What is the 5-Paragraph Essay format?
A five paragraph essay is an essay with an introduction paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. The introduction should begin with a sentence or two that grabs the reader’s attention (a hook). Then it should include a thesis statement that states what the whole essay will be about (if it’s an opinion essay, then it should state their opinion). In the same sentence as the thesis statement, or the sentence right after the thesis statement, there should be 3 supporting reasons or topics. The 3 body paragraphs should each have a topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence. The concluding paragraph should restate the thesis statement and 3 supporting reasons or topics again, but in a different way. Then, to give a sense of closure, an essay closing sentence should be added.
Whew! That’s a lot. Teaching all of this information to your students can feel overwhelming. To you, and to them. Here are 4 tips for teaching 5-paragraph essays that will make the teaching process (and learning process) easier:
- Compare 5-Paragraph Essays to a concept that is familiar to your students
- Use an anchor chart or PowerPoint to introduce 5-Paragraph Essays
- Show your students an example of a 5-Paragraph Essay
- Use 5-Paragraph Essay graphic organizers or outlines to plan essays EVERY TIME
Tip #1: Compare 5-Paragraph essays to a concept that is familiar to your students
5-Paragraph essays can be a challenging concept for some of your students to grasp. Heck, if you’re teaching 3rd grade, then 5-paragraph essays are most likely a whole new concept, and will be challenging for many of them to grasp. Any time you teach your students something new, or challenging, comparing it to a concept that is familiar to your students will make it much easier for them to grasp and implement.
What familiar concept can I use? Anyone that knows me, knows that I love food. So, it’s not surprising at all that my favorite way to teach 5-paragraph essays is by using the sandwich method (you could also use a hamburger, but I already used that for paragraph writing), so sandwiches it is!
The top piece of bread is like the introduction paragraph. The 3 inside pieces of the sandwich are like the body paragraphs. And the bottom piece of bread is like the conclusion paragraph.
Tip #2: Use an Anchor Chart or PowerPoint to teach the comparison
To teach your students that 5-paragraph essays are like sandwiches, you can use an anchor chart.
To make the anchor chart, print (or draw) a title, an assembled sandwich, and a sandwich separated into 3 segments (top bun, middle pieces, and bottom bun). Cut out each piece and attach to your anchor chart.
If you want students to follow along, you can create a corresponding anchor chart for them. You can leave all the writing parts blank, or just parts of it. If you have students who struggle with note-taking or writing things by hand, you will probably want to give them only a few blanks.
For READY-TO-PRINT anchor chart pieces and differentiated student copies, check out my 5-paragraph essay resource.
While you fill in the anchor chart with your students (you can hand write the parts as you go, or you can print the words before your lesson and tape them onto the chart as you go), students can fill in their copy.
Another way that you can introduce this comparison is by creating a PowerPoint. A PowerPoint allows you to throughly introduce each part of a 5-paragraph essay in a clear and engaging way.
For a PowerPoint that is ready to go, my 5-paragraph essay product includes that too!
Tip #3: Show an example of a 5-Paragraph Essay
I know this one might seem obvious, but sometimes we forget how important it is! We can compare tricky concepts to familiar concepts all day long, but if we don’t show students an example, then they might inaccurately envision what you’re teaching. While you are filling out the anchor chart with your students, refer to your sample essay. That way, they can see what a 5-Paragraph essay looks like, what a thesis statement and supporting reasons/topics looks like within the essay, what body paragraphs look like (and how they are much bigger than the introduction and the conclusion), and what the concluding paragraph looks like
When you create your 5-Paragraph sample essay, I recommend doing the following:
- Write it on anchor chart paper before teaching your lesson. It took me about 15 minutes to write mine onto this anchor chart paper. When writing your sample essay, you can use different colors (and a key) like I have done, or you can use the same color to write the whole thing.
- Type a matching sample essay on your computer and print a copy for each student (they will be labeling it later).
After you are done introducing 5-paragraph essays with an anchor chart (or PowerPoint), pass out a sample essay to each student. Review body paragraphs. Ask them to label the 3 body paragraphs on the essay. Remind them that each body paragraph needs a topic sentence. Ask them to label each topic sentence. Remind them them that each body paragraph needs a concluding sentence. Ask them to label the closing sentences in each body paragraph. Continue doing this with anything else you want to review with 5-paragraph essays.
Tip #4: Use graphic organizers to plan 5-Paragraph Essays
Pick a graphic organizer design that can be used for both opinion writing and informative writing. Use it the entire year. Have students use it EVERY SINGLE TIME they write a 5-paragraph essay. It really helps students gain confidence before they start writing an entire essay.
To introduce 5-paragraph essay graphic organizers, you can say the following:
- Now that you have learned how to write a 5-paragraph essay, it’s almost time to start writing! But first we need to talk about what we do BEFORE we start writing an essay. To do that, let’s first think about what we do before making a sandwich.
- Before you make a sandwich, you wouldn’t go into your kitchen and start grabbing random things from the fridge. That wouldn’t get you very far. If you want to make a delicious sandwich, you would need to plan it out first.
- First, you would need to figure out what kind of sandwich you want to make. Then you can plan out what you want to include in your sandwich. If it’s a meat & cheese sandwich, are you going to include lettuce and tomato? Or perhaps you want to include bacon and avocado.
- It’s the same thing with writing! Before writing your essay, it is best to plan it out! First you need to figure out what kind of essay you are supposed to write. Are you supposed to write an opinion essay, an informative essay, a persuasive essay, or a narrative essay? To answer that question, you must read the writing prompt.
- Once you know what kind of essay you’re supposed to write, then you can plan what you want to include in your essay. The best way to plan your essay is by using a graphic organizer or an outline. (Show them the graphic organizer).
Need graphic organizers that you can use the entire year – for free?
Download this free PDF filled with differentiated graphic organizers that can be used for opinion essays or informative essays. A sample graphic organizer is included!
Well there you have it! Those are my 4 tips for teaching 5-paragraph essays. When you’re ready, print a graphic organizer for each student, pick a writing prompt that comes with passages, and just get started! The more your students practice, the better they will get! I bet even your struggling writers will be able to write a basic 5-paragraph essay by the end of the year if they keep practicing!
