Explain the prewriting or initial steps of brainstorming a topic; write down several facts that the students already know about the topic. Demonstrate this process by picking a topic familiar to the class. Ask students to give you some facts about the subject and write them on the board or overhead projector.
Demonstrate how to write a topic sentence. Read the facts or ideas that you wrote on the board. Show students how to use these ideas to form the topic sentence, which tells the reader what the paragraph is about. The topic sentence may also be in the form of a question, which the rest of the paragraph will answer.
Explain the purpose of supporting details, which back up or further develop the topic sentence. These details might be some of the facts established in the prewriting or initial phase or new details discovered when the students researched the topic. Write two or three supporting sentences on the board after the topic sentence. Emphasize that facts must pertain specifically to the topic.
Help students to write a strong concluding sentence. Write a sentence on the board that sums up the topic of the paragraph. Emphasize that this sentence should not repeat the topic; it can restate the topic or offer the writer's concluding thoughts about the topic.