An Opinion Essay

The Structure of an Essay
The first thing you will need to do is make sure your ESL students understand how an essay should be structured. Generally, it is best to introduce students to the traditional 5-paragraph essay structure:

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  1st Paragraph: The introduction, which lets readers know what the essay will be about.
  
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  2nd-4th Paragraphs: The body paragraphs, which provide arguments and evidence to support the main point of the essay.
  
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  5th Paragraph: The conclusion, which summarizes the body paragraphs and reiterates the main point of the essay.
  

Keeping a visual of this structure will allow students to see the whole picture so they are aware of what they are working towards while writing an essay. It can be very challenging for ESL students to put their thoughts in order; therefore, it is important to introduce activities and strategies that can help make the writing process easier.