Essay Writing

Since we were talking about it... here's the formula that I teach. They have to learn the rules before they can break them. TH/TS - thesis or topic sentence CD - concrete detail (fact or text support for literary essays) CM - commentary (opinion) CM - a 2nd commentary or another opinion that supports the opinion TR - transition CD - 2nd face CM - CM - CS - concluding sentence that serves as transition to next paragraph If they are only writing one paragraph, the thesis and topic sentence are one and the same. With full-blown essays, I teach that the thesis (subject + opinion) should be in the intro paragraph, which is usually a narrative or attention-grabbing paragraph. with ELL or younger kids - TS - topic sentence F - fact O - opinion O TR F O O CS