Paragraph Unit
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Lesson 3 Topic Sentences

 

Read the paragraph below.

 

     After making a bet with his friend Alan, Billy must eat fifteen worms in fifteen days. With $50.00 in prize money Billy plans to buy a  minibike. Alan and his friend Joe do everything possible to keep Billy from eating these worms. They look for the biggest worms in the barnyard. By dipping the worms in everything from ketchup to horseradish sauce, Billy downs the worms with no trouble at all. Realizing that he is actually going to lose, Alan plans one scheme after another to trick Billy right down to day fifteen. Read this hilarious book to see if Billy can outsmart Alan and win the bet.

 

What is the main idea of this paragraph? Can you find a sentence that tells you the main idea? This sentence is called the topic sentence. The topic sentence usually comes at the beginning of a paragraph, however, some writers may place the topic sentence at the end.

 

Practice 1

Below you will see pairs of sentences. Each pair contains one sentence that would make a good topic sentence and another sentence that would make a good detail sentence. Write T before the sentence in each pair that would make a good topic sentence. Write D before each sentence that would make a good detail sentence.

 

  1. __________  Earthworms vary greatly in size from 1 inch to 22 feet long.

  2. __________  The Australian Gippsland Earthworm grows to 12 feet long and can weigh between one and two pounds.
     

  3. __________  A worm has no arms, legs, or eyes.

  4. __________  There are approximately 2,700 species of earthworms.
     

  5. __________ The earthworm secretes a slime that helps hold the soil particles together.

  6. __________ Worms tunnel deeply in the soil.
     

  7. __________ Worms live where the environment has moisture, food, oxygen, and favorable temperatures.

  8. __________ If a worm dries out, it dies.
     

  9. __________ The earthworm has a primitive brain in the anterior.

  10. __________ Charles Darwin spent years studying the intelligence of the earthworm.

 

Practice 2
Multiple Choice - Read each paragraph below about Thomas Rockwell, the author of How to Eat Fried Worms. Think of the main idea for each. Then choose the best topic sentence that tells the main idea.

  1. ______________________________________________________________________________

    He has born in March 13, 1933 in New Rochelle, New York.  Rockwell graduated from Bard in 1956 a year after getting married to Gail Sudler. The Rockwells have two children named Barnaby and Abigail. Rockwell lives with his family on a farm near Poughkeepsie, New York.

    Which sentence is the best topic sentence for the paragraph above?

    a) Alan and Billy make a bet: Alan will give Billy $50 if he will eat fifteen worms in 15 days.
    b) How to Eat Fried Worms is a terrific book!
    c) Thomas Rockwell is the author of the novel How to Eat Fried Worms.
    d) Thomas Rockwell celebrates his birthday on March 13.

  1. ______________________________________________________________________________

He is the son of the famous Norman Rockwell, the artist who painted 322 pictures depicting American life for The Saturday Evening Post over a time span over 47 years. In 1960 Thomas helped his father write his autobiography titled My Adventures as an Illustrator. Excerpts from the biography were printed in eight consecutives issues of The Saturday Evening Post. Rockwell's Triple Self-Portrait sported the cover housing the first of these excerpts.

Which sentence is the best topic sentence for the paragraph above?

a)  Thomas Rockwell's mother was an unpublished author.
b)  Thomas Rockwell was born into a famous family.
c)  Thomas Rockwell's father as well as his two brothers were artists.
d)  Thomas published his first children's book in 1969.

  1. ______________________________________________________________________________

    His children's books include a series about Billy and his friends. In How to Eat Fried Worms Billy makes a bet to eat fifteen worms in fifteen days. In How to Fight a Girl  Alan and Joe scheme to humiliate Billy for winning the bet. In How to Get Fabulously Rich Billy wins the lottery. He soon discovers that everyone he knows wants some of his money. Rockwell has won several awards for his books including the Mark Twain Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and Sequoyah Award.

    Which sentence is the best topic sentence for the paragraph above?

    a)  After the critics gave Rockwell devastating reviews for his book of poems, Rockwell changed to writing novels.
    b)  Thomas Rockwell has two children, Barnaby and Abigail.
    c)  Rockwell's wife has illustrated some of his books.
    d)  Rockwell lives on a farm and has several pets.

Practice 3
Write a topic sentence that tells the main idea.

  1. ______________________________________________________________________________
    ______________________________________________________________________________

Billy covers the worms with ketchup, mustard, horseradish, salt, pepper, lemon juice and many other condiments to hide the flavor. Next he rolls the worms in cornmeal and fries them like fish. When Billy's mother learns about the bet she helps Billy by making Alsatian Smothered Worm and Whizbang Worm Delight. Soon Billy loves the taste of worms.

  1. ______________________________________________________________________________
    ______________________________________________________________________________

    They are found in most areas on Earth. Earthworms live in dirt and under leaves, rocks, or logs. Earthworms especially like wet regions which have a lot of vegetation. They are less likely to be found in sandy, desert-like regions.
     

  2. ______________________________________________________________________________
    ______________________________________________________________________________

    They can eat their weight eat day. Most earthworms eat by passing dirt through their bodies. Their stomach is able to extract the nourishment from the soil. This nourishment is found in the organic matter such as leaves that are found on the surface of the ground.
     

 


Write a topic sentence for each set of words.

  1. one acre land million earthworms

  2. babies hatch cocoons

  3. earthworms help garden

Practice 4

Write topic sentences for each paragraph using the outline made in Lesson 2.

 

Practice 5

Portals to Reading Series: How to Eat Fried Worms published by Perfection Learning. Getting the Main Idea pages 22 - 23

 

Sources of Thomas Rockwell Information:  How to Eat Fried Worms, Portals to Reading Series: How to Eat Fried Worms published by Perfection Learning, March Birthdays of Authors http://aspen.losalamos.k12.nm.us/lib.99/marchbirthdays.html

 
 

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--------------Key--------------

Practice 1

  1. topic

  2. detail

  3. detail

  4. topic

  5. detail

  6. topic

  7. topic

  8. detail

  9. detail

  10. topic

Practice 2

  1. c

  2. b

  3. a

Practice 3  (Answers will vary. Possible answers.)

  1. Billy eats the earthworms in a variety of ways

  2. Earthworms are able to live in many habitats.

  3. Earthworms have a simple diet.

  4. One acre of land may contain as many as a million earthworms.

  5. Earthworms have live babies which hatch from cocoons.

  6. Earthworms are a great help in the garden.

Practice 4 (Answers will vary. Possible answers.)
 

An earthworm is a long, thin animal with a soft, segmented body.

The structure of the earthworm helps it move easily through the soil.

Earthworms have a simple life cycle.
Earthworms have several uses.

 

 

 

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