COMPUTER:  WIN/ DOS/ CD-ROM

SPECIFIC SKILLS: Essential components for developing and writing an effective paragraph, identifying different paragraph writing styles, and sequencing steps for paragraph development.

DESCRIPTION: Paragraph Punch is a tutorial program that uses word processing to guide students through a step-by step instructional approach to writing organized and effective paragraphs. The five disks present the different paragraph development styles of: reasons, details, cause and effect, sequence, and example. After the introduction, students must choose their topic from the menu and then use an on-screen Pre-Writing Notepad to develop their ideas. Students brainstorm on their topic and are asked to use words or phrases, not sentences. During the "Pre-Writing step questions related to the topic are presented to stimulate ideas. Then the "Writing" step begins by presenting a complete topic sentence and an incomplete one, which the student is asked to finish. After this exercise, the student must write an original topic sentence. Throughout the next "Writing Body" section of the program, the Pre-Writing Notepad is displayed to encourage the students to expand each idea into a complete sentence. In the "Organizing" section, the student decides on the sequence of the sentences, adds new ones, makes modifications, and sends them to the Paragraph Draft box. At this point some instruction on the use of transitional words is presented. In the "Writing Conclusion" step, a complete and incomplete concluding sentence is shown. Then students must write their own conclusions. The "Editing Overview" section encourages the student to check their writing style, sentence structure, and grammar. The "Proofreading" step asks the student to check for punctuation and spelling errors. Finally, the completed paragraph may be saved, printed, or transferred to a word processing program. A Save and Resume feature is available, along with a Theme Editor which allows teachers to program specific topics.

EVALUATION SUMMARY: Paragraph Punch is a clever program that encourages and guides students through paragraph writing with minimum teacher involvement. It is an excellent preparation for the essay writing portion of the GED because of the practice in developing different types of paragraphs and the emphasis on content and organization. The sequential "steps" are listed in the upper corner of the screen, so the student is constantly reminded of their importance. Many students wrote down these steps without being instructed to because they provide a formula to follow when writing. The paragraph topics are interesting and relevant to an adult or teenage population. The manual suggests that only students who are able to write sentences on a word processor. However, any student with a sixth grade reading level or above can learn from and use this program, but without some keyboarding skills, time becomes a factor. Our students positively commented on the "help suggestions for ideas, grammar, and usage" that is available. However, we found that a teacher or aide usually had to assist the students when proofreading and editing their paragraphs, because no mechanics check or grammar check is available on the computer. Teachers should note that when the paragraph is printed it contains no indention.