How to Write an Essay for 3rd Graders
Writing essays becomes a part of every student's life. An effective essay conveys the writer's thoughts clearly and succinctly in a well-organized fashion. While the task may seem frightening to an elementary school student who has never written an essay before, the art of preparing a well-written five paragraph essay becomes easier with practice.
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Instructions
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Choose a topic that interests you. People tend to write their best when they are enthusiastic about the topic at hand. Ask yourself what your favorite hobbies and subjects are and what you've always wanted to know more about and choose from amongst those topics.
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Research information on that topic if your teacher requires you incorporate ideas from outside sources into your essay. Visit your local library and ask the librarian if she can point you in the direction of any resources on your chosen topic.
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Write an introductory paragraph that is sure to capture your reader's attention, introduces your topic, and ends with a thesis statement summing up the overall point of your essay. Some ways to begin your introduction include using a hypothetical question such as "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to visit the moon?", telling a brief, interesting story related to your topic, or making a general statement such as "In 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon."
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Write a body composed of at least three paragraphs, each covering its own thought or idea. Back up all of your claims with specific examples, statistics, quotations, or details. Indent one inch at the beginning of each new paragraph, and use transition words such as as "however," "on the other hand," "secondly," "yet," or "then," whenever appropriate to make your paper flow well.
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Sum up your essay with a conclusion paragraph. Provide a brief summary of all of the main points you made in your paper and restate your main claim from the introduction.
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Write a works cited page listing all of your sources in alphabetical order if you used information from any outside sources in your essay. Attach it to the end of your essay.
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Proofread your words for grammar, sentence structure, and clarity. Make sure that there are no misspelled words, inappropriately placed punctuation marks, or unclear or incomplete thoughts.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not stress too much about writing a perfect essay on your first try. Many writers find that it is best for them to get all of their ideas down on paper first and then go back and fix grammatical and spelling errors and reword anything that does not effectively convey their idea.
If you use anyone's thoughts but your own, be sure to use a works cited page. Trying to pass someone else's work off as your own constitutes plagiarism and is likely to earn you a poor grade.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit The Student image by Paul Moore from Fotolia.com
