Learn how to teach writing using a simple system of a color code. Make it a pizza analogy to engage your students when teaching writing. Once you’ve used this system, it may become your favorite teaching strategy for paragraph writing.
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A color code is a simple system and structure for how to teach writing. Some teachers think teaching writing with a framework is formulaic and stifles creativity. But the truth is, students need to learn the ground rules of writing before they can get creative. Student writers benefits from a solid framework that helps them learn how to develop a paragraph, essay, or story.
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Color Theory in How to Teach Writing
Do you paint or do another type of art? I recently decided to learn to paint. But I discovered that before I could paint, without it looking like a kindergartener did it, I had to learn the basic concepts of art. Things like perspective, foreshadowing, proportion.
I took some basic drawing classes. But I still couldn’t paint well. All the colors were a muddy mess. So I went back to basics, and took a color theory course.
Now my paintings look a little better. Like maybe a fifth grader did them.
Think of this system as the color theory of writing. When students learn this simple system using something they can relate to:
Pizza
They’ll be more likely to remember it and use it.
A Simple System for a Perfect Paragraph
First, choose three colors plus one accent color you want your students to use in their writing. I use stoplight colors of green, yellow, and red. But when I’m teaching, I call them the pizza colors.
On a practical note, you get these colors in a box of 8 dry erase markers or a box of 8 crayons. Keep it super simple!
Here’s the pizza lunch analogy to go with the three colors.
- Green: Green is the salad. The salad comes before the pizza. It’s the introduction to the paragraph.
- Yellow: Yellow is the pizza crust. It’s the body of the pizza that holds all the toppings. Yellow is the thesis or main idea that the story or essay must support.
- Red: Red is the sauce and the pepperoni. It’s the details that:
- Explain
- Expound
- Examine
- Explore
- Give examples
These colorful details develop and deepen the thesis or main point.
- Orange: Once you begin teaching transitional phrases, you can add orange. Orange is the color for the transition words. It’s the extra cheese in the stuffed crust. If you’re teaching the students to use particular types of transitions, they underline them in orange.
- Green again at the end: Green is now mint ice cream for dessert. Or pistachio ice cream if you prefer. It’s where the student looks back at the introduction, the body, and the details, and crafts a great conclusion.
Examples of Colorful Paragraphs
Let’s take a look at the colored parts of a simple paragraph. We’ll take it apart and read it piece by piece to see how the colors are used to build the paragraph.
- The first sentences, the introduction, are green. Many people dislike rainy days, but I love them. Let me explain, and see if you agree with me.
Green example – start with the salad and end with the mint pistachio ice cream.
After green the student should include a yellow fact to support the topic introduced in green. In this example, the student states a fact about rainy days.
The yellow example has added some facts. We need a pizza crust to hold the paragraph together.
After yellow comes red with details and explanations about the fact just stated in yellow. The student explains to the reader audience what they’re writing about.
Students can have as many red sentences to develop a topic as they need to use. They’re not limited to the 8 sentence paragraph model. The paragraph can be longer.
The red example adds some details and explanations; the pizza sauce and pepperoni.Using the analogy of the pizza, you can always add more sauce and pepperoni! You’ll see what this looks like in the next image.
Expanding the Colorful Writing Paragraph
- Sentences 4, 5, 6, and beyond continue the pattern of yellow and red. The student writes two more yellow sentences (facts) and includes at least one or more red sentences (details) to expand the ideas.
- Conclusion sentences are also green. The student concludes by restating their opinion or the main idea in a different way.
- Finally, don’t forget orange! Have the student go back and add in orange (transitional words and phrases) that are appropriate to the paragraph. The transitions can be very simple or more subtle and complex.
This final example includes a few more red details and explanations. (Extra meat and sauce.) It also has the transitions, (the cheese), that helps everything on the pizza paragraph stick together.
The final writing example is informative, and gives examples for the reader to imagine what it’s like during and after a rainstorm in the desert.
This level of writing would be appropriate for fourth grade or beginning of the year fifth grade. By the end of fifth grade, you’ll be teaching the students to add descriptive figurative language, metaphors or similes, or more complex sentences.
This structure of the perfect paragraph begins small, and expands as the students’ abilities grow. It can be used for any level of writing, from upper elementary through college and beyond.
Increasing Complexity in Writing Across Grade Levels
The first example, which is all green sentences, would be appropriate for beginning writers in grade 1 and perhaps the beginning of grade 2. By the middle of grade two, students should be adding facts that support the topic.
Then in third grade, students should be able to add details and explanations to support the facts. They should also start using transition words.
In grade four, continue the same paragraph format, but have students add more red details. You could also have them begin using some descriptive phrases. By this time, appropriate transitions should be required.
In the fifth grade, students should be able to make a more complex paragraph. They can use compound and complex sentences, analogies and figurative language. They can begin learning to use transitions that aren’t so overt, but instead, are more subtle.
Beyond upper elementary grades, students can use this structure to develop complex essays and research reports.
Even though the students are moving each year toward more advanced writing, the framework stays the same.
- Introduce the topic.
- Add some facts.
- Include details and explanations.
- Help the reader move forward by using transitions.
- Finally restate or reassert the main idea to create a sense of closure for the reader.
You can also introduce and practice this skill by taking a well written paragraph from any text. Give a copy to the students and have them color the introduction and closing green, the facts yellow, the details red, and the transitions orange.
This practice helps them to become more aware of these elements as they’re writing their own paragraphs.
More Posts About How To Teach Writing
Do you want to learn more about teaching writing? Here are some other blog posts you may be interested in reading.
- Teach Expository Writing
- Teach Summary Writing
- Teach Opinion Writing
- The Teach Narrative Writing series of posts
- The Powerful Metacognitive Writing Strategy
- Develop a Daily Writing Habit
