The first paragraph of the essay should introduce the theme, or what you're going to talk about in the piece. Instruct students to brainstorm ways they can present the main idea of the essay in an engaging, thought-provoking way. Students can write out their various ideas before settling on the sentences that give the most impact.
Using the same sentence structure over and over can get boring in an essay's introduction. Challenge students to write a second draft of their intro, trying to use different syntax throughout. For example, a section can be changed from redundant to articulate with a bit of tweaking. "The biology of trees has several aspects. The aspects of biology are explained below" can be changed to "There are several aspects concerning the biology of trees. Some of these differences will be outlined below."
The last line of an introduction should contain a thesis for the essay. This is where the writer should present an idea or theory that will be explored in the essay. For example, an essay about the themes of the book "Pride and Prejudice" can end with a thesis like "Mr. Darcy's character embodies both the pride and the prejudice of the title."
Paying attention to the vocabulary of the introduction can go a long way to keep the wording exciting. Instruct students to use a thesaurus when writing their intros and to change up some of the words when appropriate.