Hamburger Paragraphs

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Hamburger Paragraphs

• How to write a really
• great paragraph!

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Click on me to learn about good paragraphs!
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The Topic Sentence (Top Bun)

• Very first sentence of your paragraph.
• Always needs to be indented.
• Simply tells what your paragraph is going to be
  about.

There are many reasons that I love to
teach. First of all, I love to teach because I
love being at school. Another reason I love
teaching is that the days go by quickly. A third
reason I love to teach is because I love seeing a
student understand something new. Finally, I love
to teach because I love to be around kids. These
are just a few reasons I love to teach.

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The First Detail (Lettuce)
There are many reasons that I love to
teach. First of all, I love to teach because I
love being at school. Another reason I love
teaching is that the days go by quickly. A third
reason I love to teach is because I love seeing a
student understand something new. Finally, I love
to teach because I love to be around kids. These
are just a few reasons I love to teach.

• Should not be the most important detail.
• Needs to support the topic by providing a detail,
  explanation, or example.

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The Second Detail (Tomato)
There are many reasons that I love to
teach. First of all, I love to teach because I
love being at school. Another reason I love
teaching is that the days go by quickly. A third
reason I love to teach is because I love seeing a
student understand something new. Finally, I love
to teach because I love to be around kids. These
are just a few reasons I love to teach.

• Still should not be the most important detail.
• Provides further support with a new detail or
  example.

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The Third Detail (Cheese)
There are many reasons that I love to
teach. First of all, I love to teach because I
love being at school. Another reason I love
teaching is that the days go by quickly. A third
reason I love to teach is because I love seeing a
student understand something new. Finally, I love
to teach because I love to be around kids. These
are just a few reasons I love to teach.

• Still not be the most important detail.
• Continues to support the topic with another
  detail, explanation, or example.

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The Last Detail (Meat)
There are many reasons that I love to
teach. First of all, I love to teach because I
love being at school. Another reason I love
teaching is that the days go by quickly. A third
reason I love to teach is because I love seeing a
student understand something new. Finally, I love
to teach because I love to be around kids. These
are just a few reasons I love to teach.

• Finally! The most important detail.
• The strongest piece of evidence to support the
  topic.

Click here to return to the hamburger
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The Closing Sentence (Bottom Bun)

• Should look similar to the topic sentence.
• Needs to summarize the topic.
• Needs to be an obvious end to the paragraph.

There are many reasons that I love to
teach. First of all, I love to teach because I
love being at school. Another reason I love
teaching is that the days go by quickly. A third
reason I love to teach is because I love seeing a
student understand something new. Finally, I love
to teach because I love to be around kids. These
are just a few reasons I love to teach.

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Lets Review

• Here are some examples of sentences that cannot
  be used as topic sentences. Can you figure out
  why they are inappropriate?   

My hometown is famous because it is located by Wheaton River, which is very wide, and because it is built near an unusually steep hill called Wheaton Hill.   There are two reasons why some people like to buy cars with automatic transmission and two reasons why others like cars with manual transmission.   Clouds are white.
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Topic Sentence One

• My hometown is famous because it is located
  by Wheaton River, which is very wide, and because
  it is built near an unusually steep hill called
  Wheaton Hill.

• The problem with this sentence is that it
  contains too many details. Topic sentences are
  general, and details should appear later in the
  paragraph. A better topic sentence would read
  like this My hometown is famous for several
  amazing geographical features.

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Topic Sentence Two

• There are two reasons why some people like to buy
  cars with automatic transmission and two reasons
  why others like cars with manual transmission.

• Sentence 2 is not appropriate as a topic
  sentence because it mentions two topics, not just
  one. Paragraphs are usually about one main thing,
  so their topic sentences should also be about
  only one main thing, like this There are two
  reasons why some people like to buy cars with
  automatic transmission.

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Topic Sentence Three

• Clouds are white.

• The problem with sentence 3 is that it is too
  general. It is also very boring! Would you like
  to read a paragraph with this topic sentence?
  Most people would not. Here, you need a better
  topic, such as the following The shapes of
  clouds are determined by various factors.

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How many sentences?

• A paragraph often has more than two supporting
  ideas. At minimum, you should have at least five
  to seven sentences in your paragraph. 
• How many sentences do you count in the paragraph
  to the right?
• How many are supporting sentences?

   My hometown is famous for several amazing
natural features.  First, it is noted for the
Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful.
Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton
Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.
The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree.
This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is
probably about six hundred years old. These three
landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown
a famous place.
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How can I juice up my writing?

• The short paragraph in this review is a fairly
  complete paragraph, but it lacks details. 
• Whenever possible, you should include enough
  details in your paragraphs to help your reader
  understand exactly what you are writing about. 
• For each detail have you addressed the following
• WHO
• WHAT
• WHEN
• WHERE
• WHY
• HOW  

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Consider this Revision
       My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. On either side of this river, which is 175 feet wide, are many willow trees which have long branches that can move gracefully in the wind.  In autumn the leaves of these trees fall and cover the riverbanks like golden snow.  Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.  Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is not dangerous, because there are some firm rocks along the sides that can be used as stairs.  There are no trees around this hill, so it stands clearly against the sky and can be seen from many miles away.  The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old.  These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.

•    

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Resources

• The metaphor of the hamburger is adapted from
  Reid, J.M. (1994). The Process of Paragraph
  Writing (2nd Ed.)
• Walters, F. Scott (2000). Basic Paragraph
  Structure. lt http//lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalt
  ers/para.htmlgt 19 September 2011.
• http//www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paragraph
  _hamburger/ gt 19 September 2011.