Organizing Writing Paragraphs Worksheet

This Organizing Writing Paragraphs Worksheet helps students see that a paragraph has a shape before they try to write one. Third graders are asked to group related sentences around one main idea, and the fastest way to teach that is to hand them a paragraph that has come apart and ask them to put it back together. This organizing writing paragraphs worksheet does exactly that, so the order of the sentences becomes something a student can reason about instead of something they are told.

A short reference box at the top names the three parts of a paragraph: a topic sentence, supporting details, and a closing sentence. Below it, five sentences about a garden of sunflowers are printed out of order, each with its own box. Students number the boxes 1 to 5, then copy the paragraph out in the correct order on the ruled lines that fill the rest of the page. Numbering is the thinking; writing it out is where the order becomes a real paragraph in their own handwriting. That makes this 3rd grade paragraph worksheet a reading task and a writing task in one page. Print it, read the five sentences aloud once, and let students work. An answer key is included on the last page.

What’s Included

• A one-page printable worksheet with a Parts of a Paragraph reference box
• Five scrambled sentences with numbering boxes, printed out of order
• Seven ruled lines for writing the paragraph out in order
• A full answer key on the final page
• Name and date lines, ready to print and hand out

This resource helps kids learn to organize a paragraph in three ways. First, the sentences are already written, so all of a student’s attention goes to the order rather than to spelling and handwriting. Second, the topic sentence and the closing sentence each carry a clue a student can point to, which is what turns a guess into an explanation. Third, copying the finished paragraph gives them a correct model in their own hand to look back at the next time they write one from scratch.

Teachers and parents can stretch this lesson in a few easy directions. Ask students to underline the topic sentence and circle the closing sentence before they number anything. Cut the five sentences into strips so a pair of students can arrange them on a desk and argue for their order. Have students write a sixth sentence that would still fit the paragraph, then decide where it belongs. You can also hand out a paragraph from a science book and ask which sentence is doing each job.

Related Resources

• Writing Topic Sentences Worksheet
• Writing Supporting Sentences Worksheet
• Writing an Introduction Paragraph Worksheet
• Story Elements Song