Paragraph Unit
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Lesson 5 Supporting or Detail Sentences
Tennessee Standard - 6th Grade
Assessed - 6.spi.2.11 - Choose the supporting sentence that best fits the context and flow of ideas in a paragraph.

 

Rule

The first sentence of a paragraph tells the main idea. It is called the topic sentence. The sentences that follow the topic sentence explain or tell more about the main idea. These sentences are called supporting or detail sentences.

 

Read the following paragraph and discuss.

    

     Have you ever wondered if Zero's inability to read is a problem that others in the United States face? According to the CIA World Factbook, only 97% of adults in the United States are literate. Fifty-one countries in our world have a higher literacy rate than that of the United States. The United States Department of Labor states that 50% of the unemployed are functionally illiterate. The United States Department of Education states that 44% of American adults do not read one book in the course of a year. The inability to read is a major problem for many Americans.
 

Questions:

  1. Why do these sentences make a paragraph?

  2. What is the topic sentence of the paragraph? How are you able to identify the topic sentence?

  3. Read the four detail sentences.

  4. What is the purpose of the detail sentences?

Practice 1

Write yes or no to tell whether each sentence supports the main idea.

 

    Main Idea: Ways Americans Can Improve the Literacy Rate

  1. __________Based on a study by the Literacy Volunteers of American reading scores can improve by one grade level with 35 to 45 hours of tutoring.

  2. __________The United States Department of Education states that the average kindergarten student has seen more than 5,000 hours of television.

  1. __________ The American Council of Life Insurance say people with less than 6 years of schooling are 4 times more likely to be receiving public assistance than those attaining 6 years or more.

  2. __________According to a study made by the National Assessment for Education Progress of 2l-25 year olds, 80% couldn't read a bus schedule, 73% couldn't understand a newspaper story, 63% couldn't follow written map directions, and 23% couldn't locate the gross pay-to-date amount on a paycheck stub.

  3. __________ The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2000 national reading assessment of fourth-grade students found that reading for fun had a positive relationship to performance on the NAEP reading scores.

  4. __________ The U. S. Department of Education's Early Childhood Longitudinal Study found that children who were read to at least three times a week as they entered kindergarten had significant increases in skill mastery in the reading content areas over the children who were not read to.

     Main Idea: Defining Various Types of Books

  1. __________ Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, and Swamp Angel are fun tall tales to read.

  2. __________ Mysteries are fictional stories which can not be explained or a crime that is not solved until the end of the story.

  1. __________ Historical stories take place in a particular time period in the past.

  2. __________  Poetry collections are usually found in the non-fiction section of the library under the Dewey Decimal Classification numbers 808 - 811.

  3. __________  Students enjoy reading futuristic or science fiction stories.

  4. __________  An autobiography is the story of a real person's life, written or told by that person.

Practice 2 - Multiple Choice

 

  1.      (1) Some readers may be uncomfortable over Louis Sachar's use of the word "Negro" in the book Holes.  (2) In Chapter 25 of Holes Sachar refers to Sam, the onion man, as a Negro which simply means black in the Spanish, Portuguese and ancient Italian languages. (3) Prior to the 1970s the term Negro was considered the correct and proper English word for slaves and freed slaves. (4) Sometimes African Americans use a form of the word "negro" playfully among themselves (as in, "wassup negro!"). (5) Later the term was considered an insult by African Americans, and dropped from conversation by most Americans. (6) The term is generally acceptable in a historical context or in the name of older organizations, such as in the United Negro College Fund. (7) Since Miss Katherine and Sam's story "takes place" prior to 1970 the term Negro should not be considered offensive to the reader of Holes.

    Which sentence does NOT belong in the paragraph?

    a)  1
    b)  3
    c)  4
    d)  7
     
  2.      Latvia is a country in north-eastern Europe. It is bordered by Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. Russia and Belarus are to the east. In the west Latvia is bordered by the Baltic Sea. The capital of Latvia is Riga which is located on the northern shore. Forty-one percent of the country is covered with forests. Latvia holds over 12,000 small rivers and over 3,000 lakes.
     

    Which fact below could be added to the paragraph to support the idea: Latvia's geography?

    a)  The population of Latvia is mostly Christian.
    b)  With the exception of the coastal plains Latvia has a damp climate.
    c)  Latvian Song and Dance Festivals are held each summer.
    d)  Latvia has professional basketball, football, and hockey leagues.
     

  3.      Louis Sachar worked at an elementary school while he attended college. His job was to watch over the students during lunch. Sachar played games with the students. He soon earned the nickname "Louis, the Yard Teacher". Sachar used this experience to form a character in his first children's book, Sideways Stories for Wayside School.

    Which sentence would make the best addition to the paragraph?

    a)     Although Sachar graduated from law school and passed the bar exam, he decided to become a full-time children's author rather than a lawyer.
    b)      Louis Sachar was born in New York, moved to California at age nine, and now lives in Texas.
    c)  In 1987 Sachar and his wife Carla     had their first child named Sherre.
    d)      Sachar met his wife while he was a visiting a school in Texas.
     
  4.      (1) Louis Sachar has written a second book based on one of the characters from Holes. (2) In this story which takes place two years after Camp Green Lake, Theodore Johnson, better known as "Armpit", is still digging holes. (3) Armpit's next door neighbor is a 10-year old girl named Ginny. (4) This time as a summer job putting in sprinkler systems.  (5) He is also going to summer school trying to get his life back on track when X-Ray shows up. (6) X-Ray develops a get rich quick scheme which creates a series of events which spiral out of control for Armpit.

    Which sentence does NOT belong in the paragraph?

    a)  1
    b)  2
    c)  3
    d)  4
     
  5.      (1) Although the movie Holes is very close to the book, there are some differences. (2) Stanley's grandfather adds comedy to the movie, but is not part of the book. (3) One of the most appealing features to the movie is the film's music. (4) In the book Stanley is overweight which causes him to have low self-confidence, yet in the movie Stanley is average-sized. (5) In the movie Stanley and Zero become neighbors and the Warden, Mr. Sir, and Mr. Pendanski are arrested which does not happen in the book. (6) In the book Squid asks Stanley to tell his mom he is sorry, however, Armpit asks the favor in the movie.
     

    Which sentence does NOT belong in the paragraph?

    a)  2
    b)  3
    c)  4
    d)  5
     

  6.      In the movie version of Holes, the yellow spotted lizards are played by the bearded dragon which ironically is the most popular pet lizard in the United States. Bearded dragons have broad triangular heads and flattened bodies. A distinctive series of spines runs horizontally down the lizard's sides from head to tail.

    Which sentence would make the best addition to the paragraph?

    a)  When the bea    rded dragon becomes angry it puffs out its chin making it appear to have a beard.
    b)  This Australian native has been exported worldwide.
    c)  When keeping the adult bearded dragon as a pet, you will need to purchase a 40 gallon or larger tank.
    d)  The bearded dragon enjoys an omnivorous diet.
     

  7.      (1) Sam claimed that onions were nature's magic vegetable. (2) He advised the people that onions were good for the digestion, the liver, the stomach, the lungs, the heart, and the brain. (3) Is there any truth to Sam's advice? (4) The ancient Egyptians worshipped the onion. (5) The National Cancer Institute reports that onions contain antioxidants that help block cancer and appear to lower cholesterol.  (6) Apparently, Sam was right. (7) Onions are a magic vegetable.

     Which sentence does NOT belong in the paragraph?

    a)  1
    b)  2
    c)  3
    d)  4

Practice 3

Take the outline you made from Lesson 2 and the graphic organizer with topic sentences you wrote in Lesson 3. Now you are ready to create the next part of your paragraphs. For each set of details listed under a topic write a good detail sentence.

 

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Sources of Information:
Your Nation http://www.your-nation.com/
Literacy Statistics for the United States http://www.main.nc.us/literacy/statistics.htm
National Institute for Literacy http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/facts/facts_overview.html
Negro from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro

Latvia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia
Bearded Dragon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearded_dragon
About the Onion http://www.magicvalleygrowers.com/history.html

 

 

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

 

Practice 1

 

    Main Idea: Ways Americans Can Improve the Literacy Rate

  1. yes

  2. no

  3. no

  4. no

  5. yes

  6. yes

     Main Idea: Defining Various Types of Books

  1. no

  2. yes

  3. yes

  4. no

  5. no

  6. yes

Practice 2 - Multiple Choice

  1. c

  2. b

  3. a

  4. c

  5. b

  6. a

  7. d

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