Stoplight Paragraph Writing

Who do you admire most? Why?

Topic sentence Details Details Details Concluding Sentence

GREEN

TOPIC SENTENCE

RESTATE QUESTION, GIVE ANSWER GREEN = GO; Tell me where you’re GOING Example:

I admire Yogi Berra for many reasons.

YELLOW

GIVE

DETAILS/EXAMPLES/REASONS/FACTS SLOW DOWN

Example: Yogi compiled amazing stats as a catcher and hitter for the New York Yankees.

YELLOW

GIVE

DETAILS/EXAMPLES/REASONS/FACTS SLOW DOWN

Example: He won ten World Series while serving as a team-captain for the American League power-house.

YELLOW

GIVE

DETAILS/EXAMPLES/REASONS/FACTS SLOW DOWN

Example: Berra was admired by all of his teammates and respected by his opponents due to his competitive nature and unbelievable skill.

RED Make sure you have GIVEN DETAILS/EXAMPLES/REASONS/FACTS

STOP!!!!!!!

compiled amazing stats catcher New York Yankees ten World Series team-captain admired by opponents/ respected by teammates

RED Restate question End with concluding thought

CONCLUSION Example:

For these reasons, Yogi Berra has always been a baseball player I have admired.

I admire Yogi Berra for many reasons.

He compiled amazing stats as a catcher for the New York Yankees . Yogi won ten World Series while serving as team captain for the American League power-house. Berra was admired by his teammates and respected by his opponents due to his competitive nature and unbelievable skill . For these reasons, Yogi Berra has always been a baseball player I admire.

Alternate Learning Styles Visual: highlighters • After the kids write a paragraph, they highlight the following: topic sentence details conclusion • • Kinesthetic: role play I cut paragraphs into sentence pieces The kids must circulate around the room reading their sentence to find the topic sentence, details, and conclusion that complete the paragraph part they were given

YOUR TURN TO PRACTICE:

What is your dream job/career?

Why do you think Yankee Doodle put a feather in his cap and called it “Macaroni”?