6 Exercises for Teaching Topic Sentences
Why should students learn about topic sentences?
A topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph. It tells the reader what the paragraph is about. If you don’t know how to write a topic sentence, your paragraph will probably be confusing. A well-written topic sentence can make your paragraph more interesting.
1 Introduction to topic sentences quiz
This quiz is a nice way to introduce topic sentences.
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2 Sentence starters for topic sentences
Sentence starters provide an easy and smooth way of getting students familiar with topic sentences.
3 Understanding topic sentences
Topic sentences are essential for summarizing the main idea of an essay. This worksheet can be used to test students’ understanding of topic sentences.
Understanding topic sentences exercises (PDF)
4 Writing topic sentences for essays and paragraphs (with possible answers)
In this worksheet students practice writing topic sentences by looking at the pictures, thinking about what kind of essay each picture might inspire, and writing an appropriate topic sentence.
Writing topic sentences exercise (PDF)
5 Creating topic sentences from supporting ideas
This is another way to help students understand the function of a topic sentence.
6 Writing topic sentences for paragraphs or essays (with possible answers)
Topic sentences are essential for summarizing the main idea of a paragraph. Paragraphs often have topic sentences supported by three ideas. So in this worksheet students practice writing topic sentences by looking at the pictures and trying to summarize three ideas in one topic sentence.
Writing topic sentences for paragraphs or essays (PDF)
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7 Finding and creating topic sentences
This is a useful exercise to help students identify and create topic sentences.
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