Marie E. answered • 08/16/20
Marketing MBA + English BA for Stand-Out College Essays, Writing Help
By the third grade, we want our students to understand the basic idea that a paragraph is a group of sentences that are related to one another. To create "a well-organized five paragraph essay", the third grade student should focus on a topic and present his or her sentences in a logical manner. It may help the student to think chronologically ("first this happens, and then this, this, this, and finally that") or spatially (starting from the top and working their way to the bottom), devoting a sentence to each point along the way.
In the fourth grade, writing becomes slightly more complex. We go from multiple sentences creating a paragraph to multiple paragraphs creating a simple essay. At this point, we want our fourth graders to understand that the introductory paragraph of an essay lets their readers know what they're going to cover in their paper. It can be helpful to describe the introductory paragraph as a map or even a weather forecaster whose job it is to "let people know what's coming."
Sixth grade students have developed exciting new levels of cognition and exposition, and we want to encourage them to share their thoughts, reflections, and insights on what they've read in the final paragraph of their papers. To do this effectively, they will have created a well-organized essay that opens with a specific point-of-view. The subsequent paragraphs will develop and defend these positions. The closing paragraph summarizes what has been presented in the essay and allows the sixth grade writer to add his/her affirmation of this perspective.
