Introduce topic sentences to students. Write a short paragraph on the board, and read it to the students. Identify the topic sentence, and explain that it tells the main idea of the paragraph.
Write or post three separate paragraphs on the board. Leave out the topic sentence on each one. Post three topic sentences on a separate section of the board, and label them A, B and C. Ask students to read each paragraph and decide which topic sentence matches which paragraph. Call on students to match the topic sentences with the paragraphs. Discuss why the sentence they picked is correct or not.
Ask students to take a few minutes to pick a topic in which they have interest. For instance, a student could pick "Dogs" as his topic. Ask the students to identify why the topic is important or interesting. The student who picked dogs could say that they make good pets for people.
Instruct students to make a list of important words associated with their topic. For example, important words associated with dogs include "friendly," "loyal," "happy," "loving" and "playful."
Tell students to construct a topic sentence using the list of important words. For instance, the student could write, "Dogs are friendly, loyal and loving animals that make good pets for people."