Tbear Paragraph Lesson

TBEAR

How to write strong body paragraphs for academic essays.

Open Ended

What does a strong academic paragraph need to have?

What is TBEAR?

• •TBEAR is a structure for writing a body paragraph for an informational or argumentative essay.

• It is made up of the five most important aspects of a strong body paragraph.

• These five parts are what teachers will be looking for when they grade your essays in high school and college.

What do the letters stand for?

• T - Topic Sentence

• B - Background information/Bridge to evidence

• E - Evidence/Examples

• A - Analysis

• R - Restatement/Relate/Reflect

Topic Sentences

•The topic sentence is the first part of your paragraph.

•Not only does it tell the reader what the paragraph is going to be about, it states what part of your thesis you are proving.

•It is basically an opinion stated as fact.

Some examples of Topic Sentences

• One sobering aspect of the life of a migrant worker in “The Circuit” by Francisco Jimenez is how little the migrant workers are paid.

• The death penalty should be abolished because too many people have been convicted for crimes they didn't commit.

• School uniforms prevent students from expressing their style and personality.

Multiple Choice

Let's say you've been given the following persuasive writing prompt. What would sound like a better topic sentence?

What is the best part of the winter holiday?

• During the winter holidays, I plan to sleep, eat, and watch Netflix.

• There are many reasons to love the winter holidays but the best part is the extra time people can spend with family.

Open Ended

Write a strong topic sentence for the following prompt:

What are some benefits to distance learning?

Background or Bridge to Evidence

• Provides the information a reader needs in order to understand the evidence. 

• It might also clarify what you mean in the topic sentence.

• You should ask yourself: What is it the reader has to know before I give my evidence?

  
  

Examples of B (Background)

• In the story, Panchito, the narrator, and his father and older brother, work twelve hour days, picking crops in the field for a very small amount of money.

• (TS) A sense of satisfaction in helping others is the most important benefit of volunteering in the community. (B) Not only will a volunteer aid those in need of some service, but he or she will also feel good about doing something nice for them without expecting something in return.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is the bridge or provides background info on the topic:

Animals have unique ways of defending themselves against predators. One common way animals protect themselves is by changing color to blend in with their environment. A good example of this is the snowshoe rabbit. This rabbit turns from brown in summer to white in winter. Its change in color makes it hard for predators to see the rabbit when it is brown in dry summer grass and white in winter snow. This no doubt protects many of the rabbits, and allows the species overall to survive. Without the ability to change color, some species of animals, like the snowshoe rabbit, would probably be extinct by now.

• 1st Sentence

• 2nd Sentence

• 3rd Sentence

• 4th Sentence

Open Ended

If you were writing a paragraph arguing that distance learning is not all bad, what background information might your reader need to know about the topic?

Evidence

• •This is where you give proof, examples, details, and quotes from the text to support your point.

• Supports the writer’s stance or your opinion/judgment with specific textual references. 

• Include page numbers and quotation marks for direct quotes. 

Examples of E (Evidence)

• In the text, Frost writes that the two roads before him have been worn “really about the same,” and are not much different. Even though the roads are about the same, the narrator celebrates his eventual choice with these closing lines: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--/ I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference” (Frost).

• Unfortunately, cloning is not a perfect science; “For every successful one, there are dozens of failures” (Lewis 1). 

Multiple Choice

What would be the next best sentence to this paragraph:

Distance learning has its challenges, but it also has surprising benefits such as improved access to technology. Before schools in my district switched to distance learning, technology was sparse.

• Learning to use a computer is an important skill.

• There were never enough laptop carts to go around and many of the computers in the computer lab were slow or broken.

Analysis

• Analyze the examples and evidence.

• Describe how your evidence proves that your thesis is true.

• It's the "So what?" factor. Why does the evidence matter? What is your opinion on the situation?

Analytical sentences often start like this:

• This passage reveals that...

• The words “xyz” and “abc” suggest that … 

• This example informs the reader that…

Multiple Choice

Read the paragraph and then add a sentence that says something insightful about the evidence.

Distance learning has its challenges, but it also has surprising benefits such as improved access to technology. Before schools in my district switched to distance learning, technology was sparse. There were never enough laptop carts to go around and many of the computers in the computer lab were slow or broken.

• Because of the poor quality of computers, many teachers didn't use the labs and students didn't get the chance to learn valuable computer skills.

• It is too expensive to replace so many broken computers.

Restatement or Relate or Reflect

• Summarizes the argument and states it in a new way.

• Leaves the reader thinking.

• It might make a new connection.

Reflective statements sometimes start like this:

• Thus,...

• Therefore,...

• Evidently,...

• Overall,...

Multiple Choice

Which concluding sentence is best for this paragraph?

Distance learning has its challenges, but it also has surprising benefits such as improved access to technology. Before schools in my district switched to distance learning, technology was sparse. There were never enough laptop carts to go around and many of the computers in the computer lab were slow or broken. Because of the poor quality of computers, many teachers didn't use the labs and students didn't get the chance to learn valuable computer skills.

• Now that distance learning has forced the district to buy more chromebooks, all students have access to technology and they are learning how to use various Google programs that they might need later on in life.

• Nowadays people need computer skills just to survive.

Multiple Choice

Does TBEAR always have to go in this order?

• Yes

• No

TBEAR is not a formula!

Good writers know that the elements in a TBEAR paragraph are like ingredients to a recipe. Sometimes you want to add a little more of this or a little more of that.

For complicated paragraphs, you might write a paragraph that looks like this:

T-B-E-A-B-E-A-R, or T-B-B-E-A-E-A-R.

It's up to you!

Poll

Do you think you could write a TBEAR paragraph?

• Definitely

• I might need some help

• Not yet