Expository Writing Sentence Starters, Sentence Frames, and Sentence Openers Providing emergent writers with a choice of thesis statements "sentence frames" for their expository writing will help students build confidence when writings essays and reports. The expository theses or expository sentence opener is different from an argument or opinion essay because it does not introduce an opinion, make claims, state an argument, and or try to persuade. Expository writing is about presenting facts, reasons, evidence, logical ideas, information in a logical sequence. The topic sentence or focus sentence is a prescriptive grammatical term that describes the sentence in an expository or narrative paragraph which introduces or summarizes the main idea of that paragraph. It is usually the first sentence in emergent writers paragraphs and a difficult concept to master for many young writers. The writer's craft is supported with sentence starters and theses statements that build a students confidence, ease writing stress, motivate students and demystify writing. It's interesting to learn that..., It's an interesting argument..., It's fascinating to justify that..., It's fascinating to explore..., It's fascinating to illustrate..., It's amazing to think about …, It's amazing to ponder …, It's amazing to learn …, Let me explain in more detail..., Let me expand on one idea..., Let me educate you about..., Let me enlighten you..., Let me expound further.., You’ll be excited to learn that..., You’ll be excited to know..., You’ll be amazed to learn..., Do you realize that.., You know that.., have you ever thought about..., Have you ever wondered..., Have you ever discovered..., Let me justify my evidence, reasons or opinion..., Of course, most/few agree that..., Of course, no one agrees that..., Of course, no one agrees that..., It's interesting to note that..., In a unique, parallel or odd way..., In a fascinating discovery..., It’s incredible to think..., It’s incredible to think..., You’d better believe that …, You’d understand more.., You’d interpret less if.., You’d be fascinated to know more about.., You’d be intrigued to know that.., You’ll comprehend concisely that …, You’ll discover new insights…, You’ll be amazed that …, You’ll apprehend more …, Don’t you know that..., You’d agree that..., You Wouldn't need to justify if …, It's interesting to learn that..., It's an interesting argument..., It's fascinating to justify that..., It's fascinating to explore..., It's fascinating to illustrate..., It's amazing to think about …, It's amazing to ponder …, It's amazing to learn …, Let me explain..., Let me expand on..., Let me educate you..., Let me enlighten you..., Let me expound.., You’ll be excited to learn that..., You’ll be excited to know..., You’ll be amazed to learn .., Do you realize that.., Do you know that.., Have you ever thought about..., Have you ever wondered..., Have you ever discovered..., Let me justify..., Of course, most agree that..., Of course, a few agree that..., Of course, no one agrees that..., It's interesting to note that..., In a unique way..., In a parallel way..., In a fascinating discovery..., It’s incredible to think..., You’d better believe that …, You’d understand more.., You’d interpret less if.., You’d be fascinated to know more about.., You’d be intrigued to know that.., You’ll comprehend concisely that …, You’ll discover new insights…, You’ll be amazed that …, You’ll apprehend more …, Don’t you know that..., You’d agree that..., Wouldn't need to justify if … (Many, Most, Some) Experts agree that ... Let me enlighten you..., Let me question your thinking..., Let me argue the point that ..., Let me ask you a question, (who, what, where, whom, why or how)..., There are many, some, few or no reasons that..., There are justifications for..., There are/aren't reasons that..., There are many, few, some or no way(s) in which..., Would you believe that..., Can you imagine what..., So, what do we really know about..., So, what do we really understand about..., So, what do you really know about.... So, what do you really know about..., Incredibly, no one knows..., Incredibly, new knowledge that I..., Incredibly, what is the justification for..., It is true that...It's not common knowledge that... So, you want to understand how...., So, you want to imagine how...., So, you want to believe that...., Most, many, some or no people agree that..., Often times, you will find...., For years..., Historically..., It’s hard to believe, but...., You will find that.... You, will doubt that... You’ll soon observe that..., Many, some, few, or no one will argue that..., Without a doubt, …, In the first, second, third or last place..., Let me tell you..., Let me educate you..., Let me inform you about..., Let me entertain you, Let me stretch your understanding..., In many, some, few or no way(s)..., TIME AND ORDER SENTENCE TRANSITIONS After, At once, Before, During, First . . . second . . . third First . . . next . . . then, If . . . then . . . , In the meantime Meanwhile, Often, Presently, Shortly, Soon after, Still Temporarily, Until, When, While ADDITION SENTENCE TRANSITIONS Additionally, Also, As well as, Besides, Furthermore, In addition, Likewise, Moreover, Not only, Similarly CONTRAST SENTENCE TRANSITIONS Although, But, Despite, However, In contrast, Instead, On the contrary, On the other hand, Unlike, Yet CONCESSION SENTENCE TRANSITIONS Admittedly,,Certainly, Clearly, Evidently, Granted, Naturally, Obviously, Of course, Undeniably, Understandably CAUSE AND EFFECT SENTENCE TRANSITIONS As a result, Because, Consequently, Since, So, Therefore EXAMPLES SENTENCE TRANSITIONS For example, For instance, In particular, Specifically, Such as, To illustrate CONCLUSIONS SENTENCE TRANSITIONS Finally, Generally, In brief, In conclusion, In summary, On the whole Cause & Effect Sentence Transitions therefore • consequently • thus • as a result (of) • for this reason • accordingly • so • for since • because • if…then • in order to Addition Sentence Transitions moreover • furthermore • finally • in addition (to) • besides and • nor • not only…but also • • both…and Comparison Sentence Transitions likewise • similarly • in the same way • in the same manner just as…so • the more…the more • whether…or • either… or • neither…nor Contrast Sentence Transitions however • nevertheless • in spite of • despite • in contrast • on the other hand • on the contrary • but • yet • the more…the less although • though • even though • unlike • while • whereas • despite • in spite of Time or Sequence Sentence Transitions first/second/third • then/next/finally • afterwards • meanwhile • previously • initially • later • subsequently no sooner…than when • whenever • while • until • before • after • as soon as • as long as first/second/third • then/next/finally • afterwards • meanwhile • previously • initially • later • subsequently • no sooner…than when • whenever • while • until • before • after • as soon as • as long as Topic Sentence Starters: It is amazing to think about …, Let me explain …. You’ll be excited to learn that …, Do you realize that …, Have you ever thought about …, Have you ever wondered…, Let me tell you about …, It’s incredible that …, There are many reasons that …, There are many ways in which…, So, you want to understand how…, Why do …, How can …, When do …, Where can… It’s hard to believe, but… , You will find that… , You’ll soon discover that… , No one will argue that… , So, why is (are)… , What’s so great about… Sentence Starters for Emergent and Advanced Writers Examining Prior Knowledge: I understand that… This reminds me of… This relates to… Forming Interpretations: What this means to me is… I think this represents… The idea I’m getting is… One question that this text answers is… One question that this text addresses is… Asking Questions: I wonder why… What if… How come… How is it possible that… Monitoring: I lost track of everything except… I need to reread the part where… I know I’m on the right track because… A term or idea that was unclear to me was… Predicting: I’ll bet that… I think… If ____, then … Revising Meaning: At first I thought _____, but now I… My latest thought about this is… I’m getting a different picture here because… Visualizing: I can imagine… In my mind I see… If this were a movie scene… Analyzing the Author’s Craft: A golden line for me is… This word/phrase stands out for me because… I like how the author uses ____ to show… Making Connections: This reminds me of… I experienced this once when… I can relate to this to other readings because… The argument here is similar to ___ because… Another example of ___ is… Reflecting and Relating: So, the big idea is… A conclusion that I’m drawing is… This is relevant to my life because… This author is trying to make me (see, feel, know, do) … It makes a difference that this text was written because… Adopting an Alignment: The character I most identify with is… The idea I find most provocative is… I reject this author’s view because… Evaluating: I like/don’t like ____ because… This could be more effective if… The most important message here is… One big difference between this and ___ is… Sources: New York City Writing Project, “Monitoring Our Reading.” NY: Lehman College, 2000. Quick Tips Sentence Writing Transitions Samples Organization Transitions