This is a presentation I used in my junior English class for students who were unable to compose organized and effective essays.

1. Structures of Writing: Only write what is in this color. Topic sentences, support, and the thesis.

3. Roles

4. relates the paragraph to the purpose of the piece

5. Offers a preview to the paragraphExample paragraph: Many fast-food chains make their profits from adding a special ingredient called “forget sauce” to their foods. Made largely from edible oil products, the condiment is never listed on the menu. In addition, this well-kept industry secret is the reason why ingredients are never listed on the packaging of victuals sold by these restaurants. "Forget sauce" has a chemical property which causes temporary amnesia in consumers. After spending too much money on barely edible food bereft of any nutritional value, most consumers swear they will never repeat such a disagreeable experience. Within a short period, however, the chemical in "forget sauce" takes effect, and they can be depended upon to return and spend, older but no wiser.

6. Topic Sentences: Finding them On the Kohl’s website, a customer may scroll through several screens of customer service information before they are given the email address to contact their customer service department. Any online customer can quickly contact JCPenney by completing an online questionnaire detailing precisely what the customer needs. JCPenney also has the advantage of offering direct customer service online. On www.jcpenney.com a customer can click the “Customer Service” button and be taken to the main customer service page. For JCPenney, a customer can make returns at any of the 1200 retail stores across the United States. In this new environment of online shopping, a customer must also be aware that returns of merchandise are sometimes necessary. With a high number of customer returns, problems with high shipping costs would emerge, since merchandise would often be sent back to stores. Kohl’s, with only 300 stores, would have a greater degree of difficulty handling customer returns.

8. A couple of, numerous, various, many, several, four, two

9. Ex: Three cities have major pollution problems.

10. Ex: I enjoy four kinds of music.

11. Ex: The policy should be changed for three reasons.

12. Avoid using “there are” in your topic sentences

13. Instead, start with a who, what, where, or when.

16. Ex: Even though bike helmets can be unfashionable or uncomfortable, every cyclist should wear them.

17. Occasion and position

18. Occasion phrases begin with:

19. Unless

20. Although

21. As long as

22. In order to

23. While

24. Since

25. Until

27. Topic sentence practice 1) Write your own Power Statement for this paragraph: 2) Write your own occasion/position statement for this paragraph: I considered a few cost benefits before switching from my sports car to my van. Even though the school year is already 182 days, we could benefit from more class time. Although the van costs about the same as a sports car, the insurance costs were less. I'm guessing the insurance underwriters think that if you are carrying your children with you, you would be less likely to "stomp" on the gas to beat the traffic. Repairs and maintenance were also equal, but gas mileage was not as good in the van. Increasing school days in number would allow teachers to cover more content and subject matter. These longer school years would also reduce the amount of information and skills students forget over the summer time. Longer school days would allow students to spend more time being productive in the classroom instead of wasting time playing video games or getting into trouble.

29. Examples of good topic sentences There are several aspects of the show that make Grey’s Anatomy worth watching. Provides a relevant overview/intro to the paragraph w/o giving details. Although most medical shows are overdone and boring, Grey’s Anatomy is a very well-made show. Provides a relevant overview/intro to the paragraph without giving details. Power Statement Occasion/Position Statement

30. More Practice (Daily points) Power Statement Occasion/Position Statement Although both spiders are dangerously poisonous, their webs create different opportunities for attacking humans. In North America, five species of widow spiders exist. There is the brown widow, which is the one species of latrodectus that is found world wide. There is also the red widow spider that is indigenous to the palmetto leaves of south and central Florida. The other three widows of North America all used to be considered a single species: the western black widow, the northern black widow and the southern black widow. The western black widow doesn’t live in Kentucky, but the other two do. Both species are very abundant in population. The only difference between the two is that the southern black widow has an unbroken hour glass marking. They both pose the same amount of threat to humans. The black widow makes a tangle web and is more likely to exist near wood or in outdoor areas. The brown recluse makes an untidy looking web. The web’s untidy structure makes it look vacant or abandoned. People are more likely to clean or go near a brown recluse web than a black widow web because it looks abandoned. This leads to more unexpected bites by the brown recluse spider.

31. More Practice (Exit Slip) 1.) Power Statement 2.) Occasion/Position Statement In 1997 an important study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The authors, Donald Redelmeier and Robert Tibshirani, studied 699 volunteers who made their cell phone bills available in order to confirm the times when they had placed calls. The participants agreed to report any nonfatal collision in which they were involved. By comparing the time of a collision with the phone records, the researchers assessed the dangers of driving while phoning. The results are unsettling. In 1997 an important study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The authors, Donald Redelmeier and Robert Tibshirani, studied 699 volunteers who made their cell phone bills available in order to confirm the times when they had placed calls. The participants agreed to report any nonfatal collision in which they were involved. By comparing the time of a collision with the phone records, the researchers assessed the dangers of driving while phoning. The results are unsettling.

32. Supporting a topic sentence In order to write well-developed paragraphs, we’re going to help the audience SEE. S: Say it– your topic sentence E: Example– give one. E: Explain it. While writing them may be cumbersome, thank-you cards are the best way to let a person know that you appreciate their kindness. When Sally received her card from Jennifer, she was overjoyed. The thank-you card was personal, hand-written, and funny. This made Jennifer feel appreciated and acknowledged. There may be other gifts a person can buy to make a person feel appreciated; however, Jennifer never felt happier than when she opened and read the letter.

33. A little more on the “E”s of SEE: True story Hypothetical story (anecdote) Fact Theory Other example Expert opinion Proven statistic Additional details Discuss importance Define terms Other explanations, as necessary Examples Explanations

35. They learned this from their parents, who didn’t use cash or checks, either

37. Competing at regional/state

39. Works Cited Isaacs, Becky. "Untitled Document." IWS2.CCCCD.EDU - Collin County Community College District. 10 Mar. 2009 <http://ftp.ccccd.edu/andrade/1301/sitescomp.htm>. "Untitled Document." IWS2.CCCCD.EDU - Collin County Community College District. 10 Mar. 2009 <http://ftp.ccccd.edu/andrade/1301/compcars.htm>. "Writing Topic Sentences." Université d'Ottawa - University of Ottawa. 16 Aug. 2007. University of Ottowa. 10 Mar. 2009 <http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/partopic.html>.