

On Monday, I proudly brought back the essays and asked students to look over them and learn what they needed to fix for next time.

You can guess what happened… there were lots of graded essays in the trashcan at the end of the day.

I decided that my grading practices had to change. I needed my weekends back and my students needed to find their own errors!

This is my best advice:

STOP correcting every error!

Your students are not benefiting from marks all over their writing. They need to find those errors themselves so that they will remember their mistakes and change their writing habits.

Do a quick scan of each student’s writing as soon as it’s turned in to you.

If there are major problems with a student’s writing, call him/her over individually and show him/her what needs to be fixed or put the student with a competent peer editor who will help them fix mistakes.

If you have several students who are struggling with a skill, like closing sentences, do a mini-lesson on this topic.

You can do a mini-lesson with a small group. However, I prefer doing mini-lessons with the entire class. The kids who need help will get it and the rest of your class will receive a refresher.

It’s OK if there are some small spelling/grammar mistakes!

If the errors are few and they don’t take away from the meaning/flow of the essay, I don’t worry about them.

Our students are still learning.

Even your brightest star writer will have a few spelling/grammar mistakes from time to time.

Don’t discourage students from writing because of small errors.

Students who receive papers back with markings all over them don’t think, “Oh boy, my teacher has made it so easy for me to make all of these corrections.” They are thinking, “What’s the point in writing? I must be a terrible writer. Look at all of these mistakes.”

If your students are taking a standardized writing assessment, the structure and flow of their essays will be worth much more than perfect spelling.

Need more help?

I created this five paragraph essay instructional unit for teachers who are new to teaching five paragraph essays OR just need all of the materials in one place.

“Teacher Talk” pages will guide you through the unit and this unit contains all materials needed to help students plan, organize, and write amazing five paragraph essays! Click here to check it out:

I have a freebie for you! Enter your first name and email address below. You’ll receive three original prompts with five paragraph essay organizers AND two lined final draft pages!

Once your students are good essay writers…

These task cards will help your students stay sharp on their five paragraph essay knowledge. Students will review hooks (attention-getters), thesis sentences, body paragraphs, topic sentences, closings, and more. Each card contains a unique writing example!

I suggest using these task cards as a quiz/test, scoot game, individual review, or cooperative group activity.

Click on the image to view these task cards:

To save this post for later, simply pin this image to your teacher Pinterest board!

21 comments.

Wow! I really enjoyed reading this. I’ve always stressed over the thought of teaching writing, but your blog makes me think I can do it successfully. Putting your writing packet on my TPT wish list!

Thank you, Shannon! I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. I am so glad that my blog post was helpful to you!

Thanks for the tips! When I taught 6th grade I taught this same subject matter, but struggled to get started. I wish I had this then!

I appreciate your comment! Teaching was much different before Pinterest, wasn’t it?!?

This helped me so much!🙂 thanks a lot, I imagined being one student of yours. I’d be so smart and good at essays! Would’ve been so much easier in person❤️❤️❤️

Thank you so much, Aizlyn!

Thank you so much for this! May I ask where I can see the rubric for scoring the compositions?

You are so welcome! Click on the resource link. Then, you will see the rubric in the preview!

Thank you so much,I am a parent and this really helped me be clear how to guide my son. God bless you always.,

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

you are welcome!!!

This looks great! Looking forward to using your tips and freebies with my 6th graders. 🙂 THANK YOU.

You are so welcome! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!

Can’t wait to use this with my class tomorrow! Thanks a bunch for sharing!!

You are so welcome, Amy!

Thank you for making it easy to teach an essay with clarity.

You are very welcome, Yamuna! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback 🙂

I am so happy I discovered your blog. I just started teaching grade 5 in September I have been searching for a simple method to hel me in guiding them in writing. I will be putting your method into practice in the coming week.

That’s wonderful, Cherry! Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Welcome to fifth grade 🙂

Beautiful lesson well explained! Thank you so very much .

Thank you so much, Cheryl!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

You may also enjoy...

A message to the teacher-mom who doesn’t want Winter Break to end…

The Step-By-Step Guide to Teaching Research Reports

History Hashtag Fan Club – A Fun, Easy Review Idea

5 Helpful Tips for Struggling Social Studies Teachers

Big List of Social Studies Journal Prompts – A Growing List

How to Make Your Social Studies Lessons Come to Life for Students

What can i help you teach, find it here, let's connect, i'd love to connect with you.

Enter your first name and email address to join my exclusive VIP email club.

Copyright © 2020  | Thrive in Grade Five | All Rights Reserved

Quick Links

• Try for free

Teaching the Five-Paragraph Essay Resource Packet

Featured 5th Grade Resources

Related Resources

About the author

Contributor

The Ultimate Guide to the 5-Paragraph Essay

PeopleImages / Getty Images

• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

A five-paragraph essay is a prose composition that follows a prescribed format of an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph, and is typically taught during primary English education and applied on standardized testing throughout schooling.

Learning to write a high-quality five-paragraph essay is an essential skill for students in early English classes as it allows them to express certain ideas, claims, or concepts in an organized manner, complete with evidence that supports each of these notions. Later, though, students may decide to stray from the standard five-paragraph format and venture into writing an  exploratory essay  instead.

Still, teaching students to organize essays into the five-paragraph format is an easy way to introduce them to writing literary criticism, which will be tested time and again throughout their primary, secondary, and further education.

Writing a Good Introduction

The introduction is the first paragraph in your essay, and it should accomplish a few specific goals: capture the reader's interest, introduce the topic, and make a claim or express an opinion in a thesis statement.

It's a good idea to start your essay with a hook (fascinating statement) to pique the reader's interest, though this can also be accomplished by using descriptive words, an anecdote, an intriguing question, or an interesting fact. Students can practice with creative writing prompts to get some ideas for interesting ways to start an essay.

The next few sentences should explain your first statement, and prepare the reader for your thesis statement, which is typically the last sentence in the introduction. Your  thesis sentence  should provide your specific assertion and convey a clear point of view, which is typically divided into three distinct arguments that support this assertation, which will each serve as central themes for the body paragraphs.

Writing Body Paragraphs

The body of the essay will include three body paragraphs in a five-paragraph essay format, each limited to one main idea that supports your thesis.

To correctly write each of these three body paragraphs, you should state your supporting idea, your topic sentence, then back it up with two or three sentences of evidence. Use examples that validate the claim before concluding the paragraph and using transition words to lead to the paragraph that follows — meaning that all of your body paragraphs should follow the pattern of "statement, supporting ideas, transition statement."

Words to use as you transition from one paragraph to another include: moreover, in fact, on the whole, furthermore, as a result, simply put, for this reason, similarly, likewise, it follows that, naturally, by comparison, surely, and yet.

Writing a Conclusion

The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim (from your thesis sentence). It should point out your main points, but should not repeat specific examples, and should, as always, leave a lasting impression on the reader.

The first sentence of the conclusion, therefore, should be used to restate the supporting claims argued in the body paragraphs as they relate to the thesis statement, then the next few sentences should be used to explain how the essay's main points can lead outward, perhaps to further thought on the topic. Ending the conclusion with a question, anecdote, or final pondering is a great way to leave a lasting impact.

Once you complete the first draft of your essay, it's a good idea to re-visit the thesis statement in your first paragraph. Read your essay to see if it flows well, and you might find that the supporting paragraphs are strong, but they don't address the exact focus of your thesis. Simply re-write your thesis sentence to fit your body and summary more exactly, and adjust the conclusion to wrap it all up nicely.

Practice Writing a Five-Paragraph Essay

Students can use the following steps to write a standard essay on any given topic. First, choose a topic, or ask your students to choose their topic, then allow them to form a basic five-paragraph by following these steps:

• Decide on your  basic thesis , your idea of a topic to discuss.
• Decide on three pieces of supporting evidence you will use to prove your thesis.
• Write an introductory paragraph, including your thesis and evidence (in order of strength).
• Write your first body paragraph, starting with restating your thesis and focusing on your first piece of supporting evidence.
• End your first paragraph with a transitional sentence that leads to the next body paragraph.
• Write paragraph two of the body focussing on your second piece of evidence. Once again make the connection between your thesis and this piece of evidence.
• End your second paragraph with a transitional sentence that leads to paragraph number three.
• Repeat step 6 using your third piece of evidence.
• Begin your concluding paragraph by restating your thesis. Include the three points you've used to prove your thesis.
• End with a punch, a question, an anecdote, or an entertaining thought that will stay with the reader.

Once a student can master these 10 simple steps, writing a basic five-paragraph essay will be a piece of cake, so long as the student does so correctly and includes enough supporting information in each paragraph that all relate to the same centralized main idea, the thesis of the essay.

Limitations of the Five-Paragraph Essay

The five-paragraph essay is merely a starting point for students hoping to express their ideas in academic writing; there are some other forms and styles of writing that students should use to express their vocabulary in the written form.

According to Tory Young's "Studying English Literature: A Practical Guide":

"Although school students in the U.S. are examined on their ability to write a  five-paragraph essay , its  raison d'être  is purportedly to give practice in basic writing skills that will lead to future success in more varied forms. Detractors feel, however, that writing to rule in this way is more likely to discourage imaginative writing and thinking than enable it. . . . The five-paragraph essay is less aware of its  audience  and sets out only to present information, an account or a kind of story rather than explicitly to persuade the reader."

Students should instead be asked to write other forms, such as journal entries, blog posts, reviews of goods or services, multi-paragraph research papers, and freeform expository writing around a central theme. Although five-paragraph essays are the golden rule when writing for standardized tests, experimentation with expression should be encouraged throughout primary schooling to bolster students' abilities to utilize the English language fully.

• How To Write an Essay
• How to Write a Great Essay for the TOEFL or TOEIC
• Write an Attention-Grabbing Opening Sentence for an Essay
• How to Write and Format an MBA Essay
• How to Structure an Essay
• How to Help Your 4th Grader Write a Biography
• Definition and Examples of Body Paragraphs in Composition
• What Is Expository Writing?
• What an Essay Is and How to Write One
• Paragraph Writing
• 3 Changes That Will Take Your Essay From Good To Great
• An Introduction to Academic Writing
• Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay
• The Five Steps of Writing an Essay
• How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement
• The Introductory Paragraph: Start Your Paper Off Right

What Binder Education

Digital resources for your classroom.

Teaching How to Write a Five Paragraph Essay

Having already taught your students how to write a FIVE SENTENCE COMPARISON PARAGRAPH  you have the base materials required to construct a Five Paragraph Essay Outline.

While the Five Paragraph Essay is far from the best form for students to express their ideas, the organizational skills learned while writing a five paragraph essay will built the essential foundation required for their future progress.

Though we will move quickly from how to write a five paragraph essay to writing a more organic multi-paragraphed essay, all teachers must have a handle on how to teach the fundamental skills.

Instruct students to sit in groups of five and provide them with the following quotation, cut up into the five individual sentences:

Summer is better than winter because it offers comfort and freedom.  In the summer people wear shorts and sandals which allow their skin to breath, taking in the fresh air while being warmed by the afternoon sun.  Not only that but the days are longer offering time to swim in neighbourhood pools, bike along wooded paths, and sit outside in the shade of large oak trees reading a new book.  Also, summer brings the Warped Tour music festival, Ribfests, and community BBQs that end in firework displays that turn the night sky red, green, and orange.  During the summer one is granted the opportunity to explore in comfort, from the moment the sun rises until the sun sets fifteen hours later.

Instruct students that they will be rebuilding the paragraph in the most logical manner.

Each group member will then be required to write a justification for why they placed their sentence in the order they did.  Ideally they will come up with some of the following reasons:

• The first sentence offers a clear opinion, setting up the rest of the paragraph
• The third and fourth sentences can not be second due to their transitional words, “not only that”, and “also”.
• the final sentence rephrases the opening opinion while offering a transition into the first body paragraph.
• The second sentence adds a deeper explanation for the stated opinion, while being free from transitional words, and also being connected to the final sentence’s transition

Once students have explored the introductory paragraph, provide them with the  ESSAY PLANNING SHEET  (PDF provided in the Resource section at the bottom of this page).

Students will fill out as much of this sheet as possible, based on their current paragraph.  They will start by addressing the thesis of the piece.

Teaching how to Write a Thesis

A strong Thesis has two main parts, the theme the essay will be addressing, and the specific focus that the writer will use to hone their ideas.

You can teach students that the theme is their main thought, and the focus is why someone should care about it.  For example, if you just said, “Summer is better than winter?” why would anyone care about what you had to say.  It fails the “So what?” test.

“Summer is better than winter.” “So what?” “…”

If you can answer “So what?” then you will most likely have a solid foundation for an argument.

“Summer is better than winter.” “So what?” “So, you have more comfort and freedom.” “Ohh, o.k.”

Filling out the Essay Outline Sheet

Students should have the following information based on the paragraph.

ESSAY THEME: Summer is better than Winter. FOCUS:  Summer offers more comfort and freedom. THESIS:  Summer is better than Winter because it offers more comfort and freedom. TOPIC 1: Clothing options SUBTOPIC 1:  Wearing shorts and sandals SUBTOPIC 2:  Loose clothing allows comfort outside SUBTOPIC 3 (Optional): TOPIC 2:  The days are longer SUBTOPIC 1: More time for friends (swimming) SUBTOPIC 2:  More time for solitary activities (reading) SUBTOPIC 3 (Optional):  More time for exercise (biking) TOPIC 3:  More festivals SUBTOPIC 1:  Music festivals (Warped Tour) SUBTOPIC 2:  Food Festivals (Rib Fests) SUBTOPIC 3 (Optional):  Community events (Fireworks)

Once students have filled out the essay outline sheet based on the information provided from the exemplar paragraph, they should begin filling out the “evidence” column.  They should have at least one  SPECIFIC DETAIL  per subtopic.

For example: Warped Tour, 2019 – Cleveland Ohio – June 8th ( https://vanswarpedtour.com/ )

At this stage it’s more important that they’ve recorded their evidence, and know where it’s from, rather than being focused on the correct MLA or APA way to embed and cite their examples.  After all, this is just an outline.

Personal Devices

This is a great opportunity for students to use their personal devices to research specific details.  You may want to take five minutes to teach a mini-lesson on specific vs. vague details.

Once students have completed their outline, and recorded specific details you can move on to having them write a body paragraph.

Writing a Body Paragraph

Explain to your students that a FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY  is…  FIVE PARAGRAPHS .  I know this will come as a shock to them, but they may wonder what each of the paragraphs are.   Of course, the five paragraphs are:

• Introduction

You can explain to students that the opening paragraph they assembled acts as the introduction paragraph, and that each of the three body paragraphs will explore one of the three topics it set out.

You can then provide them with an example of a body paragraph, demonstrating how each subtopic and its supporting evidence, can be integrated to form a coherent paragraph.  Each subtopic should have two or three clear sentences devoted to it.

During the summer months there are far more festivals that provide opportunities for self-expression, and entertainment.  Music festivals take place in large fields where stages have to be quickly assembled and disassembled as the festival moves across the country.  This rapid construction, and comfortable gathering place for people to stand outside can only be accomplished during the summer.  For the comfort of both fans and musicians, The Warped Tour hosts its three shows between “June 8th [in] Cleveland, OH” and “July 20 [in] Mountain View, CA”.  On top of music festivals, summer is also when food festivals attract large crowds.  As they, too, tour from city to city large open air spaces must be free from snow and ice to attract those seeking the finest BBQ their country has to offer.  In Toronto, Canada “Gates open June 28th” for “Toronto Ribfest”.  Providing an opportunity for friends and family to eat together long into the night before the “9:03pm sunset” is something that winter can not match.  Finally, community events such as large firework displays “along the beach, celebrating the birth of [the] nation” can only be appreciated during the warmer months.  Volleyball, picnics, swimming, and bright explosions high in the sky are only ever combined when the water is free from ice, and the air free from snow.  Though music festivals can be expensive, bands often offer free shows during food festivals and community events, allowing those on a budget to fully experience and enjoy everything that summer offers.

Highlight that this paragraph is approximately  250 WORDS.  Most five paragraph essays are given a 1000 WORDS  word count.  This will fit that model:

• Introduction – 125 Words
• Body Paragraph 1 – 250 Words
• Body Paragraph 2 – 250 Words
• Body Paragraph 3 – 250 Words
• Conclusion – 125 Words

Next, ensure they understand that each SUBTOPIC  had at least two or three sentences devoted to it, before the paragraph concluded with a transitional and summarizing sentence.

They should also note that each of the subtopics is supported with at least one quotation.

Releasing Responsibility

Allow students to choose either  TOPIC 1  or  TOPIC 2 to develop as their own body paragraph.

If possible, assign different topics to different groups, so that you have at least one group working on  TOPIC 1  and one group working on  TOPIC 2 .

After twenty minutes, have each group write their paragraph on chart paper, and display them in your class.  You will now have an  Introduction ,  Body Paragraph 1 ,  Body Paragraph 2 , and a  Body Paragraph 3 .

Consolidation

To conclude the lesson, and the essay, explain to students that a conclusion should rewrite the information from the introduction, while hammering home any last points they want the reader to take away.

By now, students have a mostly-complete five paragraph essay in front of them.  They should now write the concluding paragraph on a half-sheet of paper, and hand it in as an Exit Card before they leave for the day.

Essay Outline Sheet – WhatBinderDotCom.pdf

What’s Next?

Now that students know how to write a  FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY  we will quickly show them why no one actually writes essays that way, and why – going forward – they should avoid writing essays like that as well.

They will learn that a  MULTI-PARAGRAPHED ESSAY  is just as easy to write, and can be written with the same organizational sheets.  This one step will take their work from being ready for the classroom, to being ready for the world at large.

Navigate the Essay Unit

• How to Teach Essay Writing Skills
• Identifying and Avoiding Common Essay Problems
• Teaching how to Write a Five Paragraph Essay
• Understanding that Five Paragraph Essays do not Exist in the Wild
• The Importance of Supporting Your Claims with Evidence
• Embedding Quotations as Supporting Evidence
• Teaching how to Go from Text, to Outline, to Essay
• Student Learning through Digital Editing and Revision
• Release of Responsibility: Writing the Final Essay

Share this:

One thought on “ teaching how to write a five paragraph essay ”.

This is super helpful; a life-saver for me, actually. I am a grade one teacher tossed into grade seven this year (due to making class sizes smaller because of COVID) Thank you so much for posting your knowledge free-of-charge for people like me to access freely! Much appreciated!

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

Five-Paragraph Essay Lesson Plan: Producing Writing

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Five-Paragraph Essay Lesson Plan .

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic, Five-Paragraph Essay , and supports the standard of developing an organized piece of writing with a clear thesis, relevant details, and a concluding statement. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

As a class, or individually, have students read Tim’s model essay, The Case For a Longer School Year. Ask:

• What argument is Tim making in his essay?
• What are his reasons or evidence for his argument?
• Is Tim’s argument persuasive? Why or why not?
• What is the purpose of the first paragraph? middle paragraphs? Last paragraph?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read aloud the description on the Five-Paragraph Essay topic page . 
• Play the Movie , pausing to check for understanding.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Five-Paragraph Essay Quiz , prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about writing five-paragraph essays while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie : Produce a movie where you present a persuasive argument that follows the format of a five-paragraph essay. 
• Make-a-Map : Create a concept map that shows the features of each paragraph in a five-paragraph essay. 
• Creative Coding : Code a meme that shows the benefits of using the five-paragraph essay format.

More to Explore

Related BrainPOP Topics : Deepen understanding of the writing process with these topics: Types of Writing , Writing in Sequence , Research , and Outlines . 

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview : Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas.  
• Learning Activities Modifications : Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support : Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

• BrainPOP Jr. (K-3)
• BrainPOP ELL
• BrainPOP Science
• BrainPOP Español
• BrainPOP Français
• Set Up Accounts
• Single Sign-on
• Manage Subscription
• Quick Tours
• About BrainPOP

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Trademarks & Copyrights

How to write a perfect 5 Paragraph Essay

  How to Write a 5 Paragraph Essay : A Complete Guide

Essay writing can be the bane of many a student’s life.

Gone are the days when many students tried writing in big letters to fill the allotted number of pages with minimal effort quickly.

Now, it’s all constant word count checks and taking a dozen words to say what could be said in three.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be like this. When students have a clear, set structure to follow, essay writing can be a much less painful experience. Indeed, it can even be enjoyable!

In this article, we’ll outline a clear template our students can follow to produce a well-organised essay on practically any topic effectively.

Let’s get started!

THE HAMBURGER ESSAY – THE STUDENT’S FRIEND

The common 5 paragraph essay structure is often referred to as the hamburger essay . And this is a memorable way to communicate the concept to your students.

The hamburger essay structure consists of five paragraphs or layers as follows:

Layer 1 – The Top Bun: The Introduction

The uppermost layer is the introductory paragraph which communicates to the reader the purpose of the essay.

Layers 2,3, & 4 – The Meat Patties: The Body Paragraphs

These are the meat patties of the essay and each paragraph makes an argument in support of the essay’s central contention as expressed in the introduction.

Layer 5 – The Conclusion: The Bottom Bun

The bottommost layer is the conclusion, where the arguments are summed up and the central contention of the essay is restated forcefully one last time. We have a complete guide to writing a conclusion here .

Soon, we’ll take a closer look at each of these parts in turn. But, there is more to an essay than just the writing of it. There are also the prewriting and post writing stages to consider. We will look at all these aspects in this article, but first, let’s examine what our students need to be doing before they even begin to write their essays.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING PARAGRAPH WRITING

This complete PARAGRAPH WRITING UNIT takes students from zero to hero over FIVE STRATEGIC LESSONS to improve PARAGRAPH WRITING SKILLS through PROVEN TEACHING STRATEGIES.

THE PREWRITING STAGE – DEFINING THE THESIS STATEMENT, RESEARCH & PLANNING

The thesis statement.

Every essay needs a clear focus. This focus is usually defined in a thesis statement that presents the topic of the essay in a sentence or two. The thesis statement should also include the writer’s stance on that topic.

As this will help guide the direction of the essay, it is essential that our students define their thesis statement before they begin the writing process.

Sometimes during the process of writing, we find out what we think about a given topic. The writing process can act as a kind of reflection on the merits of the various arguments, before finally revealing to us our own opinion. This is writing as a method of discovery.

Usually, though, it is more efficient for students to decide on their opinions prior to beginning to write.

Defining their thesis statement early on not only helps guide the students writing, but helps ensure their research is focused and efficient at the crucial prewriting stage.

Research & Planning

As students begin their research and gather their evidence to support their thesis statement, they should also be encouraged to pay particular attention to the counterarguments they come across.

A well-written essay does not ignore opposing viewpoints, students should be taught to preempt counterarguments where possible so as to strengthen the power of their own arguments. Good research is essential for this.

Not so long ago, research meant hours in dusty libraries being constantly shushed, but with the advent of the internet, there is now a wealth of knowledge right at our fingertips (and the end of a good Wifi connection).

While this has made research a much more convenient process, students need to be reminded of the importance of seeking out reliable sources to support their opinions. In an era of ‘fake news’, this is more important now than ever.

As students gather the information and supporting evidence for their essay, they’ll need to organize it carefully. Graphic organizers are an effective way of doing this, either on a paper printout or by using a premade template on the computer.

It can also be helpful for students to sort their collected information according to where they intend to use it in the five-paragraph outline or layers mentioned above.

Finally, while good research, organization, and planning are essential for producing a well-written essay, it’s important that students are reminded that essay writing is also a creative act.

Students should maintain an open mind when it comes to the writing process. They should allow their thoughts and opinions the room to develop over the course of writing their essay. They should leave the door open for including new thoughts and ideas as the writing progresses.

The Writing Stage: Introduction, Body Paragraphs, & Conclusion 

The introduction.

A good introduction paragraph serves a number of important functions. It:

• Grabs the reader’s attention and interest, known as the hook
• Orientates the reader to the essays central argument, the thesis statement
• Outlines briefly the arguments that will be explored in support of the thesis statement.

To become an effective writer, it is important that our students learn the importance of grabbing the reader’s attention, as well as keeping it. Opening with a ‘hook’ or a ‘grabber’ is a great way to achieve this.

There are a number of techniques students can use here. Let’s take a look at some of the more common ones.

• The Surprising Fact – this can intrigue the reader to want to find out more, especially if it challenges some of their existing assumptions on a topic.
• The Quotation – a carefully selected quotation can be a great way to secure the reader’s attention and there are many curated quotation collections freely available online to help get students started.
• The Joke – this opening should be used judiciously as for some topics it may not be an appropriate way to open. In the right context however, humor can be a great way to engage the reader from the outset.
• The Anecdote – anecdotes are a great way to personally connect with the essay’s topic. They are a helpful way of climbing down the ladder of abstraction when exploring more theoretical arguments. They assist the reader in relating universal themes to their own lives.

Practice Activity 1:

To encourage students to develop strong opening paragraphs in their essays, it can be helpful to isolate writing opening paragraphs.

In this activity, provide your students with a list of essay topics and challenge them to write four different opening paragraphs for their essay, one each for The Surprising Fact , The Quotation , The Joke , and The Anecdote as listed above.

When students have completed their four paragraphs, they can then share with each other in groups and discuss which worked best and why.

This activity will help students to remember the different types of opening and how they work. It will also give them a feel for which openings work best for different types of essays.

We’ve already discussed what a thesis statement is and what it is intended to achieve, but where does it fit into the overall shape of the introductory paragraph exactly?

While there are no hard and fast rules here, thesis statements work well towards the end of the introductory paragraph – especially as the paragraph’s final sentence.

Readers are often hardwired to look for the thesis statement there. It connects the arguments that follow in the body paragraphs to the preceding sentences and contextualizes the essay for the reader.

THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

Now we get to the ‘meat’ of our essay. Each of the body paragraphs will explore one of the arguments supporting the thesis statement as laid out in the introduction.

While we are focused on the 5 paragraph essay here, longer essays will usually be constructed in exactly the same manner, they’ll just include more body paragraphs to cover the extra level of detail.

Generally, each body paragraph will open by stating the argument, with subsequent sentences supporting that argument by providing evidence along with some further explanation. Finally, a statement or phrase will help transition to the next paragraph.

The PEEL Paragraph Writing Process

The acronym PEEL can be a very useful tool to help students to understand how to organize each of their body paragraphs.

P oint : start the paragraph by expressing the central argument

E vidence : support the central argument of the paragraph by providing evidence or reasons. Evidence may come in many forms including facts and statistics, quotations from a text or other authority, reference to historical events etc.

E xplanation : explain how the evidence provided supports the paragraph’s central argument.

L ink : provide a transition into the next paragraph by linking this argument and the central thesis to the next point to be made.

Practice Activity 2:

Just as students isolated the opening to their introductory paragraph for practice purposes, in this activity they’ll isolate a single argument on a chosen essay topic.

When they have chosen a topic and selected a single argument related to that topic, they can begin to write one body paragraph using the PEEL structure outlined above.

This activity works well when several students write on the same argument. When each has completed their paragraphs, they can then compare the results with each other.

It can be a fascinating experiment that allows the students to see just how diverse different treatments of the same argument using the same PEEL formula can be – there is freedom within the discipline of the structure!

THE CONCLUSION

The purpose of the conclusion is to close the circle of the essay. It is a chance for the writer to restate the thesis statement, summarize the main arguments, and tie up any loose ends as the writer drives home their point one last time.

At this stage of the game, no new arguments should be introduced. However, students should revisit the previous arguments made in the body paragraphs and it is acceptable to offer up a new insight or two on these.

The student should take care here to make sure they leave no doubt in the reader’s mind that the essay question is fully answered. One useful way of doing this is by incorporating words and phrases from the essay question into the conclusion itself.

To help students grasp the underlying structure of a concluding paragraph, the following sequential structure is useful to keep in mind:

• Starts with a closing phrase such as In conclusion , There is no doubt , Finally etc
• Restates the main thesis statement
• Summarizes the main point of each of the body paragraphs
• Leaves the reader with something to think about.

Practice Activity 3:

Again, here we will isolate the concluding paragraph for focused practice.

Students select a topic they know well, decide what they think about that topic, write down a few key arguments, and then begin writing a concluding paragraph to an essay on that topic.

Students should use the template above to structure that material.

You could also include an element of peer assessment here by having students swap their paragraphs with each other, before offering each other feedback.

The Post Writing Stage: Editing & Proofreading YOUR 5 paragraph ESSAY

The final stage of writing a five-paragraph essay is perhaps the least glamorous of an unglamorous process, but no less essential for it – the editing and proofreading.

Often, our students overlook this stage. After completing the process of research, planning, and writing their five-paragraph essay, they let themselves down at this final, crucial stage.

Frequently, students fail to adequately edit and proofread their work not just because of laziness, but because they are unsure of exactly what this process entails.

To avoid this, ensure students understand that editing and proofreading involve reading through and correcting mistakes in the following areas one after the other:

• Text Organisation: title, headings, layout etc
• Sentence Structure: coherence, grammar , sentence variety etc
• Word Choice: suitable word choices, avoid repetition etc
• Spelling and Punctuation: accuracy in both areas.

Practice Activity 4:

Once students have completed their essays, appoint each a partner to work with and each then edits and proofreads the other person’s work.

Sometimes students struggle to gain the necessary distance from their own work to adequately edit and proofread it, this exercise overcomes that issue while giving them an opportunity to gain some valuable editing and proofreading experience that will benefit them in future.

CLOSING THE CIRCLE

So, there you have it – how to write a five-paragraph essay from start to finish. As with anything, the more practice students get, the quicker they will improve.

But, bear in mind too that writing essays is hard work and you don’t want to put students off.

The best way to provide opportunities for students to develop the various skills related to essay writing is to isolate them in the manner apparent in the activities described above.

This way, students can soon sharpen up their skills, without learning to dread the word ‘essay’ itself!

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

Five Paragraph Essay exampleS (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of 5 paragraph essays.  Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail.  Please take a moment to both read the 5 paragraph essay in detail but also the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the key elements of this structured model of essay writing here.

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of 5 paragraph essay writing.

We would recommend reading the example either a year above and below, as well as the grade you are currently working with to gain a broader appreciation of this text type.

5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY VIDEO TUTORIALS

Teaching with a Five-Paragraph Essay Example

Looking for a five-paragraph essay example? Look and listen in as a fourth grade teacher models this strong writing structure for her students.

Ms. Sneed Grades Her Kids’ Paragraphs

As our favorite fourth grade teacher graded her class’s latest paragraphs, she let out a satisfied sigh. First they tackled paragraph structure. Then they learned to elaborate. Additionally, they improved their writing by varying sentences and using transitions. Now that they had the writing strategies down, her kids were ready to scaffold from one paragraph to the five-paragraph essay .

Purposefully tackling each genre of writing – then scaffolding from shorter to longer – was sure to work for her.

A Five-Paragraph Essay Example

Ms. Sneed turned and opened her laptop. With just a few clicks, she found it. Her favorite prompt, You Should Try It , asked kids to persuade others to try an activity – in five paragraphs.

Teaching Paragraph by Paragraph

The following Monday, Ms. Sneed stood in front of her class. “Today,” she said, “you will learn how to write a longer essay.”

Several kids looked a little unsure, but their teacher continued. “For now, I’ll take you through a five-paragraph essay example. That should ease your concerns.”

First Paragraph

Ms. Sneed projected a sample. “The first paragraph, or introduction, includes a thesis statement and supportive factual reasons.”

With the mention of a new term, thesis statement , more kids looked uncomfortable. Some squirmed in their seats.

“Now I know the term  thesis statement is new, but no worries! You know it as a topic sentence. However, the thesis is the main idea of a multi-paragraph composition.”

The teacher read the paragraph aloud. “Can anyone pick out the thesis for this persuasive essay?” she asked.

One student slowly raised his hand. “Wouldn’t you like to try water skiing?”

“Yes! Although it’s written as a question, this sentence offers an opinion. Furthermore, the entire essay supports this thesis. Can you find the author’s three supporting reasons?”

Using the five-paragraph essay example, the class soon established the supporting details too: improving health, impressing friends, and teaching them to ski.

Second Paragraph

“Now let’s look at the second paragraph,” Ms. Sneed said.

“You identified one of the main details as health. As you can see, this paragraph expands on that reason.”

“That’s just what we were doing with one paragraph,” piped up a girl in the back row.

“Um-hm. True. But writing in five paragraphs gives you more room to elaborate.”

The kids seemed to relax in their seats. This wasn’t so bad after all.

Third Paragraph

With no further ado, she pulled up the third paragraph. “See, paragraph #3 discusses the second main supportive detail.”

After they read the paragraph aloud, Ms. Sneed asked, “Who can find the topic sentence of this paragraph?”

“Isn’t it the first sentence?” said a boy with purple glasses.

Ms. Sneed nodded. “Easy peasy. The main idea of this paragraph, as we said before, is the second reason.”

Fourth Paragraph

For the fourth paragraph, Ms. Sneed tried a new tactic. “Okay, think-pair-share! Find the the topic sentences and smaller details that support it.” Her students knew what this meant. Immediately, they turned to their seat partners and began to discuss.

After a few minutes, groups began to share:

“The first sentence is the topic sentence again,” said the first spokesperson.

“And the details are the steps in teaching,” said the second.

“Ahh, a sequence paragraph inside a five-paragraph persuasive essay,” Ms. Sneed remarked. That famous teacher smile spread across her face.

Fifth Paragraph

“Here we have the final paragraph, or conclusion,” the teacher continued.

After she read the paragraph aloud, Ms. Sneed pointed out the restated thesis statement and details. “It’s a repeat of the first paragraph in different words.”

A Five-Paragraph Essay Example – and a Hamburger!

Quickly, strode toward the board. She picked up a marker and sketched a hamburger with three patties. “Does this look familiar?”

Everyone smiled and nodded. Ms. Sneed’s favorite analogy for an writing a paragraph !

“We just used this again,” their teacher said. “The top bun is the first paragraph. It introduces the main idea with a thesis statement and supporting details. The first hamburger patty explores the first detail; the second, the second; and the third, the third! Finally, the bottom bun wraps it all up with a restatement of the thesis and details. This helps you write, as well as find the main idea and supporting details .”

“It’s just a giant version of the paragraph,” said a small girl in the front corner.

“Yep,” replied Ms. Sneed. “Not hard at all – if you know what you’re doing. Over the next few months, we’ll write more of these essays in our ELA block . Then you’ll feel even more confident.”

How to Teach the 5-Paragraph Essay in Your Homeschool

by Misti Lacy | Sep 16, 2019 | College Prep , Essays & Research Papers , High school

Like many moms, you face new challenges as the high school years approach. Biology, chemistry, art, and geometry practically feel like a cakewalk compared with how to teach the 5-paragraph essay in your homeschool!

One thing is certain. Regardless of how we get through the high school years, our homeschool teens need to master the basics of 5-paragraph essay writing.

Of course they’ll write essays for college applications, entrance exams, and English classes. But they’ll also face essay assignments and papers in nearly every college class—even if they’re science, marketing, or criminal justice majors .

But wait … my teen can’t even write a solid paragraph!

I get it. Sometimes we need to pause and rewind . If your middle school or high school student struggles with basic paragraph writing , make that your top priority.

Taking a year to teach WriteShop I will cement the fundamentals of concise and concrete writing. Then move up to WriteShop II once their critical-thinking skills have matured a bit and they’re ready to write—and correctly format—those 5-paragraph essays.

Teach the 5-Paragraph Essay Format in Your Homeschool

Teaching your teens how to write a 5-paragraph essay is a homeschool necessity. Unlike narrative writing, this traditional essay has a stringent structure that includes an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a closing paragraph. Let’s look at each of these.

1. An Interesting Introduction Sets the Stage

The introductory paragraph sets the stage for the entire essay. It should include an attention-grabbing “ hook  ,” a bit of background info, and a thesis statement.

The “Hook”

The hook pulls the reader into the essay. As the first sentence of the essay, it gives a hint about the topic, captures the readers’ attention, and entices them to keep reading. A question, quotation, opinionated statement, or interesting fact can make an effective, engaging hook.

Background Information

Next in the lineup is the background information, which gives the reader a short history of the topic. In addition, the introductory paragraph must include at least a couple of sentences that express the main points of the paper. Think of the intro as an outline of the rest of the essay.

The Thesis Statement

The thesis statement closes the introduction. Because the thesis statement serves as a road map for the essay, it should give the reader a short summary of the paper’s intent. By stating the problem and solution, the thesis lays out the essay’s basic argument.

Let’s look at an example: Dogs make good pets.

“Dogs make good pets” isn’t a thesis statement. Why? Because it doesn’t state a problem or a solution. Instead, try starting the thesis statement with although or because. These words allow the writer to jump right into the problem.

• Although dog ownership can be inconvenient or expensive, dogs make good pets because they provide companionship and teach children responsibility.
• Because dogs provide companionship and teach responsibility, they make good pets—even though they require a huge commitment.

TIP: Use action verbs and limit personal pronouns such as I, me, my, we, and our .

2. The Body of the Essay Supports the Thesis Statement

After the introduction, your teen needs to develop the essay’s three main points, each in its own paragraph. These paragraphs must support the thesis statement and flesh out the argument. So make sure students know how to defend or explain their claims using facts and evidence .

All three body paragraphs have the same structure: topic sentence, supporting details, and closing sentence.

For older high school kids, the body paragraphs make a great place to practice in-text citations. It’s worth mentioning tha t end notes have gone to their grave , so homeschoolers must learn parenthetical documentation instead.

I required my students to use Diane Hacker’s Pocket Style Manual on how to format essays. It’s easy to use and not overwhelming .

3. A Strong Conclusion Wraps Up the Essay

After you’ve said everything you want to say, how do you wrap up the five-paragraph essay?

In speech class, my professor drummed into us: “Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them. And then tell them what you told them.” The conclusion forms the “tell them what you told them” paragraph.

This final paragraph is more than just a summary of the paper ; it provides a solid conclusion  that affirms the reader’s new knowledge or understanding of the contents. To keep it interesting, it should move right along. Students shouldn’t rehash the details they covered in the intro and body paragraphs.

We want to leave the reader with a BANG! The conclusion wraps up the essay in tidy package.

Transition from Body to Conclusion

Start the conclusion with a transitional topic sentence—a general statement that flows nicely from the last sentence of the previous paragraph.

Restate the Thesis in a New Way

After the topic sentence, restate the thesis. Students should not simply copy and paste the same thesis statement. Instead, teach them to reword it to leave the reader with a fresh and memorable understanding of the essay’s theme.

Tie It All Together

Essays end with a closing sentence. The closing sentence should tie back to the hook from the intro, perhaps by referencing the same example, reiterating a word or a phrase, or ending with a new quote. When possible, the closing sentence should also tie into the title.

The 5-paragraph essay remains a time-tested and essential tool in your students’ learning toolbox. Once they have the structure down pat, they can write a wide variety of essays with the same tools.

You can teach the 5-paragraph essay in your homeschool, and you don’t have to conquer it alone. As you teach writing and essay skills, WriteShop is here to help!

As  WriteShop’s curriculum consultant , Misti Lacy draws from her years of experience as a veteran writing teacher and homeschool mom to help you build a solid writing foundation. Whether you’re  deciding on products for your family , exploring our program for your  school or co-op , or needing someone to walk you through your WriteShop curriculum, Misti takes the fear out of teaching writing . 

Let’s Stay Connected!

Subscribe to our newsletter.

• Gift Guides
• Reluctant or Struggling Writers
• Special Needs Writers
• Brainstorming Help
• Editing & Grading Help
• Encouragement for Moms
• Writing Games & Activities
• Writing for All Subjects
• Essays & Research Papers
• College Prep Writing
• Grammar & Spelling
• Writing Prompts

Recent Posts

• An exciting announcement!
• 10 Stumbling Blocks to Writing in Your Homeschool
• Help kids with learning challenges succeed at homeschool writing
• How to correct writing lessons without criticizing your child

New Product! Create Academic and Professional Success with “Academic Vocabulary”!

Should You Teach the Five-Paragraph Essay?

People have strong feelings about the five-paragraph essay. For the past several decades, educators have debated the benefits and consequences of teaching the five-paragraph essay. Apparently, it’s not just educators who have opinions about the five-paragraph essay. I recently came across these comments on another website:

In High School, I was “taught” to write five-paragraph essays (and when I say “taught,” I mean “forced.”) The five-paragraph essay was the only form allowed in Sophomore English class.

…my daughter hated it. She would have crying fits each and every time.

I understand when people get emotional over controversial topics—global warming, budget cuts, tax increases—but I was not aware that the five-paragraph essay fell into this category. What exactly is going on here? Let’s find out!

A Personal Five-Paragraph Essay Story

When taking the CBEST test to become a teacher, an experienced middle school science teacher told me, “Just write a five-paragraph essay. Don’t write about anything you care about. Just write an introduction, three paragraphs, and a conclusion—that’s it. Nothing more! You’ll be guaranteed to receive a passing grade.”

I thought that was strange advice, as I had never worried about getting a passing grade on a writing assignment. Looking back, I can only assume that this science teacher had worried.

Did I take the science teacher’s advice? No. But half way into the essay section of the test, those words of advice echoed in my mind, while I sat in frustration. I was lost. I hadn’t planned properly, and I was in over my head. I began to wonder, “What’s my point? Where am I headed? How am I going to finish this? What am I trying to say?”

Well, I got out of that jam, and I’m happy to say I received a high score. That being said, the science teacher’s five-paragraph essay advice stuck in my mind long after the CBEST test was over, and even influenced how I taught writing once I became a teacher. I realized that I had always been a naturally proficient writer, but I didn’t fully understand what I did. Is that what I wanted for my future students?

What I learned from that experience was that students, and all writers, need specific writing skills to fall back on, and by writing skills, I don’t mean just grammar. Real power and real confidence in writing comes from knowing what one is doing and knowing how one is doing it—and not just by being able to do it.

What is a Five Paragraph Essay?

Looking for the most generic definition of a five-paragraph essay I could find, I went to Wikipedia. Wikipedia describes the five-paragraph essay as this:

The five-paragraph essay is a form of written argument. It is a common requisite in assignments in middle school, high school, and university and sometimes elementary school. The format requires an essay to have five paragraphs: one introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs with support and development, and one concluding paragraph. Because of this structure, it is also known as a hamburger essay or a three tier essay… The five-paragraph essay format is also applied to speech making, with some college classes teaching the five-paragraph format, along with an organized system of outlining and pre-writing the speech.

Should You Be For or Against the Five Paragraph Essay?

After reading that definition above, do you think people should be upset over the five-paragraph essay? But before you answer that question, please ask yourself these four questions:

1.   Are you against paragraph form? 2.   Are you against beginnings, middles and endings? 3.   Are you against introductions, bodies, and conclusions? 4.   Are you in favor of rambling and pointless essays?

Put simply, the five-paragraph essay should not be viewed as an end—because in reality—it is a means to an end. Teaching the five-paragraph essay teaches young students a variety of important skills. And I say young students, because if student master these skills when they are young, they won’t be an issue when they are old.  Here are a few facts:

1.   Students must write in paragraph form. 2.   Students must have a beginning, middle and ending. 3.   A beginning, middle and ending is essentially the same thing as an introduction, body, and conclusion. 4.   Students must understand that they cannot ramble. Students must be headed in a purposeful direction in their writing—and they must get there.

The five-paragraph essay is the easiest, fastest, and best way to teach all this. It teaches good thinking.

A Foundational Essay for Beginning Writers

The five-paragraph essay is a foundational essay. It’s an essay to be built upon. But a variety of questions remain:

1.   When should the five-paragraph essay be taught? 2.   How long or how often should students write in five-paragraph essay format? 3.   In what way should the five-paragraph essay be taught?

The five-paragraph essay is an essay for beginners. All students past a certain age should be able to write a five-paragraph essay quickly and easily. What is that certain age? Personally, I think the five-paragraph essay should be mastered in elementary school , but only because it CAN be mastered in elementary school. It definitely should not be an issue in high school for any student. Even struggling writers should be able to master the five-paragraph essay before leaving middle school.

I’ve mostly taught beginning writers and struggling writers, and I don’t teach a strict five-paragraph formula. However, I do work with five-paragraphs quite often because five paragraphs just happen to be the very best length to work with. Five paragraphs is the length that best helps students to develop the rhythm of beginning, middle, and ending in paragraphs, along with having a beginning, middle, and ending in the whole composition (two levels of beginning, middle, and ending).

I use the A, B, C Sentence ™ and the Secret A, B, C Sentence ™ to achieve this. It’s the fastest, most effective way to achieve this! It is also the most flexible and natural way to achieve this. Be sure to check out the Pattern Based Writing: Quick & Easy Essay writing curriculum on the homepage. Personally, I don’t think teaching writing should ever be static or dogmatic. For me, teaching the five-paragraph essay is mostly about teaching fantastic paragraph form and logical construction.

Please note, other paragraph lengths are also of value. For instance, four paragraphs is the best length for teaching beginning writers and struggling writers the two-sided thought patterns: cause-effect, compare-contrast, pro-con etc. Always remember, five is just number, and so is four. Different numbers serve different purposes.

A Foundational Essay for Older Writers

Even though the five-paragraph essay is an essay for beginners, it is fine if there is still a strong emphasis put on it in high school and in college. But in high school and in college, it should be the equivalent of knowing one’s multiplication tables. The five-paragraph should be used as a tool that helps students access a variety of different types of essays and a variety of the different organizational patterns found in writing. Put simply, the five-paragraph essay is a tool. It is not an end in itself.

The greatest benefit that comes from being able to write the five-paragraph essay is the awareness of five-paragraph essay thinking. Five-paragraph essay thinking provides value for a lifetime. The same thinking that creates five-paragraph essays can be used to write four paragraphs, seven paragraphs, or fifteen paragraphs.

A word of warning: If teachers will only accept five paragraphs, nothing more or less, always and forever, their students will eventually feel as the people at the top of this page felt. I do not recommend this. The five-paragraph essay is a teaching tool, not an end result.

Revisiting the Science Teacher Who Writes Five-Paragraph Essays

I recently spoke with the science teacher who advised me to write the five-paragraph essay on the CBEST test so many years before. I asked him if he was still such a rabid fan of the five-paragraph essay. He was. He told me he uses it all the time to make the points he wants to make. With social media, everyone is an author. The science teacher posts comments on important issues, and also participates in several forums for several of his hobbies. He enjoys helping others and debating.

He explained that he is not particularly interested in writing, but that he has opinions and enjoys making points.  The five-paragraph essay lets him do that quickly and effortlessly. The science teacher says that the five-paragraph essay was not drilled into him, and that he only really discovered its benefits in college. It’s then that he became a fan.

The science teacher showed me a number of his posts, and they would not have jumped out at me as being five-paragraph essays. In fact, he wrote posts that were four, six, and eight paragraphs also. Apparently, the teacher likes five-paragraph thinking as much as he likes the five-paragraph essay. In short, he just likes to make points and provide proof that his points are valid. He considers the five-paragraph essay to be the backbone of his writing. He says that people take his comments and opinions seriously, and that he is even a trusted authority in some places he posts. It seems that his readers focus on the points he makes and not the fact that he is using five-paragraph thinking.

A Final Note

The first step in making a person love to write is to make the person a competent writer. That opens the door and the mind to more possibilities. As teachers our job is not just to teach the students who love to write, but also to teach the students who are afraid to write or who don’t like to write.

The five-paragraph essay is a teaching tool. Most criticism of the five-paragraph essay comes down to its overuse, along with a dogmatic approach to using it in the classroom. Personally, I agree with much of that criticism. The five-paragraph essay is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

Over 15 Years of Creating Writing Success for Beginning and Struggling Writers of All Ages!

The fastest, most effective way to teach students clear and organized multi-paragraph writing… guaranteed, create academic and professional success today by improving your critical thinking, logical arguments, and effective communication.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience.

ESL Essay Writing: 7 Important Tips to Teach Students Plus Resources for Writing Lessons

“Every good story has a beginning, a middle and an end.”

This is true for a good essay, too.

An essay needs a coherent structure to successfully articulate its arguments. Strong preparation and planning is crucial to providing that structure.

Of course, essay writing can be challenging for ESL students. They must order their thoughts and construct their arguments—all in their second language.

So, here are seven ESL essay writing tips that will allow your students to weave together a coherent and persuasive essay, plus teacher resources for writing activities, prompts and lessons!

1. Build the Essay Around a Central Question

2. use the traditional 5-paragraph essay structure, 3. plan the essay carefully before writing, 4. encourage research and rewriting, 5. practice utilizing repetition, 6. aim to write a “full circle” essay, 7. edit the essay to the end, esl essay writing resources.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Encourage your students to build all their writing around one central question.

That central question is the engine of the writing—it should drive everything!

If a word or sentence is not assisting that forward motion toward the explication of that question and its possible answers, then it needs to be reworded, rephrased or just plain cut out and discarded.

Lean writing is merciless. Focusing on a central question throughout the prewriting, writing and rewriting stages helps develop the critical faculties required to discern what to keep and what to throw away.

Providing a clear structure for the student to approach essay writing can do a lot to build their confidence. The 5-paragraph essay, or “hamburger” essay, provides that clear structure for ESL writers.

Generally, this structure employs five separate paragraphs for the entire essay. Each paragraph serves a specific purpose, melding together to form a coherent whole:

• Paragraph 1: The introductory paragraph. This includes the thesis statement, orientating the reader to the purpose of the essay.
• Paragraphs 2 to 4: The body paragraphs. These make individual points that are further backed up by various forms of evidence.
• Paragraph 5:  The conclusion paragraph. This provides a summation of the arguments and a final statement of the thesis.

While students do not need to rigidly follow this format forever, the simple structure outlined above can serve as excellent training wheels for your writers.

Using the 5-paragraph structure as outlined above makes planning clear cut.

Once they have their theses and are planning their paragraphs, share with the students the ridiculously useful acronym P.E.E. This stands for Point, Explanation and Evidence.

Each body paragraph should make a point or argument in favor of the central thesis, followed by an explanation of this point and relevant evidence to back it up.

Students can make note of all their points, explanations and evidence before they start writing them in essay form. This helps take away some of the pressure ESL writers feel when faced with a blank page.

Extol the necessity for students to constantly refer to their planning. The mind-mapping techniques popularized by Tony Buzan can be useful at the planning stage and make for easy reference points to ensure focus is maintained throughout the essay.

Having a visual reference such as this can help ensure that your student-writers see each piece of the whole as well as that elusive “bigger picture,” so it becomes a case of seeing the forest and the trees!

Just as planning is crucial, so too is research.

Often ideas or connections do not occur until the writing process has begun. This is a good thing! Essay writing is a creative act, so students can have more ideas along the way and work them in as they go.

The key is to always be able to back up these ideas. Students who have done their research on their subject will be much more confident and articulate in expressing their arguments in their writing.

One way you can help students with context and research is to show relevant video content via FluentU . This language learning program uses authentic videos made by and for native speakers to help students learn English.

You can watch videos as a class or assign them directly to students for individual viewing. Videos come equipped with interactive bilingual subtitles and other learning tools such as multimedia flashcards and personalized quizzes so you can see how each student is doing.

No matter how your students do their research, the important thing is that they explore and understand their topic area before beginning the big task of writing their essay.

Even with thorough planning and research, writing oneself into a linguistic cul-de-sac is a common error. Especially with higher-level students, unforeseen currents can pull the student-writer off course.

Sometimes abandoning such a sentence helps. Going back to the drawing board and rewriting it is often best.

Students can be creative with their sentence structures   when expressing simpler ideas and arguments. However, when it comes to more complex concepts, help them learn to use shorter sentences to break their arguments into smaller, more digestible chunks.

Essay writing falls firmly in the camp of non-fiction. However, that doesn’t mean that essay writers can’t use some of the techniques more traditionally associated with fiction, poetry and drama .

One technique that’s particularly useful in essay writing is repetition. Just as poetry relies heavily on rhythm, so too does argument. Repetition can provide that sense of rhythm.

This is because written language has its origins in oral language. Think of the great orators and demagogues and their use of repetition. Speechwriters, too, are well aware of the power of repetition.

The writing principle of the “rule of 3” states that ideas expressed in these terms are more convincing and memorable. This is true of both spoken and written words and the ideas they express. Teach your students to use this method in their essay writing.

The very structure of the 5-paragraph essay lends itself to planning for this repetition, in fact. Each idea that is explored in a body paragraph should be outlined first in the introductory paragraph.

Then, the single body paragraph devoted to the idea will explore it at greater length, supported by evidence. And the third rap of the hammer occurs in the summation of the concluding paragraph, driving the point securely and convincingly home.

As mentioned at the start of this post, every good essay has a beginning, a middle and an end.

Each point made, explained and supported by evidence is a step toward what the writing teacher Roy Peter Clark calls “closing the circle of meaning.”

In planning for the conclusion of the essay, the students should take the opportunity to reaffirm their position. By referring to the points outlined in the introduction and driving them home one last time, the student-writer is bringing the essay to a satisfying full circle.

This may be accomplished by employing various strategies: an apt quotation, referring to future consequences or attempting to inspire and mobilize the reader.

Ending with a succinct quotation has the double benefit of lending some authoritative weight to the argument while also allowing the student to select a well-written, distilled expression of their central thesis. This can make for a strong ending, particularly for ESL students.

Often the essay thesis will suggest its own ending. If the essay is structured around a problem, it’s frequently appropriate to end the essay by offering solutions to the problem and outlining potential consequences if those solutions are not followed.

In the more polemical type of essay, the student may end with a call to arms, a plea for action on the part of the reader.

The strategy chosen by the student will depend largely on what fits the central thesis of their essay best.

For the ESL student, the final edit is especially important.

It offers a final chance to check form and meaning. For all writers, this process can be daunting, but more so for language students.

Often, ESL students will use the same words over and over again due to a limited vocabulary. Encourage your students to employ a thesaurus in the final draft before submission. This will freshen up their work, making it more readable, and will also increase their active vocabulary in the long run!

Another useful strategy at this stage is to encourage students to read their work aloud before handing it in.

This can be good pronunciation practice , but it also provides an opportunity to listen for grammatical errors. Further, it helps students hear where punctuation is required in the text, helping the overall rhythm and readability of the writing.

To really help your students become master essay writers, you’ll want to provide them with plenty of opportunities to test and flex their skills.

Writing prompts and exercises are a good place to start:

Descriptive writing activities encourage students to get creative and use their five senses, literary devices and diverse vocabulary. Read on for eight descriptive writing…

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-writing-projects/ https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-picture-description/

Giving good ESL writing prompts is important because inspiring prompts inspire students to write more and writing more is how they improve. Read this post to learn 50…

You’ll likely also want to teach them more about the mechanics of writing :

Are you looking for ESL writing skills to share with your ESL students? In this guide, you’ll find different ESL writing techniques, such as helping students understand…

Would you like to introduce journal writing into your ESL classes? Fantastic idea! Here are 9 essential tips to make it creative, engaging and fun.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-writing-lessons/

Essays are a great way not only for students to learn how the language works, but also to learn about themselves.

Formulating thoughts and arguments about various subjects is good exercise for not only the students’ linguistic faculties, but also for understanding who they are and how they see the world.

Enter your e-mail address to get your free PDF!

We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe