Grade 5 · Lesson 18 — Clear Paragraphs

Literature · Paragraph Town · blocked · 30 min · 18 slides · Launch → I do → We do → Read → You do → Closure

Anchor to leave them with: One idea, clearly.

Objective Read and use Clear Paragraphs from Paragraph Town, pp.55–57.

Smallest piece A clear paragraph carries one idea and does not make the reader work.

Spot test “What is the one idea here?”

Why that test works If the answer takes more than a sentence, the paragraph holds more than one idea and should be split. That is a decidable test for something children otherwise treat as taste.

Why — in your own words Clarity is a courtesy to whoever is reading.

Practice mode blocked

If it breaks Remedial 89 — a muddled paragraph to split in two

Vocabulary — pre-pointed T2 CLEAR = the reader does not have to work it out

Materials Mini-whiteboard + pen per student · Composition notebook · Deck — 18 slides · Writing Book 5, p.57 · Remedial 89 — a muddled paragraph to split in two

The lesson, slide by slide

Slide — what is on it	What you SAY	What happens, and why
Slide 1 LAUNCH Writing — Day 18	(nothing yet — this is up as they come in and settle)	Have Writing — Day 18 up before they enter. Say nothing about it. Same slide every lesson, number only changes. It marks the transition into writing before you speak, which saves you having to. Students: See it on the way in. Know writing is next.
Slide 2 LAUNCH Clear Paragraphs	“This is how we set our hand and our page up to write.”	CONTEXT — say where this lesson sits: what it follows, and what it is part of. One sentence. The children should know what kind of work is starting. Context, not a hook. A child who knows what KIND of lesson this is spends no attention working it out. Students: Listen. Orient.
Slide 3 LAUNCH Today ›› Launch I Do We Do Read You Do Closure	“Here is what we will do today.”	Point to Launch once. Do not explain the others. · Retrieval on MWB · 3-5 min Mini-whiteboards: Retrieval on MWB Students: Look.
Slide 4 LAUNCH Read and use Clear Paragraphs from Paragraph Town, pp.55–57.	“Read and use Clear Paragraphs from Paragraph Town, pp.55–57.”	PURPOSE — say it slowly, in these words. The teacher objective in the header is for you; this is the version the class hears. Never read a teacher objective to children. The version in the brief header is written for you and is too long and too abstract to say to a class; this one is what they hear. Students: Listen.
No slide LAUNCH WHY — SAY IT ten seconds, off screen, in your own words	“Clarity is a courtesy to whoever is reading.”	Why this matters. Say it, do not read it. Ten seconds, then move on. Your words, not these. This is the one beat of the lesson that should sound like you mean it rather than like it is written down. Students: Listen.
Slide 5 LAUNCH Sixty seconds — what do you remember?	“Before anything new: U11 set 1.”	Five minutes, boards out. Take answers from boards, not hands. Do not re-teach — this is retrieval, not a lesson. The spiral. These are sets met 2, 5, 10, 20 or 35 lessons ago, and the items are DIFFERENT from the ones taught then — same category, new example. If they cannot recall it, note it and move on. Students: Write answers on boards.
Slide 6 LAUNCH Words we will use T2 CLEAR = who is reading does not have to work it out	“Two words we need before we start.”	Read each, point to it, move on. Do not drill them here. Pre-pointed vocabulary. Naming them now stops the lesson stalling later on a word that was never the point. Students: Listen.
Slide 7 LAUNCH What we will do A clear paragraph carries one idea and does not make who is reading work.	“A clear paragraph carries one idea and does not make who is reading work.”	Click once per line. Do not elaborate. Students: Listen.
Slide 8 I DO Today Launch ›› I Do We Do Read You Do Closure	“Now we i do.”	Point to I Do once. Do not explain the others. · 3-4 min Mini-whiteboards: NOT here — they watch, they do not write. Writing during I DO is how the model gets missed. Students: Look.
No slide I DO (board — build the VIP, then leave it up)	(you are narrating each stage as you build it)	Build on the BOARD, not the slide. Teacher reads the key passage of Clear Paragraphs aloud with the book open and models the move it teaches on one sentence. Then leave it up for the whole lesson. One click per step. The footsteps are never erased — the same strip is printed at the top of their sheet, so come back to it if anyone stalls. Students: Watch it being built. It stays there to look at.
Slide 9 I DO The test “What is the one idea here?”	“Here is the question we ask ourselves: “What is the one idea here?””	Say it, then apply it aloud to the example already on the board. WHY IT WORKS — you will be asked: If the answer takes more than a sentence, the paragraph holds more than one idea and should be split. That is a decidable test for something children otherwise treat as taste. Students: Listen, then say the test back.
Slide 10 WE DO Today Launch I Do ›› We Do Read You Do Closure	“Now we we do.”	Point to We Do once. Do not explain the others. · PRIMARY MWB use · 5-6 min Mini-whiteboards: PRIMARY MWB use Students: Look.
Slide 11 WE DO Together	“Now with me.”	Class applies the move from Clear Paragraphs to two sentences together, checking against the book's own example. Take answers from boards, not from hands — that is how you see all thirty. Students: Answer on boards.
Slide 12 READ Today Launch I Do We Do ›› Read You Do Closure	“Now we read.”	Point to Read once. Do not explain the others. Mini-whiteboards: NOT here — they watch, they do not write. Writing during I DO is how the model gets missed. Students: Look.
Slide 13 READ Writing Book 5, p.57	“Open Writing Book 5 to page 57.”	Read it with them — FASE or teacher read-aloud, never round robin. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it. Our own book, not a purchased one — so it can be printed, edited and improved, and there is no license on it. Students: Follow along. Read when asked.
Slide 14 YOU DO Today Launch I Do We Do Read ›› You Do Closure	“Now we you do.”	Point to You Do once. Do not explain the others. · Written on the sheet · 4-5 min Mini-whiteboards: Written on the sheet Students: Look.
Slide 15 YOU DO In your notebook: apply Clear Paragraphs to three sentences of your own, double-spaced.	“In your notebook: apply Clear Paragraphs to three sentences of your own, double-spaced.”	Set them off. Walk the rows. Correct the grip and the setup, not the content, in the first minute. Students: Work in the notebook.
Slide 16 CLOSURE Today Launch I Do We Do Read You Do ›› Closure	“Now we closure.”	Point to Closure once. Do not explain the others. · Display answers on MWB · 2-3 min Mini-whiteboards: Display answers on MWB Students: Look.
Slide 17 CLOSURE Read out one sentence that uses Clear Paragraphs.	“Read out one sentence that uses Clear Paragraphs.”	Exit Direction. Take it from every child before anyone stands. It belongs to today's content — it is how you know who has it. Students: Answer, then pack away.
Slide 18 CLOSURE One idea, clearly.	“One idea, clearly.”	Say it once. Leave it on screen as they pack away. The anchor — the one line you want them to still have tomorrow. Students: Hear it. Repeat it if asked.

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