'Paragraphs' tutor notes
The 'Paragraphs' topic area aims to help learners revise and remember useful writing tips.
How does this tie in with the curriculums?
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England
Wt/L1.5 - use format and structure for different purposes
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Wales
As England
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Northern Ireland
As England
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Scotland
Awaiting publication of Scottish Curriculum.
Taking it further:
With Skillswise
Don't forget to visit Lesson plans and Teaching inspirations for more ideas on how to help learners with their writing.
With the web
Here are a few suggestions of other places where you might find resources that you can use to help you write paragraphs.
Please note that the BBC isn't responsible for the content found on other websites.
In this Skillswise module you'll find...
Paragraph factsheets
Seven factsheets present various ways of helping leaners improve the format and structure of their writing. These include identifying and using topic sentences, how to describe an object and how to write a postcard using paragraph writing techniques.
Format and structure worksheets
Seven printable worksheets present various ways of helping leaners with the purpose of their writing, how to create a flow chart, how to use images in writing, how to complete an accident report, how to write a memo and how to create a staff memo.
Paragraph game
This is a writing tool to guide learners through writing paragraphs in the context of writing for a newspaper. It also aims to help learners get used to filling in online forms and to the idea of writing for a particular purpose.
There are three types of story to choose from: news, entertainment and sport, each with example pictures to use. There is the option to use a blank picture for learners to add their own. Each section of the story may be edited as many times as the learner likes. There is the option to print the story once the learner is finished.
The game uses terminology from a real-life newspaper and some of the terms learners may not be familiar with are:
- strapline - a sentence to introduce and sum up the rest of the story. It may be used to explain the concept of a 'topic' sentence.
- byline - the writer or journalist's name
Each type of story has content for each section which may be seen by clicking on the 'see example' button. Tutors may like to do this for each section of the story and then print it out to use as an example for learners. Another possibility is leaving all sections blank, selecting the blank image and printing out a blank version to use as a template.
We hope that learners will be inspired to write about what is relevant to them. This could mean writing a local news story or match report, or writing their own version of a national or international story. It could also be used a vehicle for entries to 'Your stories', the Skillswise showcase of learners' writing.
Technical help:
To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':
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Flash 5
The games in this module use Flash. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
Find out more.
If you don't have Flash the same learning points are covered in the quiz and in the worksheet and factsheet. Flash is now part of the minimum learner specification for the FE sector from the National Learning Network.
If you are new to the web why not try the BBC WebWise online course? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Find out more about 'WebWise'.
You can find out more about the technical requirements for Skillswise in our Help - Technical Information section.
