Writing – Grades 5-8

Conclusion Paragraph Worksheets

Printable conclusion paragraph worksheets and lesson plan for grades 5 through 8. Teach students to close an essay with a restated grabber, summary sentences from each body paragraph, and a final feeling/prediction sentence.

What This Lesson Teaches

Students learn that the conclusion paragraph of an essay has three jobs – and that each job has a clear sentence type to handle it:

• Restated grabber – rewrite the opening hook in different words to remind the reader where the essay started
• Summary sentences – one to two sentences that re-summarize each body paragraph (so a 3-body essay gets 3-6 summary sentences)
• Feeling or prediction sentence – the final sentence that leaves the reader with something to think about

This is the final lesson in InstructorWeb’s I-FREE-T/C essay outline (Introduction, Free, Reread, Edit, Edit, Type/Conclusion), and it is designed for students who already know how to write a body paragraph and need to bring the essay to a real close.

What Students Practice

• Restating five sample grabbers in their own words – students see five hooks and write a restated version of each
• Summarizing body paragraphs using the 1-2 sentences per body paragraph rule
• Writing a feeling or prediction sentence for sample essays – the kind of closing line that gives the reader a takeaway
• Putting it all together – producing a full conclusion paragraph from a sample essay outline

How Teachers Use This Worksheet

Use this lesson at the end of an essay-writing unit, after students have already drafted introductions and body paragraphs. Most students can write a competent body paragraph well before they can write a real conclusion – the conclusion is where filler and repetition tend to creep in.

• Teach the three-part structure first; do not let students draft conclusions before they can name the three sentence types
• Have students apply the structure to an essay they have already drafted in another assignment – you do not need a new prompt
• Pair the restated-grabber exercise with class examples; restating without copying is the hardest part for most students
• Use the feeling/prediction-sentence exercise as a stand-alone exit ticket on a separate day – students benefit from practicing it on its own
• Mark drafts using the three-part structure as a checklist (grabber restated? body summarized? final sentence?)

Common Student Mistakes to Watch For

• Copy-pasting the grabber verbatim instead of restating it. Coach students to capture the same idea in different words
• Re-arguing the body instead of summarizing – the conclusion is not the place to add new evidence
• Skipping the feeling/prediction sentence – many essays end abruptly. The takeaway sentence is what gives the essay closure
• Over-summarizing – one to two sentences per body paragraph is enough; longer summaries make the conclusion drag
• Inserting new ideas – the conclusion should bring closure, not raise a new argument

Download the Worksheet

Full Members can download the printable PDF worksheet and answer key.

Related Writing Resources

• Introductory Paragraph Worksheets — how the essay opens; restate those grabbers here in the conclusion
• Paragraph Format (I-FREE-C) Worksheets — the single-paragraph structure each body paragraph extends from
• Writing prompts and activities hub
• Transitional Sentences Worksheets

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