Paragraph Unit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 3 Topic Sentenc es 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 plac e the topic sentence at the end. Practice 1 Below you will see pairs of sentenc es. Eac h pair contains one sentence that would make a good topic sentence and another sentenc e that would make a good detail sentence. Write T before the sentence in eac h pair that would make a good topic sentenc e. Write D before eac h 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 c an 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 sec retes 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 Choic e - Read eac h 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 Roc helle, New York. Roc kwell 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. 2. He is the son of the famous Norman Rockwell, the artist who painted 322 pictures depicting Americ an 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. Roc kwell's Triple Self-Portrait sported the c over 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 c hildren's book in 1969. 3. 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. Roc kwell 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 c ritic s gave Roc kwell devastating reviews for his book of poems, Rockwell c hanged to writing novels. b) Thomas Rockwell has two children, Barnaby and Abigail. c) Rockwell's wife has illustrated some of his books. d) Roc kwell 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 c ondiments 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. one ac re land million earthworms
5. babies hatch cocoons 6. earthworms help garden Practice 4 Write topic sentenc es for eac h 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.losalam os.k12.nm.us/lib.99/m archbirthdays.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --------------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 whic h hatc h from c oc oons. 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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