I. The main idea in a paragraph is stated within the topic sentence.

Most often times the topic sentence is the first sentence in a

paragraph. Sometimes however, it can be found in the middle or
even at the end of the paragraph.

Read the paragraphs below. Notice the highlighted sentences are the topic
sentences.

We had a great time at the lacrosse game last Wednesday night.

My dad took four of my friends and me to the dome at seven o'clock. We sat
with other kids from our school. Our team was behind at the half, but pulled
ahead to win by four goals. After the game we stopped for ice-cream before
going home.

The alarm clock sounded for a full two minutes before Katie heard it. Even then, she
put her pillow over her head, rolled over and groaned loudly. Getting up early in
the morning was always hard for Katie. As usual, her mom had to pull the
blankets off her and make her get up for school.

Review
As you can see in the first paragraph above, the topic sentence is
the first sentence of the paragraph. In the second sentence, the
topic sentence was located in the middle of the paragraph.

Directions: On the lines below, write three paragraphs. Put the

topic sentence in the correct place. Underline each topic
sentence.

Paragraph 1 (Topic Sentence Middle)

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Paragraph 2 (Topic Sentence Beginning)
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Paragraph 3 (Topic Sentence End)
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