written

• Topic sentence


  The most important sentence in a paragraph, containing a topic and a controlling idea
• Topic


  • Names the subject of the paragraph
• Controlling idea


  • Tells what the paragraph will say about the topic, limiting it to a specific point or points
• Topic


  • Some weddings are very simple
• Topic


  • My friend
• Controlling idea


  • is an honest person
  • is the funniest person I know
  • has a terribly dangerous job
• Topic sentence


  • Should be a complete sentence with a subject, verb, and usually a complement
  • Should contain a topic and a controlling idea
  • Should give only the main idea, not too specific and not too general
• Paragraph


  A unit of writing that focuses on one main idea
• Developing a topic sentence from a general topic

  1. Make a list of words/phrases related to the general topic

  2. Choose a smaller, more specific topic from the list

  3. Make a second list of words/phrases related to the smaller topic

  4. Choose words/phrases from the second list to use as the controlling idea

  5. Combine the topic and controlling idea to make a topic sentence
• Topic sentences


  • A friend is a person you have fun with
  • A friend is someone you can trust
  • A friend is a person who enjoys the same activities