University Blida 2 Faculty of Arts and Languages _ Department of English

Academic Year: 2015/2016 Module: Reading and Writing Teacher: Ms. BEN BELLAL

Level: First Year LMD Groups: 3 & 4 Learning Hours: 3 hours

Objective: by the end of the lesson, students should be able to write a simple and
a detailed outline of a paragraph. Thus, they will be able to stay on the topic and
write a well-organized paragraph.

Contents:
I. Simple Outline
II. Detailed Outline
III.Using an Outline

Outlining a Paragraph:
An outline is a helpful guide for you to use as you write a paragraph. In an outline, you
list your ideas in the order in which you will write about them. Then when you write
the rough draft, refer to your outline. Doing so will help you to stay on the topic and to
write a well-organized paragraph.

I. Simple Outline:

This what a simple outline looks like:

Title
1. Topic sentence
2. Supporting Sentences
A. Main supporting sentence
B. Main supporting sentence
C. Main supporting sentence
3. Concluding sentence

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Example:
The Student Center

1. Topic Sentence: Eating in the student Center is a pleasant experience.

2. Supporting Sentences:
A. Food is excellent
B. Environment is positive
C. People are friendly

3. Concluding Sentence: It is nice to go to the Student Center cafeteria once in a

while to enjoy eating, studying and talking with new people.

Practice 01: Choose one of the following topics and write a simple outline
A favorite place to relax Best Friend A favorite food
Your home town Ideal job
Writing a paragraph Smoking

II. Detailed Outline:

In the detailed outline below, main supporting sentences A, B, and C are the main
supporting points of the paragraph. Each of them supports the topic sentence.
Supporting details „a’ and ‘b’ are the supporting details for each main supporting
sentence.
Of course, outlines are usually not as regular as this model. Every outline will
probably have a different number of main supporting sentences and a different number
of supporting details.

Title
1. Topic Sentence

2. Supporting Sentences
A. Main supporting sentence
a. Supporting detail
b. Supporting detail

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 B. Main supporting sentence
a. Supporting detail
b. Supporting detail

C. Main supporting sentence

a. Supporting detail
b. Supporting detail

3. Concluding Sentence

Example :

The Student Center

1. Topic Sentence: Eating in the Student Center is a pleasant experience.

2. Supporting Sentences:
A. Food is excellent
a. well-prepared and delicious
b. many different foods (hamburgers, tacos, pizza and chicken)

B. Environment is positive
a. happy young people talking
b. calm atmosphere for study

C. People are friendly

a. strangers say “Hi” and share tables
b. conversation (practice in English)

3. Concluding Sentence: It is nice to go to the Student Center cafeteria once in

A while to enjoy eating, studying, and talking with new people.

Practice 02: Write a detailed outline about the topic you have chosen in the first
activity.

III. Using an Outline:

After you have prepared an outline, the next step, writing a rough draft, is easy.
Because you have already organized your ideas, you can concentrate on writing

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smooth and grammatically correct sentences. Start with the topic sentence, and follow
the points in your outline. Use the outline as a guide. If you want to change something,
do so. An outline is only a guide to help you. You should not feel that you cannot add,
delete, or change during this step in the writing process.
Here is the final paragraph about snow skiing after it was edited. The topic sentence
and concluding sentences are in bold type, and the main supporting sentences are
underlined.

The Student Center

Eating in the Student Center is a pleasant experience. First, the food is
excellent. It is well prepared, it tastes delicious, and there are many different kinds of
food like hamburgers, tacos, pizza, and chicken. Moreover, each person serves his or
herself, selecting just what he or she wants. Second, the environment in the Student
Center is positive. Many happy young people are talking and laughing. However, the
atmosphere is still calm; it‟s possible to study and do homework. Finally, there are
many friendly people in the Student Center. Even the strangers say, “Hi!” and offer to
share their tables. When that happens, practice in speaking English and friendship
often follow. For these reasons, it is nice to go to the student center cafeteria once
in a while to enjoy the eating, studying, and talking with new people.

Practice 03: Now, Write a paragraph from the outline you wrote in Practice 2. Use
The Student Center‟s paragraph as a guide.

Follow these steps:

Step 1: Write the first draft.
 Follow your outline.
 Write the main supporting points and then, write two or three sentences for each
main point.
 Introduce each main point with a transition signal.

Step 2: Edit the first draft.

 Edit your paragraph with a partner
 Use Reader's Response and Writer's Self-Check

Step 3: Write the final copy.

 Write a neat final copy to hand in to your teacher.

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 Writer's Self-Check
Writer: _____________ _ Date: ________________________ __

Paragraph Form
My paragraph has a title. Yes No
The title is centered. Yes No
The first line is indented. Yes No

Punctuation, Capitalization, and Spelling

I put a period after every sentence. Yes No
I used capital letters correctly. Yes No
I checked my spelling. Yes No

Sentence Structure
Every sentence has at least one SV pair and expresses Yes No
a complete thought.

Reader's Response
Reader: Date:

1. How many main points does the writer make? Number: ………

2. Does the writer introduce each main point with a Yes No

transition signal?
Which signals? Write them here:
…………………………………………………………………………………………..

3.Do you understand everything? Yes No

If your answer is no, what part(s) or sentence(s) don't you understand?

…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

4.What do you like the best about this paragraph? Write one positive comment here:
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………….....

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