Explanatory Writing

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing Essays

Writing Essays

Once you finish prewriting, you are ready to present your poll results in writing. These activities will help you hook the reader's interest at the beginning, explain important information in the middle, and end with a strong final point. You'll also read another student's essay to see how all of the parts came together.

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

In the beginning paragraph, the first sentence is called the lead sentence. The lead should get the reader’s interest about the topic of the essay. The last sentence is the focus statement, which names the main idea of the essay. Any sentences in between give details about the topic.

Write a lead sentence.

Follow the directions below to write two different lead sentences. Then choose the one you like best for your essay.

  1. Say something interesting about the topic.

    Ocean mammals are big and small.

  2. Ask a question about the topic.

    What ocean mammal is your favorite?

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Prewriting for Essays

Prewriting for Essays

Prewriting is your first step in writing an essay. This prewriting activity will help you select a topic to write about and gather important details about the topic before you begin a first draft.

Prewriting to Plan Your Own Essay

Review the results.

Study the answers to another question. This will be the topic for your own essay.

Peer Response Sheet

Teaching Tip

You can also have students write an essay about the answers to another question from the "Thinking About Polls" warm-up activity.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Reading an Informational Paragraph and Essay

Reading an Informational Paragraph and Essay

Before you write your essay, you'll want to see how others did so. This lesson shows you an informational paragraph and an informational essay, explaining each part. As you read them, think about how the writers put ideas together and how you could describe the results of a classroom poll in your own essay.

Reading an Informational Paragraph

An informational paragraph has three main parts. The topic sentence names the topic. The body sentences explain the topic. The ending sentence gives a final idea about the topic. This paragraph explains the results of the poll about students’ favorite seasons.

Sample Paragraph

Listen to “Summer Wins”

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Summer Wins

Topic Sentence Most third graders at Parkview Elementary picked summer as the best season. There are 32 third graders at Parkview, and 20 of them picked summer. Most of these students liked it because of the warm weather and no school. Body Sentences Winter came next with eight third graders voting for it. Playing in the snow and Christmas were the main reasons. Three students picked fall because of Halloween and fall colors. Only one third grader picked spring because of the flowers. Ending Sentence The seasons are all fun, but every third grader has a favorite.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Warm-Up for Writing Essays

Warm-Up for Writing Essays

Writing a Personal Narrative
(c) Thoughtful Learning 2016

An essay explores a topic in great detail using multiple paragraphs. This lesson will show you one special way to gather information for your own essay.

What Is an Essay?

You first learn how to write sentences. Then you learn how to write paragraphs. Next, you learn how to write essays. Each new form builds on what you learned before: A group of related sentences forms a paragraph. A group of related paragraphs forms an essay.

An essay gives information about a single topic. The beginning paragraph introduces the topic, the middle paragraphs explain the topic, and the ending paragraph summarizes the main points. Essays explain, describe, or persuade.

In this unit, you will write an essay that explains how a group of third graders answered an interesting question.

Watch the video "Building Essays"

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Thinking About Polls

Big companies and organizations take polls to find out what people are thinking. For example, when there is an election, voters will be asked who they are going to vote for and why. Asking these questions helps candidates know how they are doing during their campaign.

Consumers are asked what they like such as thin or thick crust on their pizza. Young TV viewers like you may be asked about their favorite shows. Even principals and teachers use polls to ask their students different questions.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Understanding Explanatory Paragraphs

Understanding Explanatory Paragraphs

Your main purpose in an explanatory paragraph is to give information about a subject. You may give directions, present ideas, or explain how to do something. An explanatory paragraph uses transitions such as first, then, after, and finally.

Read an explanatory paragraph.

Read the following paragraph. Note how the first sentence introduces the topic, the body sentences include details with time transitions, and the ending sentence wraps up the explanation.

Listen to "Building Our Tree House"

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Topic Sentence Last summer, my friends and I built a tree house in our back yard. Our first step was to agree on a design for the tree house. Then we made a list of materials we needed and located a store that sold building supplies. We took our list and the money we had saved and went shopping. Body SentencesWe loaded everything into my dad’s van and headed back. The first thing we had to do was build a frame for the floor of the house. (My mom helped with that.) Then we used a rope to raise all the wood up into the tree. TransitionsAfterward, we nailed the floorboards to the frame, and we soon had a floor. After that, we added walls and a roof. It took us all afternoon, but it was worth it. Ending Sentence We now had a great place to hang out for the rest of the summer.

Explanatory Writing