Writing the Five Paragraph Essay -- Free Organizer and Rubric

Last year and this year I have been working on teaching my fourth graders the five paragraph essay format.  The freebie I'm sharing today is my latest version of the printable forms I use to teach and grade this form of writing.

 

 

Using the gradual release of responsibility model, I had my students write a five paragraph essay about school.  We filled in the graphic organizer for three activities we do at school.  After we filled in the information for the body paragraphs, I modeled how to create information for the lead and conclusion. 

 

Next, I modeled how to take the information and put it into paragraphs.  More advanced writers used their own information and worked ahead at this point.  I use yellow legal pads for student rough draft and have them copy onto notebook paper or type up their final copy.

 

At the beginning of the year, I collected all the rough drafts and edited myself.  As we are nearing the end of the school year, I am asking students to peer and self-edit.

 

Here is what my rubric looks like.  By giving similar assignments throughout the year and evaluating them using the same rubric, I can easily record my students' growth in writing.

Click here to download Five Paragraph Essay from my TPT store.
Click here to download Five Paragraph Essay from my TN store.