1. Topic-
Writing an Introductory Paragraph
 
2. Content-
- Introductory paragraph to research paper or essay
- using an outline
- topic sentence
- thesis statement
 
3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
1. Think of an excellent topic
2. Write a great first sentence with hook
3. Have a solid thesis statement
 
4. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-

1. Why is it so important when you are writing an essay or research paper to have a great introductory paragraph?
2. Remember that you have already chosen a great, interesting (TO YOU) topic - lets say, "the best tasting apple in the whole world," and you've already made an outline
3. The next step is to write a great introductory paragraph that grabs the reader's attention, but also lays the ground work for the rest of your paper.
 

B. Development-

1. To write a great introductory, first you need a great topic sentence to grab your reader's attention. You're going to "bait" your reader and give them a good "hook" to make them *want* to read your paper. Because trust me, when someone like me, grades 50-70 papers, its always a good idea to capture my interest.
2. Lets go back to our paper about the best tasting apple in the world. Now, you can start this paper by using a story, an anecdote, a comparison or a fact. Anything that sparks interest. For example, you may start by saying "There are more than 75 different varieties of apple in the world." That's a decent start, but lets add some details to it so that there's more "meat". Instead of just saying "There are more than 75 different varieties of apple in the world" say "Out of the 75 delicious varieties of apples that exist in the world, there are three that are the best tasting apple." This combines your introductory sentence with your topic.
3. Another example is using personal information to generate interest. Say you are writing a paper about your personality traits. This type of paper can really reflect your personality and so it is a good idea to include a personal fact in your introduction. For example, if a person had the personality traits of ENFP, which scholars believe are the same traits that Peter, the Apostle had, then a great and interesting hook is to say "According to my personality trait, I can walk on water." Now, realistically the reader knows that you can't, in fact, walk on water, but this grabs their attention to want to read more of your essay.
4. After you have a great hook for your paper, you will need a solid thesis statement. A thesis statement is - very simply - a sentence that tells your reader exactly what you will be writing about in your paper.

For example, Someone who was writing about the best tasting apple would say: "__________, __________ and ______________ are the best tasting apples." This lines out clearly to your reader where you want your paper to go. To fill in those blanks, it is easiest to use your topics from each body paragraph and plug them into the blanks. After doing that, your thesis will read "Red Delicious, Granny Smith and Washington Red are three of the best tasting apples."
 

This Lesson Plan is available at (www.teacherjet.com)