3.
b. For breakfast there were pancakes, and Ma made a pancake
man for each one of the children.
b. Read over the literature passage. Using your own words, tell your teacher what this paragraph is describing. Which sentence do you feel best expresses the main idea of the paragraph? This sentence is called the topic sentence. It is the sentence that tells what the paragraph is about. The first sentence of the paragraph is usually the topic sentence.
c. The rest of the sentences in the paragraph support or give more information about the topic. These are called supporting sentences. Supporting sentences make up the body of the paragraph. If a sentence in the paragraph does not support the main idea, it is not a supporting sentence and should not be in the paragraph.
Which sentences in the literature passage are supporting sentences?
d. Each paragraph should end with a closing sentence that summarizes or comments on the topic of the paragraph. Identify the closing sentence in the literature passage.
e. The literature passage paragraph explains how Ma made pancake men. Choose something you know how to do and write a topic sentence for a paragraph explaining how it is done. Keep your subject simple, such as how to wash the family car, set the table, or bake a cake.
f. Think about the activity you chose and the steps you take to complete it. You might want to act it out and write the steps in order as you go. For example, to bake a cake you might write:
How to Bake a Cake
1) Preheat oven to 325°
2) Grease and flour two round cake pans.
3) Mix boxed cake mix with eggs, oil, and water according to the directions on the box.
4) Pour the mixture into cake pans, place in oven, and bake for 30 minutes.
5) Take the pans out of the oven and allow them to cool.
6) Remove cakes from pans and frost.