Developing the Topic Sentence

Week 7March 13th, 2014

The plan….• Objectives• How to develop a topic sentence• Sources• Practice• Evaluation• Preview

Objectives• Distinguish important relevant

information from texts and other outside resources to support a topic sentence

• How to identify which resources to utilize for the information re-quired

How to Develop a Factual Topic Sentence

• Factual topic sentences should con-tain verifiable facts, not opinions

• FTS should be supported by infor-mation and more facts located in relevant outside sources– If you need to know about the price of cars go to

dealerships or look at car ads, DON’T use a dictio-nary

Sources• Sources can be from a wide array of

media– Legitimate websites (try .org and .edu websites

first)– Ads, digital and hard copies– Dictionaries– Encyclopedias– Text books– Reference books– Newspapers– Quotes from experts

• What other sources can you think of?

Here are some examples…

Practice #1• Open your writing books to page 23

• Complete the practice– Read each sentence and write down

some possible sources where you can find more information

Jot List• Jot lists contain other facts from out-

side sources that support your topic sentence

• Write down your source• Then take facts to support your topic

sentence• Look to the next slide for an example

of your next practice exercise

Jot ListTopic Sentence: Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States.

Source: http://millercenter.org/president/lincoln

1. Term16th President of the United States (1861–18652. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860, seven slave states left the Union to form the Confederate States of America, and four more joined when hostilities began between the North and South.3. …

Practice #2• Open your writing books to page 24• Get your iPads, tablets, or other de-

vices, and a pen or pencil• Line up quietly• We will go down to the ADP library– Please be quiet; classes are going on

• Use the wifi and print sources in the library to complete the practice