1. ASManager2_6.zip Driver
2. G_5PARA.txt File Contents

G_5PARA.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2_6.zip)

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Five-Paragraph Essay

You probably noticed something. Eleven sentences are a bit unwieldy to put into one paragraph. The paragraph gets too long, the reader gets lost or bored, and important points get buried in it. That's why newspaper paragraphs average three sentences. Consequently, we frequently write in that classic format -- the five-paragraph essay.

A lot of teachers don't like this five-paragraph essay form because, they argue, it is too structured, too stilted. They may be right, but inexperienced writers sometimes need a rigid form. So, we're going for five paragraphs this time; that's a lot more than the five sentences we started with.


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Remember the eleven-sentence paragraph about the length of the school year? Using that paragraph, try to create a five-paragraph essay. Structure it in this way:

1st paragraph: Introduction and thesis (A thesis sentence is a topic sentence for the entire essay.)

2nd paragraph: First main support and supporting details

3rd paragraph: Second main support and supporting details

4th paragraph: Third main support and supporting details

5th paragraph: Conclusion


First Step:

Scroll down to the paragraph and break the paragraph into its individual sentences. Position your cursor at the end of each sentence and press the Enter key twice. Then scroll back for the instructions for the next step.


Second Step:

Now, group related ideas together. You can use the copy and paste features to form these groupings.


Third Step:

After grouping related ideas together, make sure the groups are in order (first, second, third, etc.). Move the groupings around if necessary.


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The school year should be lengthened by twenty days. American students need more schooling to compete with the rest of the world. American students attend fewer days of school per year than the students in any of the other top twenty industrial nations. American students score lower on national tests than students from these other countries. Students would forget less if the summer vacation were not as long as it is. Many classes need to spend most of the first quarter reviewing what was learned the previous year, before they can go on to new material. Because of the constant review, some students get bored and become disruptive in class. Students would get less bored and, therefore, into less trouble if they had a shorter vacation. The crime rate goes up among juveniles in the summer because they have fewer things to do and more time on their hands. Students party more causing more of them to have alcohol-related car accidents. If the school year is not lengthened, America will continue to fall further and further behind the rest of the industrial world.



Name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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You may now have the core sentences for a five-paragraph essay. Do you feel like your groupings represent the main ideas on this topic?

Compare your groupings to the five-paragraph essay on-screen below and on the handout, "Length of School Year." Can you see how the author expanded the ideas into this essay?


Length of School Year

Most schools in the United States operate on a 180-day calendar. This came about originally because of the agrarian nature of the country. The farmers needed to have their entire families available to help with the planting of crops in the spring and the harvesting in the fall, as well as the field work in the summer. Now, however, less than one percent of the population is employed in agriculture. AS WE MOVE INTO THE AGE OF TECHNOLOGY, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE SCHOOL YEAR BE LENGTHENED BY TWENTY DAYS.

In this age of technology, American students need more schooling to compete with the rest of the world. American students attend school fewer days of each year than the students in any of the other top twenty industrial nations. Consequently, American students also score lower on national tests than students from these other countries. The results of our shorter school year are obvious as we see American jobs being lost to the Western Rim countries. With the end of communism in Europe and the rise of capitalism, countries like Germany and Poland with a well-educated work force will offer tougher competition.

A second reason why the school year should be lengthened is students would forget less if the summer vacation were not as long as it is. Many classes need to spend most of the first quarter reviewing what was learned the previous year before they can go on to new material. Because of the constant review, some students find school boring and become disruptive in class. It doesn't seem like they ever learn anything new, so they take school less seriously than they should.

Not only are students bored in the classroom with the current calendar, but students also become bored during the summer. The students would end up in less trouble if they had a shorter vacation. The crime rate goes up among juveniles in the summer because they have fewer things to do and more time on their hands. There are not enough summer jobs for all the students, so many of them spend the summer sleeping more, causing tension between them and their parents. Additionally, students party more in the summer, causing them to have more alcohol-related car accidents.

Summer vacation is fun, but American schools tend to overdo it. It is time that the schools take vacations that are more realistic to the current world situation. If the school year is not lengthened, America will continue to fall further and further behind the rest of the industrial world.



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My Essay

Now, go to you worked on earlier. Remember how you revised your essay? It now has eleven sentences. Separate the sentences with the enter key as you did in this file. Group together sentences that are about the same idea. Look for five main ideas -- ones that are worthy of their own paragraph. Develop each one so that you are working toward a five-paragraph essay. Capitalize the entire thesis statement in paragraph one and the topic sentence in each consecutive paragraph.

This project may take several sessions to finish. If you have a partner, either collaborate or help each other.


If you haven't done so already, name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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end of activity
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