ELA.2.C.1.5 2.11.b

Structure and Development 2nd Grade

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS): 2.11.b
develop drafts into a focused piece of writing by: organizing with structure; and developing an idea with specific and relevant details;
Florida - Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking: ELA.2.C.1.5
Improve writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing with guidance and support from adults and feedback from peers

WRITING STRUCTURE

Organizing your writing with specific structure will
make it more focused and easier to read.

PARAGRAPHS
A paragraph is a group of sentences that will usually center around one main topic. There are many ways to write a paragraph, but there is a basic structure that students can start with.

Example:

Topic sentence/Introduction — This is the first sentence of a paragraph. It will introduce the main idea of the paragraph to readers.

Supporting information — This is the middle section of a paragraph. It is where details, explanations, and examples that relate to the main topic go.

Conclusion — This is the last sentence of a paragraph. It closes up the paragraph. Usually, it will relate back to the topic sentence in some way.

SENTENCE ORDER
It is also important to organize your sentences in an order that makes sense. Related ideas should go together, and if something needs to be in a certain time order, it should be.

Topic sentence —

The electric eel is an animal that lives in the rivers of South America.

Supporting details —

It has a long tube-like body.
It can grow to be 8 feet long and weigh up to 44 pounds.
It has special cells in its body that make electricity.
The cells can generate 600 volts of power.
This is strong enough to knock down a horse!

Conclusion —

The electric eel is an interesting animal.

The electric eel is an animal that lives in the rivers of South America. It has a long tube-like body. It can grow to be 8 feet long and weigh up to 44 pounds. It has special cells in its body that make electricity. The cells can generate 600 volts of power. This is strong enough to knock down a horse! The electric eel is an interesting animal.

DEVELOPING IDEAS

It is important to develop the ideas in your writing
with specific and relevant details.

Adding in details can help readers get a better understanding of an idea or topic. Details should convey information that is related to the main topic of a text.

What kind of detail could be added to this paragraph?

Catfish are carnivores, which means that they eat meat.

There are over 30,000 different species of fish in the world.

Electric eels can be many different colors, such as black, blue, and purple.

Catfish are carnivores, which means that they eat mean — NOT RELEVANT

There are over 30,000 species of fish in the world. — TOO GENERAL

Electric eels can be many different colors, such as black, blue, and purple.

REMEMBER that details that do not relate to the main topic or that are too general for a certain topic should not be included in a text.

Structure and Development

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS): 2.11.b

develop drafts into a focused piece of writing by:

organizing with structure; and

developing an idea with specific and relevant details;

Florida - Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking: ELA.2.C.1.5

Improve writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing with guidance and support from adults and feedback from peers