CHECKLIST

• Paragraphs begin and end with important information.
• The opening sentence is often the topic sentence that tells what the paragraph is about.
• The middle of the paragraph develops the idea.
• The end may sum up the paragraph’s contents, closing the discussion of an idea and anticipating the paragraph that follows.
• A paragraph makes sense as a whole; the words and sentences are clearly related.
• A paragraph relates to other paragraphs around it.