In October writing, third grade students focused on writing paragraphs with a topic sentence, three supporting detail sentences, and a conclusion sentence.  Students brainstormed costume ideas for Mr. Hopkins and Mrs. Ernst and wrote their ideas in paragraph form.  There was a specific focus on writing complete sentences, using proper capitalization and punctuation, including all of the parts of the paragraph, using transition words, and including details.  Students used the following anchor charts to assist their writing:  Adding Details, Writing a Paragraph, and Transition Words.  Teachers held writing conferences about their paragraph writing.  Students' final copies will be bound together in a book for Mr. Hopkins and Mrs. Ernst to enjoy.