Write a Good Five Paragraph Essay Contest
Note: A paragraph needs to be as long as it needs to be. It needs a beginning, a middle, and; an end. For the purpose
of this contest, a paragraph must contain a minimum of four (4) sentences.
Writing a good essay is key to success in school ‐‐ period. However, some students never get the hang of it. Following
$50.00
this outline will help students write a great five (5) paragraph essay and hopefully receive a
gift card at the
$100.00
League Member level and a
gift card from MAYFL..
Ten Paragraph Essay Outline
Use the outline below to format your paper.
Step 1 ‐ Choose a Good Topic
(How I Spent My Summer Vacation)
When writing an essay, it is important to choose a topic that is not too broad. For example, do not write about
football. Choose something more specific, like football drills, the greatest football team, football equipment, football
practice, etc.
It is important that you can think of three main ideas that you want to discuss in the essay. If you cannot think of three
specific ideas to discuss, then the topic is too narrow.
If your chosen topic is too narrow, choose a slightly broader topic so specific ideas or details can be listed. For
example, if you planned to write about football field goals and couldn't list many details about it, choose something like
scoring points in football.
Step 2 ‐ Organize the Essay
Organizing an essay can be done in many forms. Some people like to use graphic organizers like a web. It looks like a
spider web with circles connected. In the middle circle, write the main topic. Then make three "spokes" off of the main
circle and make three more circles. These will be your body paragraphs' main ideas. Write the topics in those three
circles. Then from those, add two to five more lines or "spokes" from those circles to become details you want to talk
about in your essay.
Another way to organize an essay is to follow this basic outline form:
Topic______________
Thesis Statement (One sentence that tells the reader what the essay will discuss.)______________________
Body Paragraph #1 main idea ________________________________________________________________
Detail #1_________________________________________________________________________________
Detail #2_________________________________________________________________________________