Lesson in Topic Sentences
[*] What IS a topic sentence? Analyze the words. You know what a
sentence is. What is a topic? Take about a minute to think about it and
write down on your paper with your partner the definition of WHAT a
topic sentence is.
[1]
(Begin your definition by saying, 'A topic sentence is...')
[2] Look at this following paragraph. Choose the sentence that
BEST describes what everything is talking about and write it on
your OWN paper.
"Sometimes I get so bored on Fridays. It's usually the same old
thing to do every Friday. Wake up and go throughout school. Get out of
school. Walk to the mall from the bus stop. Go and have something to eat
at the food court. Go into all my favorite shops in the mall starting with
Bestseller Books and working my way to Macy*s. I then wait for the
crowd to come in and then I hook up with some of my friends from High
School. After, I have dinner either at the food court or at Denny's. Maybe
I might watch a movie with them, or not. Then wait for my mom or dad or
someone else to come pick me up. See what I mean? Same old same old. It
gets so boring sometimes."
[3] Did you find the topic sentence? Take a look at the following
paragraph and try and find it again, then write it down.
"I like some of my teachers this year. Mrs. Campbell seems okay.
She's real nice and doesn't assign too much work for us. Mrs. Kuhl is all
right. She is a great teacher but sometimes she's hard to understand with
her funny accent. Mr. Harper is a nice old man. He's kind of like right in
the middle. My other two teachers, the first being Mr. Niemi, are really
bad. Sometimes Mr. Niemi can just blow his top and explode. That gets
kind of scary. My English teacher, I forgot his name, is the worst! He is so
mean and assigns way too much work for us! I especially hate his
vocabulary quizzes because he also tries to include things from our other
classes. All in all, my teachers are somewhat varied this year."
[4] Here's one more.
Volleyball is one great sport to play on the beach. Actually you can
play it pretty much anywhere but the beach is the best, you know, two
man teams. You really get your exercise there! Snorkeling and scuba
diving are great fun as well. You really have to be a good swimmer though
and if you do the latter, you have to be certified. There are a lot of
activities you can do on the beach. Other fun things to do would be to go
running across the sand, barefoot. It's pretty good for your toes and your
feet digging into the sand makes for quite a workout. It's also good if you
have corns and calluses on your feet. Of course sun tanning all day would
be quite fun as well as relaxing. Watching other people tan too is a great
relaxer.
[5] Answer this question, In the first, second, and third paragraph,
where were the topic sentences found in each paragraph? Write
the answer on your own paper.
[6] According to your answer to the above question, what
conclusion can you draw regarding topic sentences (state your
answer in one sentence.)