Lesson 9 — Activity 1: What is a Paragraph?



Keeping your writing clear will help you communciate better.

In order to communicate well, it is important to keep your writing organized and clear. You reviewed this idea when you looked at the parts of speech and writing sentences.

Learning about paragraphs continues this idea. The paragraph is what is used for most formal writing.

A paragraph:
  • is a group of sentences about one topic or main idea
  • is organized so that the reader can very clearly understand the purpose the writer is trying to accomplish


Descriptive paragraphs always include adjectives.
There are four basic types of paragraphs:

A descriptive paragraph:
  • tells about a person, place, thing, or idea in a way that helps the reader picture it in his or her mind
  • includes many adjectives that tell how things look, feel, sound, smell, and taste                              



A persuasive paragraph:
  • shares an opinion and tries to convince others to act or think a certain way
  • may include facts and examples to encourage the reader to accept the writer's opinion

Persuasive paragraphs often include facts to support an opinion.


Going through the steps to explain a process
An expository paragraph:
  • provides information about a topic or explains or shows how something is done
  • often includes research done by the writer to explain events or uses steps to explain a process
  • may use words, such as first, second, and then, to guide readers and help them understand


A narrative paragraph:
  • is like a very short story that describes an event or experience in a way that draws readers in
  • includes many techniques to keep readers interested and wondering how things will turn out
A narrative paragraph is like a very short story.
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In the next activity, you will look at how to get started writing paragraphs.



Go to the next page to try a Self-check Activity on identifying kinds of paragraphs.