Drafting Body Paragraphs Two and Three with TEEL

Children re-read their TEEL body paragraph 1 (from lesson 3) and homework body paragraph 2 draft. Partner shares.

• Affirm specific TEEL bands
• Note where LINK works well
• Bridge to BODY 3 today

Today you draft BODY PARAGRAPHS 2 AND 3 using TEEL. The structure is the same as body 1 — TOPIC + EVIDENCE + EXPLANATION + LINK — but the LINK SENTENCE must VARY across the three paragraphs. If every body paragraph ends with the same link sentence ('This is one reason ___'), the reader hears repetition. Vary the link by using different sequence words and different angle phrasings. Watch teacher build body 2 (pause) and body 3 (rhythm) for the verse-form essay. BODY 2: TOPIC: 'Second, the white space in verse poetry lets memory pause and breathe.' EVIDENCE: 'Woodson uses entire blank lines between stanzas to create silence (Woodson 2014, 86).' EXPLANATION: 'The empty space lets the reader catch breath and lets the memory sit. Prose paragraphs crowd memory; verse lets it pause.' LINK: 'Beyond pacing the sentences, this pause-creation is the second way verse form serves memoir.' BODY 3: TOPIC: 'Third, the rhythm of recurring three-line stanzas matches the natural breath of recollection.' EVIDENCE: 'Across Brown Girl Dreaming, three-line stanzas appear at moments of remembering — for example pages 24, 86, and 132.' EXPLANATION: 'The repeated three-beat pattern mirrors how memory actually surfaces — in pulses, not in continuous paragraphs.' LINK: 'Taken with pace and pause, this rhythmic match is the third and perhaps deepest reason verse form works for memoir.' Notice link variations: body 1 'This is the first reason'; body 2 'Beyond pacing, this is the second way'; body 3 'Taken with pace and pause, this is the third and perhaps deepest reason.'

• Three identical LINK sentences bore the reader. Three varied LINK sentences carry the reader forward.

  model See narrative — two body paragraphs with different LINK phrasings.

  prompt Teacher drafts body 2 and body 3 with varied LINK sentences.

• Why does the LINK need to VARY across the three body paragraphs?
• Name two ways to vary a LINK sentence.

M-5-F-WR-06-A Chart

11x17 chart: three body paragraphs labeled Body 1, 2, 3 with LINK sentences highlighted green. Below each body, the LINK phrasing pattern annotated ('First reason' / 'Beyond pacing, second way' / 'Taken with pace and pause, third and deepest reason'). Print-ready.

• Draft body paragraph 2 following TEEL with a LINK that differs from body 1.

  scaffold MG-3 anchor; color-coded sentence-strip kit; planner from lesson 4 in hand
• Draft body paragraph 3 following TEEL with a LINK that differs from both body 1 and body 2.

  scaffold Three-way LINK variation card

M-5-F-WR-06-B Illustration

Reference image of a Grade-5 child's handwritten three body paragraphs with LINK sentences highlighted green; each LINK uses different sequence-word and angle-phrasing. Print-ready 8.5x11 spread.

• Show body paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 with LINK sentences highlighted green.
• Partner checks: are the three LINK sentences DISTINCT?

• Star the strongest LINK sentence.
• Predict: tomorrow we meet the audience-analysis card.

• At home tonight, read your three body paragraphs aloud. Does each LINK land? Bring observations tomorrow.