Paragraph recognition reading skills

• Academic Language Skills
• HBO
• Studiejaar 1

At the end of this session...

You will be able to recognise (and apply) the hamburger model of structuring readable paragraphs

You will know the importance of paraphrasing

What does the topic of a topic sentence tell
the reader?

1. What the title of the paragraph is
2. Who or what the paragraph is about
3. The specific information the paragraph will give

What does the controlling idea of a topic
sentence tell the reader?

1. What the title of the paragraph is
2. What the main subject of the paragraph is
3. The information the paragraph will give about the topic

Bill and Melinda Gates founded an
organization to help people around the
world.
What is the topic in this topic sentence?

1. People around the world
2. An organization
3. Bill and Melinda Gates

Political leaders often inspire people around
the world.
What is the controlling idea in this topic
sentence?

1. Ways that people everywhere are inspired by political leaders
2. Ways that inspirational people vote for good leaders
3. Ways that leaders inspire people to travel

Supporting sentences often...

1. List all questions related to the main topic
2. Ask a question
3. Answer questions such as "Why?"

Choose the best supporting sentence
for this topic sentence: Twins that are
separated at birth have many similarities.

1. The diff erences are also interesting, such as liking diff erent foods.
2. Many cousins are also similar.
3. Studies show twins raised apart score similarly on intelligence tests.

Choose the supporting sentence that
answers the question: Who has the same
DNA? for this topic sentence: People with
identical genes have identical DNA.

1. DNA is located inside the cells of all living things.
2. Therefore, identical twins have matching DNA.
3. It is an important part of biology.

A concluding sentence often...

1. Restates the main idea
2. Introduces the main idea
3. Introduces new information about the main idea

A concluding sentence may...

1. Give examples
2. Offer a suggestion
3. Introduce a new topic

A concluding sentence sometimes...

1. Asks a question
2. Makes a prediction
3. Changes the controlling idea