how to write a conclusion middle school

How to write a Conclusion

What is a Conclusion?

Before we learn how to write a conclusion, we need to determine what a conclusion is.

A conclusion is the final sentences or paragraph in a piece of writing that signifies the end of a text, event or process.

We can find conclusions everywhere, from narratives, letters and reports to persuasive essays and speeches.

Conclusions perform many functions, which we will examine throughout this article. Fundamentally, they wrap everything up and finish a piece of writing or a presentation.

Unfortunately, conclusions are often the most challenging section of a paper to write. They are the final words of the writer on the topic and, as a result, play a crucial part in the lasting impression the writing leaves on the reader.

For this reason, our students must take time to understand clearly the functions of a conclusion and how they work. Time spent mastering the art of conclusion writing will be time well spent.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON HOW TO WRITE A CONCLUSION

Teach your students to write  POWERFUL   CONCLUSIONS  that put a bow on a great piece of writing. All too often, students struggle to conclude their writing. Stumbling, repeating themselves, or missing the opportunity to make a lasting impression.

This  COMPLETE UNIT OF WORK  will take your students from zero to hero over  FIVE STRATEGIC LESSONS  covered.

What is the Purpose of a Concluding Paragraph

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all formula we can teach our students that they can use to write any conclusion. Conclusions perform several functions, varying widely from paper to paper. Some of these functions include:

• Restates a paper’s thesis and explains why it’s important
• Synthesizes the essay’s arguments
• It opens up new questions
• Addresses limitations
• Makes a call to action.

Not all conclusions will perform each of these functions. How our students approach writing their conclusions will depend on several factors, including:

• The conventions of the writing genre
• The intended audience and their motivations
• The formality or informality of the paper
• The tone of the writing.

 Now, let’s look at each of the functions of a conclusion one by one, along with a practice activity for each to give our students some hands-on practice.

1. A Concluding Paragraph Restates the Thesis and Explains Why

One of the most common errors in writing a conclusion is to use it to simply restate the thesis. Though this is widely taught, it isn’t enough.

The student should also explain why the argument made in their thesis is important. This involves considering the more widespread impact of the thesis and its supporting arguments.

  The conclusion should inform the reader why the thesis matters by answering questions similar to the following:

• What are the wider societal implications of the thesis?
• Does the thesis challenge a widely accepted idea or belief?
• Does the thesis have significance for how things could be done in the future?

To write a conclusion in this vein, it is helpful for students to compose similar type questions relevant to their thesis, which they can then set out to answer.

These questions will vary widely according to the subject being written about and the genre being written in. Still, regardless, the conclusion should highlight the thesis’s significance to the wider world. This will bring context to the writing as a whole.

Example: In conclusion, this paper has argued that increasing access to education is essential for reducing poverty and promoting economic development. We have presented evidence from various studies showing the positive correlation between education and income and the role of education in fostering other developmental goals, such as improved health and reduced inequality. Restating the thesis, we can say that access to education is a fundamental human right and should be prioritized as a key development strategy to reduce poverty and promote sustainable economic growth. The evidence presented in this paper supports this argument, making a case for the importance of increasing access to education for the well-being of individuals and societies.

2. A CONCLUSION SYNTHESIZES THE PAPER’S ARGUMENTS

This is another very common function performed by the conclusion. While each body paragraph in the paper may correspond to a single specific argument in support of the central thesis, in the conclusion, the various strands of supporting arguments are woven into a coherent whole.

The conclusion is not the place to introduce new arguments or to simply list the arguments made in the body paragraphs. Instead, it provides a final opportunity for your students to drive home their main arguments one last time and make connections between them to reveal a coherent whole.

Often, a conclusion will combine functions of functions 1 and 2 by restating the thesis, synthesizing the arguments, and explaining the wider significance of the thesis.

When considering how to write a conclusion for an argumentative essay, remember to synthesize it.

Example: In conclusion, this paper has presented a thorough examination of the current state of renewable energy sources and their potential to combat climate change. Through an analysis of the economic and technical feasibility of various renewable energy options, we have shown that renewable energy is a viable and necessary solution to reducing carbon emissions. Additionally, we have highlighted the importance of government policies and investment in research and development to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy. Overall, this paper argues that renewable energy is a crucial step in the fight against climate change and must be prioritized to secure a sustainable future.

3. A CONCLUSION CAN OPEN UP NEW QUESTIONS

We often think of conclusions as drawing things to a close. But there’s another way of looking at things. Often, through the process of making various arguments in a piece of writing, new questions will emerge naturally.

This method is commonly encountered when exploring how to write a conclusion for a thesis.

This often occurs when the central thesis is set in a broader context. We can think of the progression of an essay as moving from a thesis statement through evermore specific arguments that support that initial thesis statement.

To open up new questions in the conclusion, the student should move from the specific to the more general, generating further possible lines of inquiry on the topic as they go. The effect of this type of conclusion is to spark the reader’s curiosity and further interest in the subject.

Example: In conclusion, our research has provided an in-depth examination of the effects of climate change on biodiversity. Our findings indicate that climate change is having a significant impact on the distribution and abundance of species. However, our research has also revealed that there are still many unanswered questions about the mechanisms driving these changes. For example, more research is needed to understand the role of different species interactions and the effects of climate change on specific ecosystem functions. We hope our research will serve as a foundation for further studies and inspire other researchers to continue investigating the complex relationship between climate change and biodiversity.

4. A CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH ADDRESSES THE LIMITATIONS

This method is often used in academic or scientific writing when considering how to write a conclusion for a report. In it, the student writer directly explores the weaknesses of their arguments.

It’s perhaps the bravest type of conclusion there is! Students need to be careful not to destroy their own thesis in the process. A sentence mentioning the limitation, quickly followed by a sentence or two addressing the problem, should be enough.

When done well, this strategy strengthens the impact of a paper by dealing head-on with potential criticisms and making strong counter-arguments in the process.

Example: In conclusion, our research provides valuable insights into the relationship between environmental factors and academic performance. However, it is important to note that our study has limitations. Firstly, the sample size was relatively small, and our results may not be generalizable to a larger population. Additionally, our study only considered one specific type of environmental factor and did not take into account other factors that may impact academic performance. Despite these limitations, our research provides a starting point for future studies in this area.

5. A CONCLUSION CAN OFFER A CALL TO ACTION

In a call-to-action type conclusion, the writer compels the reader to take a desired action or perform a particular task. This type of conclusion aims to persuade the reader or listener to do something.

Call-to-action conclusions work in various genres, including presentations, speeches, advertisements, and persuasive essays .

There are various techniques students can use to inspire action in their conclusions, such as appeals to emotions, the use of strong imperatives, or appeals to the reader’s or the listener’s self-interest.

Example: In conclusion, our research highlights the importance of access to clean drinking water in developing countries. Our findings show that a lack of access to clean water can lead to serious health issues and negatively impact the economy. However, it is not enough to simply acknowledge this problem – action must be taken. We call on governments, non-profit organizations, and individuals to take action by investing in infrastructure and providing education on sanitation and hygiene. Together, we can work towards providing access to clean water for all, and, ultimately, improve the quality of life for people living in developing countries.

Tips for Writing a Strong Conclusion

As young writers, crafting a solid conclusion for your essay is essential to communicate your ideas effectively. A well-written conclusion can help to summarize your main points, provide closure to your argument, and leave a lasting impression on your reader. Here are ten tips for writing a strong conclusion to an essay for high school students:

• Restate the main idea of your essay. A good conclusion should summarize the main points of your essay and reiterate the main idea or thesis statement.
• Provide closure to your argument. Your conclusion should provide a sense of closure to your argument and tie up any loose ends.
• Emphasize the importance of your topic. Your conclusion should also emphasize the importance of the topic you have discussed and why it matters to your reader.
• Offer a call to action. Encourage your reader to take action or think more deeply about the issues you have discussed in your essay.
• Avoid introducing new information. Your conclusion should be a summary of your main points, not a place to introduce new information or ideas.
• Keep it simple. Avoid using complex phrases or convoluted language in your conclusion.
• Use a strong concluding sentence. Your last sentence should be a powerful statement that leaves a lasting impression on your reader.
• Avoid summarizing every point. You don’t have to summarize every point you made in the essay; pick the main and most important ones.
• Reflect on your essay’s meaning. Take a step back and reflect on the overall meaning of your essay and the message you want to convey to your reader.
• Revise and proofread . Revise and proofread your conclusion carefully to ensure it is clear, concise, and error-free.

By following these tips, you can write a strong conclusion that effectively communicates your ideas and leaves a lasting impression on your reader.

What shouldn’t a conclusion do?

So far, we’ve discussed some conclusion writing strategies by discussing things a good conclusion should do. Now, it’s time to look at some things a conclusion shouldn’t do.

The following list contains some of the most common mistakes students must avoid making in their conclusions. This list can help students troubleshoot their conclusions when they get stuck or run into problems.

1. Uses a Vague Thesis Statement

If the student struggles to make a powerful impact in their conclusion, it may be because their thesis statement is too vague.

If this is the case, they messed up long ago.

The first time the reader sees the thesis statement should be in the introduction. Because all arguments stem from that statement, a comprehensive rewrite of the entire paper will most likely be needed.

2. Opens with a Clichéd Phrase

When students begin to learn to write conclusions, they often learn some stock phrases to help kickstart their writing. Phrases such as ‘in conclusion’ or ‘to conclude’ can be useful as prompts to get students quickly into the meat of their writing. However, overuse of such stock phrases can leave the writing feeling mechanical.

Ultimately, we want more for our students. If one of the purposes of a conclusion is to make a powerful impact on the reader, we must encourage our students to be creative and bold in their writing.

3. Doubts the Thesis

In the first part of this article, we briefly discussed the idea of addressing the limitations of the thesis and supporting arguments. This can be an effective strategy for students, but it can also be risky. The student needs to ensure they don’t undermine their stance.

When students use this strategy, ensure they understand that addressing limitations is not the same thing as apologizing for the position held. A good conclusion is impossible without the writer actually concluding something; conclusions should end with a strong statement.

4. Contains Irrelevancies

Students must ensure that every piece of information in their essay or article is relevant to the topic and thesis.

One of the most common mistakes students make is failing to ‘kill their babies’. That is, they go off on a tangent in their writing but are reluctant to remove the offending sentences in the editing process.

Often this happens because the student doesn’t want to throw out something they spent time writing, even if it’s utterly irrelevant to the topic they’re writing about.

At other times, students fail to be merciless in their editing because they’re waffling to reach an assigned word count.

In this case, it’s important to remind students that to the seasoned eye of a teacher or examiner, any puff and padding in their writing is obvious.

5. Fails to Address the Why?

As an article or a paper draws to a close, it’s essential that the reader feels the time they spent reading was time well invested. To achieve this, the student must answer the why? question satisfactorily. Students should make sure their readers leave their writing feeling like they have learned something of value, are inspired to take action or have new questions to research and answer.

Drawing the Curtains on Our Work on Conclusions

We’ve covered a lot of ground in our article on conclusions. We’ve looked at strategies and techniques our students can use to hone their conclusion-writing skills.

Now, it’s up to us as teachers to create opportunities for our students to perfect their understanding and ability to use these strategies and techniques in their writing.

While the ideas above will go a long way to ensuring your students are capable of composing well-written conclusions, with time and practice, they’ll develop their own style and approach to the conclusion conundrum – and surely there can be no more fitting conclusion than that!

Conclusion Writing Teaching Strategies and Activities

Practice Activity: Connect to the Wider World : To practice this, provide the students with a copy of a well-written essay suited to their level but with the concluding paragraph snipped out. Challenge the students to first identify the thesis statement, it should be in the essay’s introduction, and then to write a conclusion that connects that thesis to the wider world by explaining why it matters.

Practice Activity: Write the Conclusion First : Sometimes, it’s helpful for students to think of the conclusion as the destination their writing is headed for. The next time your students have completed an outline for an essay , instruct them to write the conclusion first. In it, they should explore the reasons for their thesis and its wider significance and synthesize their arguments. This gives the students a clear focus for the preceding introduction and body paragraphs and gives their writing a clear direction to work towards.

Practice Activity: Shift Perspective : For many students, writing this style of conclusion will require a shift in their understanding of the purpose of a conclusion. One good way to begin to shift that perspective is to encourage students to rewrite conclusions they’ve written previously in old essays. For example, they might shift the focus of a conclusion from a local significance to global significance or from historical significance to contemporary significance.

Practice Activity: Poke the Weak Points

Students take a conclusion they have written already, such as one written for a previous activity. Then, set the students the task of rewriting the conclusion to address any limitations of the supporting arguments. To do this, students need to ask themselves:

• What aspects of my arguments are open to contradiction?
• How can I address those contradictions?

Practice Activity: Blog It! : Blogs often use calls to action in the conclusions of their informational articles. Set your students the task of identifying several blogs on subjects that interest them. Students may benefit from doing this activity in groups.

Once they’ve identified some suitable websites, instruct the students to look at the conclusion of some of the articles.

• Can they identify any calls to action there?
• How do the writers introduce their calls to action?
• What techniques does the writer use to motivate the reader?

Challenge students to identify as many different motivational techniques and strategies as possible and then make a list that they can then share with the class.

When students have become good at identifying calls to action and the various motivational techniques and strategies, they can then write a blog article on a subject that interests them, making sure to include a call to action in their conclusion.

A COMPLETE TEACHING UNIT ON PERSUASIVE WRITING SKILLS

Teach your students to produce writing that  PERSUADES  and  INFLUENCES  thinking with this  HUGE  writing guide bundle covering: ⭐ Persuasive Texts / Essays ⭐ Expository Essays⭐ Argumentative Essays⭐ Discussions.

A complete 140 PAGE unit of work on persuasive texts for teachers and students. No preparation is required.

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Teaching Conclusion Paragraphs in Middle and High School

Looking for an instructional approach that will help students to write stronger conclusion paragraphs? You’ll find some ideas here.

And these are the reasons why uniforms should not be required. They are boring. Uniforms strip students of their individuality. Also, they are expensive. Thank you for reading my essay. P.S. – don’t make students wear uniforms. 

Painful. Many conclusion paragraphs are, really. That’s why it’s important that we do the best job humanly possible to move students away from this type of superficial closure to something more meaningful. Keep reading for several ways to make teaching conclusion paragraphs more effective. In this post, I’m looking at these strategies through an argumentative writing lens, but they can be applied to other genres as well.

TIPS FOR TEACHING CONCLUSION PARAGRAPHS

1. break it down..

Not all students, but many (especially younger students or struggling writers) appreciate knowing exactly what they are supposed to write in a conclusion paragraph. At the beginning of a writing unit, I give students a prompt and ask them to respond.

I have used the prompt, “Are iPads helping or hurting your education?” because we are a 1:1 school; then, I assess students with   this pre-assessment rubric . The interesting part of this process, to me, is how confused many students are when it comes to the introduction and conclusion. Students want to know how to make those paragraphs more than one sentence each. They just aren’t always sure.

As we begin our argumentative writing unit, I generally know that this is an area of confusion for students (based on the pre-assessment data I collect); so, I scaffold by using an acronym I created.

X –  Explain the thesis again.

Y –  state why the audience should care., z –  zing readers with a lasting thought..

Not every student will need to learn an acronym or follow this “formula” when writing a conclusion paragraph. Still, when students are just beginning to build their confidence as writers, structure can help alleviate writer’s block and frustration.

(And yes, I came up with acronyms for introduction and body paragraphs , too!)

2. Avoid summaries.

It’s hard for students to break the habit of summarizing their essay in the conclusion. Recapping the main points of the essay is not terrible, but it’s hard to do it well. Usually, students just end up rewording their topic sentences. Instead, I’ve begun encouraging them to answer the question, “Why should we care?” They have made an argument, cited research, and elaborated on it. In the conclusion, focusing on synthesizing all of that information is important. Synthesis is more memorable than summary.

3. Teach framing.

Hands down – one of the trickiest parts of writing a solid essay is ending it memorably. To “zing” means to move swiftly with energy, enthusiasm, and liveliness. That’s what I tell my students to do when they end their papers. Their “clincher” or “zinger,” as some of my students have begun calling it, should be concise, but it should stick in the audience members’ minds long after they finish reading the paper.

So how to teach that? Framing is one of the most effective ways I’ve found to help students bring their essays full-circle. I tell them that they need to refer back to their hook in their conclusion. For instance, consider the following:

FRAMING EXAMPLE

Thesis Statement:  Internet access should be limited during the school day.

Hook:  Quicksand is defined as “an area where fine sand, silt, or clay floats on water. These sand, clay, and silt particles are interspersed with the water molecules, creating a weak bond that holds it all together,” according to  How Stuff Works  (Bonsor). When people step into quicksand, the weak bonds break, and their movements while trying to escape cause them to sink deeper into the trap, much like an early exposure to the Internet can lead to addiction and obsession.

Zinger:  Like quicksand, the Internet ensnares students before they even know what has happened. Once submerged, teenagers often can’t escape. Because the addictive clutches of the Internet can suck students in before they are able to defend themselves, adults should set healthy boundaries to guard teenagers against the fearsome and compelling force.

In this example, the writer links the idea of quicksand and the Internet in both the introduction and the conclusion. That’s the goal. End where you start, but do it in a way that readers will remember. Teach students to add drama (but not too much), and appeal to readers’ emotions in order to create a lasting effect.

And those are some of my best tips for teaching conclusion paragraphs. Scaffolding is an important piece to supporting struggling writers. When students are ready to be released from the scaffolded elements, we peel them back and let them wow us with their skills. Until then, our goal is to create lessons students will remember and skills they will use to be successful after they walk out of our classroom.

RELATED READINGS:

• How to Teach Introduction Paragraphs
• 5 Ways to Use Body Paragraph Examples
• Scaffolding the Research Topic Selection Process

RELATED RESOURCE:

This is the resource I use to teach conclusion paragraphs. It contains a graphic organizer for the acronym and all of the guidance / tips from this post. Click on the image below to view the details.

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How to Teach Paragraph Writing – Write a Conclusion Sentence

Teaching conclusions is one of the most difficult parts of teaching students to write well-written paragraphs.

Students may be able to write a topic sentence and three supporting ideas with details, but when it comes time to add a conclusion sentence, it’s almost like they’ve run out of steam.

To me, this makes it even more important that as a teacher, I spend a good amount of time specifically explaining how to write conclusions, while scaffolding practice before throwing the little birdies out of the nest.

In this third of a four-part series on Teaching Paragraph Writing, I’ll tell you what has worked for me in my classroom…not promising miracles but hoping you’ll be able to take away something here to make the process a bit easier in your classroom.

Missed the other posts? Here they are if you’d like to read them: Topic Sentences ,  Supporting Ideas and Details, and Transitions.

1. Explain the Purpose of a Conclusion Sentence

Here’s where we revisit the idea of a conclusion sentence and look at it more in-depth. We talk about why writers use conclusions…mainly to wrap it all up and to give a signal to the reader that the paragraph or essay is ending.

We also talk about what makes a good conclusion vs. what makes a weak or bad one. Strong conclusions are similar to the topic sentence but not TOO similar. Strong conclusions focus on the big idea of the paragraph and NOT on one of the more minor details. Strong conclusions also stay on topic. No new idea is introduced here.

One of the activities I really love doing with my students (and they love it too) is analyzing pre-made conclusion sentences. I put these up on the document projector (no copies for students this first time) and I have students give me a thumbs up or down for each conclusion sentence example. Then we discuss why the example was a good conclusion or not.

This kind of practice is great to help students learn to write conclusion sentences because not only is it non-threatening (way easier than coming up with your own conclusion sentence), it models positive examples while showing students examples to avoid.

On the second day, I hand out a similar worksheet and have students determine (independently or in pairs) if the conclusion is a good one or not. We correct these together and discuss them as we go.

You can sure make up your own conclusion examples if you’d like, but if you’re looking for a print-and-go complete resource for conclusion sentences, I do have one here:

2. Focus on Re-wording the Topic Sentence

One of the ways to make a good conclusion sentence is to reword the topic sentence. We talk about how we can use synonyms and slightly different wording to make the conclusion somewhat similar to the topic sentence but unique enough that it works.

I show students a topic sentence and write it on the SmartBoard if needed. Then I ask them to reword it on whiteboards to make it into a conclusion . This activity helps everyone practice making conclusion sentences. It’s also great for those having trouble, as they’re able to hear other students come up with good examples they might use later.

Once we’ve practiced these, I use some worksheets that are similar to this idea from the conclusions packet and students do independent work with this concept.

3. Use a Different Type of Sentence from the Topic Sentence

When I teach students about topic sentences, I make sure to teach them five basic types of topic sentences including List Statements, Number Words, Occasion-Position, Two Nouns, and Two Commas, and Get Their Attention. See the Topic Sentences post for more information .

Since students already have a good understanding of the five types of topic sentences I teach, I explain to them that one way to make a good conclusion is to use a different type of sentence from the topic sentence to make it into a conclusion.

So, if you used one type of sentence for the topic sentence, choose a different type of sentence for the conclusion. For example, if I used Occasion Position for the topic sentence, I might try using a Number Words sentence for the conclusion. Careful though, generally, “List Statements” don’t work well as a conclusion sentence.

4. Make an Opinion Statement

One idea that has really helped my students write conclusions is to have them practice writing the conclusion as an opinion statement.

So, if the paragraph is about taking care of a dog, the conclusion could be an opinion statement like Dogs make great pets and are excellent companions. If the paragraph is about a Disneyland trip, the conclusion might be Disneyland is a great place to visit. For some reason, these types of conclusion sentences seem to come more naturally to students than other ones do.

5. Teach Optional Conclusion Transition Words

Teaching students a shortlist of transition words for the conclusion can also be helpful. This provides students with a way to start that last and sometimes difficult sentence.

Plus, it does provide a good signal to the reader that the paragraph is coming to a close. Some words/phrases we use include: As you can see…In conclusion…Finally…Obviously…Clearly…Certainly… I do make sure to tell students that these words are a matter of preference and NOT a must.

6. Conclusion Corrections

One last piece of advice for conclusions. Every year there is a conclusion habit that I work hard to correct. I’m not sure why so many students use these types of conclusions but to me, these conclusions make me cringe.

The weak conclusion students often fall back on starts with “That’s why…” or “Those are the reasons why…” and while I guess their teachers were just giving them a quick and easy way to end a paragraph, I just wish they had NOT given them ones that were this bad!

Sorry, but it’s a soapbox issue for me. If you teach a quick and easy way, please don’t teach a bad habit that needs to be corrected later on. So, my students know that they are not allowed to start conclusions this way and will be “dinged” if they do!

Whew…as I said, conclusions are definitely a concept that can be tough for so many students. The more we practice them though, the more they are able to rise to the occasion. I have seen a tremendous amount of growth in my students each year as writers.

Once again, you can make resources to use to help your students become better paragraph writers but if you’d like a low-prep print and a no-prep digital unit to save time, this might be the resource for you. Click here to take a look at the Complete Paragraph Writing Bundle .

If you’d like to get more teaching ideas for paragraph writing, here are a few posts you might like:

Topic Sentences

Supporting Ideas and Details

Transitions

5 Tips for More Effective Paragraph Writing

Thanks so much for hanging in there with this long post!

Hope it was useful to you in some way!

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Intro to Writing, Part 7: Introductions and Conclusions

SHARON’S BLOG

Get a writing assignment. Look at a blank piece of paper for hours. Cry.

Is this what happens with your students?

No need for weeping. In this week’s Intro to Writing, your students will learn what ingredients to put into their introductions and conclusions. In addition, they will grade other students’ work and then write their own effective introduction and conclusion.

Your students did not begin writing at the beginning. That is, they did not sit down, stare at a blank piece of paper, and have to come up with a brilliant first sentence. They began their writing by brainstorming, narrowing down a topic, brainstorming points and selecting a few of them to write about, and then writing the body of the essay.

If they want to begin at the beginning and they have a great idea of where to go with their ideas, they can go right ahead. But if they do not have a clear idea, then they can write the body first and the introduction and conclusion last, adjusting as they go.

Introductions and Conclusions Tutorials

Because this week’s tutorials are a little longish, with exercises, you can download them in printable PDF format.

To download the 4-page tutorial on introductions and conclusions for your middle school students, click here. >>

For the 8-page high school tutorial, click here. >>

Intro to Writing, Parts 1-6

In case you missed the first 6 parts of this Intro to Writing series, feel free to check out the links below.

In Parts 1 & 2 of Intro to Writing, students practiced  narrowing down a topic, brainstorming,  and  organizing their ideas .  You can find that tutorial here. >>

Intro to Writing, Part 3 takes some of the pain out of  outlines  by using material your students are already very familiar with: restaurant categories and the way grocery stores are organized.  Grab it and the free printables here. >>

Part 4 features a tutorial on  writing effective paragraphs .  In it you’ll find a chart, an example paragraph written from the chart, and an empty chart your students can use again and again for their own paragraph constructions. Separate charts and examples for middle school and high school students.

Part 5 is a tutorial on point orders, with a link to a video explaining point orders.  You can get it here. >>

Part 6 teaches your students how to easily develop thesis statements (main ideas). >>  Downloadable tutorial and exercises included.

Part 7 finishes off this series with  free tutorials on introductions and conclusions.  Separate tutorials for middle school and high school

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Writing Superhero Conclusions with the Phantom Endings Exercise

Students are taught that a closing paragraph should accomplish three things:

• Restate an essay's thesis
• Summarize main points
• Provide a finished feel

In response to this information, young writers often exhibit confusion. "Aren't I repeating myself if I copy the same content from the first paragraph? And what's a finished feel?"

Although well intended, essay writing practice is often unfocused, instead of a targeted way of addressing problems with conclusions. And while instructors commonly suggest that novice authors read more mentor texts, this is not a direct route to improving writing , much less constructing conclusions. So what's a more time- and energy-efficient way to give students confidence about writing conclusions?

Goals and Models

Phantom endings, an assignment I developed for high school authors, is an efficient 15-20 minute exercise that helps students compose stronger endings. Learners read an essay with the last paragraph temporarily removed, write their own ending for the essay, and then compare their conclusion to the essay's original. Before trying this technique, complete two steps with your students.

Step 1: Teach Your Students the Goals of a Conclusion

There are two options here. Provide students with a very clear description of a conclusion with Purdue Online Writing Lab's (OWL) Writing a Developed and Detailed Conclusion (OWL describes three goals of conclusion writing that were mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog post). In addition, Time4Writing's Writing a Good Conclusion Paragraph suggests that a closing paragraph demonstrate to the reader that the writer accomplished what he or she set out to do.

To provide your students with less structured, more creative options, check out Lila Chalpin's On Ending with a Bang Not a Whimper (NCTE login required). Chalpin offers six compelling conclusions that will leave the reader with a strong impression, such as "end with the meaning that the theme of a literary work has to contemporary man" and "end with a by-product or after-effect of an issue which has just been analyzed." She also provides an example of each type of ending.

Also check out pages 90-103 of Steve Peha's The Writing Teacher's Strategy Guide , which provides over 15 strategies for what he calls "happy endings." He also includes examples of unsuccessful essay conclusions.

Step 2: Focus on Conclusion Models

Give students examples of the types of conclusions you want them to learn to write: novels, short stories, expository essays, etc. But don't overwhelm them by assigning too many long essays to study. It's only necessary to have them analyze a few whole works so they can see how final paragraphs draw on earlier sections of an essay.

Linda Aragoni suggests teaching conclusions via "how do" rather than "how to," explaining that students learn better by actually seeing closing paragraphs at work and analyzing how authors have used them, rather than by taking notes on how conclusions should be written.

Now You're Ready for Phantom Endings

This activity requires copies of sample essays that are short and categorized by reading levels -- we want the students to focus on the conclusions, not deciphering the text. You can find sample essays at Monroe College's Examples of Five-Paragraph Essays and at Sample Student Essays . Print out some essays that you would like to use and cut off their closing paragraphs. Make sure to save these endings. You'll need them later.

Next, have students read the essays (with conclusions excluded) and write their own final paragraphs for the texts. They should use the strategies and techniques you went over in Step 2.

After they complete their own conclusions, hand out the original final paragraphs and allow students time to compare and contrast. They should focus on what things the author included in his conclusion and why, and how the original final paragraph does or does not work better than the one they wrote. Here is some models completed by my 11th grade students .

Benefits of the Phantom Endings Activity

Since endings are " one of the most difficult parts of papers to write " (according to UNC's Writing Center), students need methodical, focused assistance in order to craft compelling conclusions. For those reasons, the phantom endings exercise is a good place to start. Additionally, the activity:

• Takes minimal time for students to complete and teachers to evaluate
• Works with multiple genres
• Involves learners in identifying similarities and differences -- a high-yield instructional strategy
• Is one that students find enjoyable

Give it a try. If you have a different approach to teaching endings, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section.

How to Write a Conclusion Paragraph (in Three Easy Steps!)

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Written by  Scribendi

If you've ever seen or read about a great lawyer (or watched a great actor play a great lawyer) in action, you know that a key element in winning a case is the closing argument.

The same goes for the concluding paragraph in a piece of writing.

The conclusion is your last opportunity to persuade your reader that the information you just imparted is significant. This is particularly important because a reader will typically remember the conclusion paragraph more vividly than the beginning of your paper. (Thank you, recency bias !)

Luckily, we've crafted a foolproof, three-step method to show you how to write a conclusion. Let's dive in!

Step 1: Anchor It

A good conclusion paragraph begins by transitioning your message from the body of your paper to the conclusion and anchoring it to your thesis statement .

A transitional phrase should be used in the opening of your conclusion; consider using a phrase like "it is clear," "it is evident," or "overall." Similarly, a lawyer might begin their closing argument with a line like "without a doubt." This sentence will set the tone for the rest of the concluding argument.

Rephrasing your main point to establish your conclusion and tie all your arguments together is an effective way to kick off the paragraph and begin to bring your thought process full circle for your reader.

Step 2: Prove It

Every good lawyer's closing argument is presented with intent and persuasion. Lawyers explain why their evidence is superior to that of the opposing council and why the judge or jury should consider their arguments when arriving at a verdict. This is what your conclusion paragraph should also achieve.

Your conclusion is the big finish to your paper. Be careful not to repeat your introduction or main ideas verbatim. Instead, you want to summarize your evidence while reminding the reader why it is significant in the context of your paper.

In the courtroom, once the closing argument has begun, a lawyer will try to persuade the jury to consider all of the valid points they presented throughout the case and why that evidence matters—similarly, you should explain to your reader why they should care about what you said in your paper.

To begin this process, review the main points you made within your paper. Create a summary of each point as well as the significant contributions each makes to your argument. Next, concisely present each summary in a sentence or two for the reader.

Think of it this way—if a lawyer's client has an alibi supported by their employer and colleagues that they were at work when a particular crime took place, the lawyer might summarize this finding as follows:

The alibi provided by my client's employer and colleagues indicates that there were no plausible means by which my client could have left the office, robbed the bank, and made it back to their desk without being noticed. The time required to travel between these locations is too significant for this to be possible; no person could have successfully accomplished this task without their absence being noted.

Use transitional phrases to move from one idea to the next. Consider how each point works in tandem with the others to arrive at the conclusion you have drawn—or want the reader to draw—from your work.

If our hypothetical accused has an alibi, an eyewitness description of the actual culprit, and no DNA evidence placing them at the scene of the crime, then a seamless summary of these facts using this advice may read as follows:

The alibi provided by my client's employer and colleagues indicates that there were no plausible means by which my client could have left the office, robbed the bank, and made it back to their desk without being noticed. The time required to travel between these locations is too significant for this to be possible; no person could have successfully accomplished this task without their absence being noted. Furthermore, a key witness stated that the perpetrator of this crime was a Caucasian male with blonde hair and a tall frame. My client is not only female but also stands at a height of only 5'2"; this is a clear indication that my client's appearance does not align with the eyewitness's account of the true culprit's appearance. These key description discrepancies are only furthered by the lack of DNA evidence produced by the prosecution.

As you can see here, each idea supports one overall theme and provides evidence that leads to a verdict or a conclusion (i.e., innocence). This evidence is used to persuade the target audience (in this case [pun intended], the jury). Similarly, your conclusion should present evidence to convince your reader to agree with your main argument.

In the final sentence(s) of your conclusion paragraph, you need to bring your desired conclusion to light. Leave the reader feeling as though your evidence is, without a doubt, valid. Accordingly, the lawyer of the hypothetical client accused of bank robbery may read a closing sentence similar to the following:

Not only has the prosecution failed to produce any substantially valid evidence against my client, but the evidence that has been presented in this court further supports my client's innocence. Therefore, we ask the jury to render a verdict of not guilty.

Step 3: Close It (Flawlessly)

If you were undergoing the trial of a lifetime, you would want your lawyer's closing statements to be delivered flawlessly and without hesitation. The same is true for your conclusion paragraph. To be persuasive and convincing, it needs to be logical, coherent, and grammatically correct.

Once you have written the first draft of your conclusion paragraph, take a moment to reread it. Ensure that you have indicated a transition from the body of your paper to your conclusion and that the key elements of your paper are anchored on your overall argument.

Make adjustments to your statements to ensure that they are concise, accurately reflect your intention, and explicitly provide the evidence required to support your claims. Furthermore, check that you did not introduce any new major ideas (these should all be discussed in the main body of your work).

Then, ask a friend or—better yet—a professional essay editor to edit your paper. This step may seem inconsequential; however, the most minor details and adjustments can truly empower and sculpt an argument.

How many shows or movies have you watched more than once? You may have observed that each time you rewatch certain scenes, you notice inconsistencies and inaccuracies. Editing a paper is no different. The editing process ensures that your ideas are clear of all ambiguities and errors and polishes your conclusion paragraph into a beautifully articulated reflection on your work as a whole.

Here’s an Example

If the thesis of your paper indicated that businesses would be more profitable if they adopted a four-day workweek to ensure higher employee engagement, then your concluding paragraph might be structured and written as follows using our foolproof, three-step method to writing a great conclusion paragraph.

It is clear that a four-day work week is beneficial for both businesses and employees.

When an employee has a healthy work–life balance, they are more likely to be engaged when they are at work. As a result of this heightened engagement, the business can operate more efficiently, thus generating higher profits. Furthermore, if an employee is engaged, they are less likely to leave their organization, and instances of absenteeism will decrease. This will lower both hiring and turnover costs as well as benefit plan costs.

Close It (Flawlessly)

Although this business structure may require operational adjustments and potential increases in short-term costs, the long-term benefits are indisputable.

Using our three-step method, you, too, can learn how to write a conclusion paragraph. Just remember: practice makes perfect! No lawyer becomes great overnight, and the same goes for great writers.

Here's a handy graphic describing each step involved in writing a great conclusion paragraph. Feel free to download, save, and print it at your convenience.

Happy writing!

Image source: stevanovicigor/elements.envato.com

Polish Your Conclusion to Leave an Impact on Your Reader

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"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

Writing Conclusions Worksheets

Almost all writing is divided into three sections: introduction, body, and conclusion. Students rarely have trouble writing the body of a piece. It is the heart of the composition and includes the major points. Introductions and conclusions are more challenging. The conclusion, for example, is usually a brief summation of the piece, with any final call to action or closing thoughts. Practicing conclusion writing helps students with this important composition skill. One important part of writing is to understand how to transition into conclusions. Be sure to check out our transition words section!

Important Writing Parts: Introduction, Body and Conclusion

This is a great exercise for students to learn about the different writing parts. Areas for an introduction, conclusion, and body are designated to make writing fun and easy. Print out this free worksheet for your students today!

Conclusion Checklist

Here is a free printable worksheet to help students learn to write a strong conclusion. This worksheet contains a checklist to help students know they have all the correct components to write a strong conclusion. From restatement of thesis to supporting facts, this worksheet has it all.

Write the Conclusion: Giant Panda

A conclusion is a short series of statements that leave the reader with a basic summary of a paper. With this free worksheet, students will read an article and write their own conclusion. A printable worksheet is a grerat tool for budding writers!

Write the Conclusion: The Tower of London

Students will read a short article on The Tower of London and write their own conclusion in this worksheet.

Write the Conclusion: The U.S. Census

A conclusion is a short summary of the writing, meant to leave the reader with the basic information in the piece. Students will read the article on the U.S. Census and write their own conclusion.

Write the Conclusion: The U.S. Congress

Here is an informational piece about the U.S. Congress. Read the text and write a conclusion summing up the important points.

Write the Conclusion: When a Tornado Is Coming

Conclusions are an important part of writing. It is a short summary of the writing, meant to leave the reader with the basic information in the piece

Write the Conclusion: Hawaii, the Aloha State

The article Hawaii, the Aloha State needs an ending. Have your students read the article and write a conclusion.

Write the Conclusion: Why the Moon?

Students will write their own conclusion with this activity. Print out the free worksheet Why the Moon for your students to read. They will then write a conclusion, remembering to include important parts of the article.

Write a Conclusion: Voting

A strongly written conclusion can sway a reader one way or another. When writing persuasive articles it is important that you restate your thesis and give strong supporting ideas. The conclusion is the last chance you will have to sway your readers. This free printable worksheet is perfect for students to practice writing conclusions.

How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay

By the time you get to the final paragraph of your paper, you have already done so much work on your essay, so all you want to do is to wrap it up as quickly as possible. You’ve already made a stunning introduction, proven your argument, and structured the whole piece as supposed – who cares about making a good conclusion paragraph?

The only thing you need to remember is that the conclusion of an essay is not just the last paragraph of an academic paper where you restate your thesis and key arguments. A concluding paragraph is also your opportunity to have a final impact on your audience. 

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How to write a conclusion paragraph that leaves a lasting impression – In this guide, the team at EssayPro is going to walk you through the process of writing a perfect conclusion step by step. Additionally, we will share valuable tips and tricks to help students of all ages impress their readers at the last moment.

Instead of Intro: What Is a Conclusion?

Before we can move on, let’s take a moment here to define the conclusion itself. According to the standard conclusion definition, it is pretty much the last part of something, its result, or end. However, this term is rather broad and superficial.

When it comes to writing academic papers, a concluding statement refers to an opinion, judgment, suggestion, or position arrived at by logical reasoning (through the arguments provided in the body of the text). Therefore, if you are wondering “what is a good closing sentence like?” – keep on reading.

What Does a Good Conclusion Mean?

Writing a good conclusion for a paper isn’t easy. However, we are going to walk you through this process step by step. Although there are generally no strict rules on how to formulate one, there are some basic principles that everyone should keep in mind. In this section, we will share some core ideas for writing a good conclusion, and, later in the article, we will also provide you with more practical advice and examples.

Here are the core goals a good conclusion should complete:

• “Wrap up” the entire paper;
• Demonstrate to readers that the author accomplished what he/she set out to do;
• Show how you the author has proved their thesis statement;
• Give a sense of completeness and closure on the topic;
• Leave something extra for your reader to think about;
• Leave a powerful final impact on a reader.

Another key thing to remember is that you should not introduce any new ideas or arguments to your paper's conclusion. It should only sum up what you have already written, revisit your thesis statement, and end with a powerful final impression.

When considering how to write a conclusion that works, here are the key points to keep in mind:

• A concluding sentence should only revisit the thesis statement, not restate it;
• It should summarize the main ideas from the body of the paper;
• It should demonstrate the significance and relevance of your work;
• An essay’s conclusion should include a call for action and leave space for further study or development of the topic (if necessary).

How Long Should a Conclusion Be? 

Although there are no strict universal rules regarding the length of an essay’s final clause, both teachers and experienced writers recommend keeping it clear, concise, and straight to the point. There is an unspoken rule that the introduction and conclusion of an academic paper should both be about 10% of the overall paper’s volume. For example, if you were assigned a 1500 word essay, both the introductory and final clauses should be approximately 150 words long (300 together).

Why You Need to Know How to End an Essay:

A conclusion is what drives a paper to its logical end. It also drives the main points of your piece one last time. It is your last opportunity to impact and impress your audience. And, most importantly, it is your chance to demonstrate to readers why your work matters. Simply put, the final paragraph of your essay should answer the last important question a reader will have – “So what?”

If you do a concluding paragraph right, it can give your readers a sense of logical completeness. On the other hand, if you do not make it powerful enough, it can leave them hanging, and diminish the effect of the entire piece.

Strategies to Crafting a Proper Conclusion

Although there are no strict rules for what style to use to write your conclusion, there are several strategies that have been proven to be effective. In the list below, you can find some of the most effective strategies with some good conclusion paragraph examples to help you grasp the idea.

One effective way to emphasize the significance of your essay and give the audience some thought to ponder about is by taking a look into the future. The “When and If” technique is quite powerful when it comes to supporting your points in the essay’s conclusion.

Prediction essay conclusion example: “Taking care of a pet is quite hard, which is the reason why most parents refuse their children’s requests to get a pet. However, the refusal should be the last choice of parents. If we want to inculcate a deep sense of responsibility and organization in our kids, and, at the same time, sprout compassion in them, we must let our children take care of pets.”

Another effective strategy is to link your conclusion to your introductory paragraph. This will create a full-circle narration for your readers, create a better understanding of your topic, and emphasize your key point.

Echo conclusion paragraph example: Introduction: “I believe that all children should grow up with a pet. I still remember the exact day my parents brought my first puppy to our house. This was one of the happiest moments in my life and, at the same time, one of the most life-changing ones. Growing up with a pet taught me a lot, and most importantly, it taught me to be responsible.” Conclusion:. “I remember when I picked up my first puppy and how happy I was at that time. Growing up with a pet, I learned what it means to take care of someone, make sure that he always has water and food, teach him, and constantly keep an eye on my little companion. Having a child grow up with a pet teaches them responsibility and helps them acquire a variety of other life skills like leadership, love, compassion, and empathy. This is why I believe that every kid should grow up with a pet!”

Finally, one more trick that will help you create a flawless conclusion is to amplify your main idea or to present it in another perspective of a larger context. This technique will help your readers to look at the problem discussed from a different angle.

Step-up argumentative essay conclusion example: “Despite the obvious advantages of owning a pet in childhood, I feel that we cannot generalize whether all children should have a pet. Whereas some kids may benefit from such experiences, namely, by becoming more compassionate, organized, and responsible, it really depends on the situation, motivation, and enthusiasm of a particular child for owning a pet.”

What is a clincher in an essay? – The final part of an essay’s conclusion is often referred to as a clincher sentence. According to the clincher definition, it is a final sentence that reinforces the main idea or leaves the audience with an intriguing thought to ponder upon. In a nutshell, the clincher is very similar to the hook you would use in an introductory paragraph. Its core mission is to seize the audience’s attention until the end of the paper. At the same time, this statement is what creates a sense of completeness and helps the author leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Now, since you now know what a clincher is, you are probably wondering how to use one in your own paper. First of all, keep in mind that a good clincher should be intriguing, memorable, smooth, and straightforward.

Generally, there are several different tricks you can use for your clincher statement; it can be:

• A short, but memorable and attention-grabbing conclusion;
• A relevant and memorable quote (only if it brings actual value);
• A call to action;
• A rhetorical question;
• An illustrative story or provocative example;
• A warning against a possibility or suggestion about the consequences of a discussed problem;
• A joke (however, be careful with this as it may not always be deemed appropriate).

Regardless of the technique you choose, make sure that your clincher is memorable and aligns with your introduction and thesis.

Clincher examples: - While New York may not be the only place with the breathtaking views, it is definitely among my personal to 3… and that’s what definitely makes it worth visiting. - “Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars”, Divine Comedy - Don’t you think all these advantages sound like almost life-saving benefits of owning a pet? “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”, The Great Gatsby

Conclusion Writing Don'ts 

Now, when you know what tricks and techniques you should use to create a perfect conclusion, let’s look at some of the things you should not do with our online paper writing service :

• Starting with some cliché concluding sentence starters. Many students find common phrases like “In conclusion,” “Therefore,” “In summary,” or similar statements to be pretty good conclusion starters. However, though such conclusion sentence starters may work in certain cases – for example, in speeches – they are overused, so it is recommended not to use them in writing to introduce your conclusion.
• Putting the first mention of your thesis statement in the conclusion – it has to be presented in your introduction first.
• Providing new arguments, subtopics, or ideas in the conclusion paragraph.
• Including a slightly changed or unchanged thesis statement.
• Providing arguments and evidence that belong in the body of the work.
• Writing too long, hard to read, or confusing sentences.

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Conclusion Paragraph Outline

The total number of sentences in your final paragraph may vary depending on the number of points you discussed in your essay, as well as on the overall word count of your paper. However, the overall conclusion paragraph outline will remain the same and consists of the following elements:

• A conclusion starter:

The first part of your paragraph should drive readers back to your thesis statement. Thus, if you were wondering how to start a conclusion, the best way to do it is by rephrasing your thesis statement.

• Summary of the body paragraphs:

Right after revisiting your thesis, you should include several sentences that wrap up the key highlights and points from your body paragraphs. This part of your conclusion can consist of 2-3 sentences—depending on the number of arguments you’ve made. If necessary, you can also explain to the readers how your main points fit together.

• A concluding sentence:

Finally, you should end your paragraph with a last, powerful sentence that leaves a lasting impression, gives a sense of logical completeness, and connects readers back to the introduction of the paper.

These three key elements make up a perfect essay conclusion. Now, to give you an even better idea of how to create a perfect conclusion, let us give you a sample conclusion paragraph outline with examples from an argumentative essay on the topic of “Every Child Should Own a Pet:

• Sentence 1: Starter
• ~ Thesis: "Though taking care of a pet may be a bit challenging for small children. Parents should not restrict their kids from having a pet as it helps them grow into more responsible and compassionate people."
• ~ Restated thesis for a conclusion: "I can say that taking care of a pet is good for every child."
• Sentences 2-4: Summary
• ~ "Studies have shown that pet owners generally have fewer health problems."
• ~ "Owning a pet teaches a child to be more responsible."
• ~ "Spending time with a pet reduces stress, feelings of loneliness, and anxiety."
• Sentence 5: A concluding sentence
• ~ "Pets can really change a child life for the better, so don't hesitate to endorse your kid's desire to own a pet."

This is a clear example of how you can shape your conclusion paragraph.

How to Conclude Various Types of Essays

Depending on the type of academic essay you are working on, your concluding paragraph's style, tone, and length may vary. In this part of our guide, we will tell you how to end different types of essays and other works.

How to End an Argumentative Essay

Persuasive or argumentative essays always have the single goal of convincing readers of something (an idea, stance, or viewpoint) by appealing to arguments, facts, logic, and even emotions. The conclusion for such an essay has to be persuasive as well. A good trick you can use is to illustrate a real-life scenario that proves your stance or encourages readers to take action. More about persuasive essay outline you can read in our article.

Here are a few more tips for making a perfect conclusion for an argumentative essay:

• Carefully read the whole essay before you begin;
• Re-emphasize your ideas;
• Discuss possible implications;
• Don’t be afraid to appeal to the reader’s emotions.

How to End a Compare and Contrast Essay

The purpose of a compare and contrast essay is to emphasize the differences or similarities between two or more objects, people, phenomena, etc. Therefore, a logical conclusion should highlight how the reviewed objects are different or similar. Basically, in such a paper, your conclusion should recall all of the key common and distinctive features discussed in the body of your essay and also give readers some food for thought after they finish reading it.

How to Conclude a Descriptive Essay

The key idea of a descriptive essay is to showcase your creativity and writing skills by painting a vivid picture with the help of words. This is one of the most creative types of essays as it requires you to show a story, not tell it. This kind of essay implies using a lot of vivid details. Respectively, the conclusion of such a paper should also use descriptive imagery and, at the same time, sum up the main ideas. A good strategy for ending a descriptive essay would be to begin with a short explanation of why you wrote the essay. Then, you should reflect on how your topic affects you. In the middle of the conclusion, you should cover the most critical moments of the story to smoothly lead the reader into a logical closing statement. The “clincher”, in this case, should be a thought-provoking final sentence that leaves a good and lasting impression on the audience. Do not lead the reader into the essay and then leave them with dwindling memories of it.

How to Conclude an Essay About Yourself

If you find yourself writing an essay about yourself, you need to tell a personal story. As a rule, such essays talk about the author’s experiences, which is why a conclusion should create a feeling of narrative closure. A good strategy is to end your story with a logical finale and the lessons you have learned, while, at the same time, linking it to the introductory paragraph and recalling key moments from the story.

How to End an Informative Essay

Unlike other types of papers, informative or expository essays load readers with a lot of information and facts. In this case, “Synthesize, don’t summarize” is the best technique you can use to end your paper. Simply put, instead of recalling all of the major facts, you should approach your conclusion from the “So what?” position by highlighting the significance of the information provided.

How to Conclude a Narrative Essay

In a nutshell, a narrative essay is based on simple storytelling. The purpose of this paper is to share a particular story in detail. Therefore, the conclusion for such a paper should wrap up the story and avoid finishing on an abrupt cliffhanger. It is vital to include the key takeaways and the lessons learned from the story.

How to Write a Conclusion for a Lab Report

Unlike an essay, a lab report is based on an experiment. This type of paper describes the flow of a particular experiment conducted by a student and its conclusion should reflect on the outcomes of this experiment.

In thinking of how to write a conclusion for a lab, here are the key things you should do to get it right:

• Restate the goals of your experiment
• Describe the methods you used
• Include the results of the experiment and analyze the final data
• End your conclusion with a clear statement on whether or not the experiment was successful (Did you reach the expected results?)

How to Write a Conclusion for a Research Paper

Writing a paper is probably the hardest task of all, even for experienced dissertation writer . Unlike an essay or even a lab report, a research paper is a much longer piece of work that requires a deeper investigation of the problem. Therefore, a conclusion for such a paper should be even more sophisticated and powerful. If you're feeling difficulty writing an essay, you can buy essay on our service.

However, given that a research paper is the second most popular kind of academic paper (after an essay), it is important to know how to conclude a research paper. Even if you have not yet been assigned to do this task, be sure that you will face it soon. So, here are the steps you should follow to create a great conclusion for a research paper:

• Restate the Topic

Start your final paragraph with a quick reminder of what the topic of the piece is about. Keep it one sentence long.

• Revisit the Thesis

Next, you should remind your readers what your thesis statement was. However, do not just copy and paste it from the introductory clause: paraphrase your thesis so that you deliver the same idea but with different words. Keep your paraphrased thesis narrow, specific, and topic-oriented.

• Summarise Your Key Ideas

Just like the case of a regular essay’s conclusion, a research paper’s final paragraph should also include a short summary of all of the key points stated in the body sections. We recommend reading the entire body part a few times to define all of your main arguments and ideas.

• Showcase the Significance of Your Work

In the research paper conclusion, it is vital to highlight the significance of your research problem and state how your solution could be helpful.

• Make Suggestions for Future Studies

Finally, at the end of your conclusion, you should define how your findings will contribute to the development of its particular field of science. Outline the perspectives of further research and, if necessary, explain what is yet to be discovered on the topic.

Then, end your conclusion with a powerful concluding sentence – it can be a rhetorical question, call to action, or another hook that will help you have a strong impact on the audience.

• Answer the Right Questions

To create a top-notch research paper conclusion, be sure to answer the following questions:

• What is the goal of a research paper?
• What are the possible solutions to the research question(s)?
• How can your results be implemented in real life? (Is your research paper helpful to the community?)
• Why is this study important and relevant?

Additionally, here are a few more handy tips to follow:

• Provide clear examples from real life to help readers better understand the further implementation of the stated solutions;
• Keep your conclusion fresh, original, and creative.

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So, What Is a Good Closing Sentence? See The Difference

One of the best ways to learn how to write a good conclusion is to look at several professional essay conclusion examples. In this section of our guide, we are going to look at two different final paragraphs shaped on the basis of the same template, but even so, they are very different – where one is weak and the other is strong. Below, we are going to compare them to help you understand the difference between a good and a bad conclusion.

Here is the template we used: College degrees are in decline. The price of receiving an education does not correlate with the quality of the education received. As a result, graduated students face underemployment, and the worth of college degrees appears to be in serious doubt. However, the potential social and economic benefits of educated students balance out the equation.

Strong Conclusion ‍

People either see college as an opportunity or an inconvenience; therefore, a degree can only hold as much value as its owner’s skillset. The underemployment of graduate students puts the worth of college degrees in serious doubt. Yet, with the multitude of benefits that educated students bring to society and the economy, the equation remains in balance. Perhaps the ordinary person should consider college as a wise financial investment, but only if they stay determined to study and do the hard work.

Why is this example good? There are several key points that prove its effectiveness:

• There is a bold opening statement that encompasses the two contrasting types of students we can see today.
• There are two sentences that recall the thesis statement and cover the key arguments from the body of the essay.
• Finally, the last sentence sums up the key message of the essay and leaves readers with something to think about.

Weak Conclusion

In conclusion, with the poor preparation of students in college and the subsequent underemployment after graduation from college, the worth associated with the college degree appears to be in serious doubt. However, these issues alone may not reasonably conclude beyond a doubt that investing in a college degree is a rewarding venture. When the full benefits that come with education are carefully put into consideration and evaluated, college education for children in any country still has good advantages, and society should continue to advocate for a college education. The ordinary person should consider this a wise financial decision that holds rewards in the end. Apart from the monetary gains associated with a college education, society will greatly benefit from students when they finish college. Their minds are going to be expanded, and their reasoning and decision making will be enhanced.

What makes this example bad? Here are a few points to consider:

• Unlike the first example, this paragraph is long and not specific enough. The author provides plenty of generalized phrases that are not backed up by actual arguments.
• This piece is hard to read and understand and sentences have a confusing structure. Also, there are lots of repetitions and too many uses of the word “college”.
• There is no summary of the key benefits.
• The last two sentences that highlight the value of education contradict with the initial statement.
• Finally, the last sentence doesn’t offer a strong conclusion and gives no thought to ponder upon.
• In the body of your essay, you have hopefully already provided your reader(s) with plenty of information. Therefore, it is not wise to present new arguments or ideas in your conclusion.
• To end your final paragraph right, find a clear and straightforward message that will have the most powerful impact on your audience.
• Don’t use more than one quote in the final clause of your paper – the information from external sources (including quotes) belongs in the body of a paper.
• Be authoritative when writing a conclusion. You should sound confident and convincing to leave a good impression. Sentences like “I’m not an expert, but…” will most likely make you seem less knowledgeable and/or credible.

Good Conclusion Examples

Now that we've learned what a conclusion is and how to write one let's take a look at some essay conclusion examples to strengthen our knowledge.

The ending ironically reveals that all was for nothing. (A short explanation of the thematic effect of the book’s end) Tom says that Miss Watson freed Jim in her final will.Jim told Huck that the dead man on the Island was pap. The entire adventure seemingly evaporated into nothingness. (How this effect was manifested into the minds of thereaders).

All in all, international schools hold the key to building a full future that students can achieve. (Thesis statement simplified) They help students develop their own character by learning from their mistakes, without having to face a dreadful penalty for failure. (Thesis statement elaborated)Although some say that kids emerged “spoiled” with this mentality, the results prove the contrary. (Possible counter-arguments are noted)

In conclusion, public workers should be allowed to strike since it will give them a chance to air their grievances. (Thesis statement) Public workers should be allowed to strike when their rights, safety, and regulations are compromised. The workers will get motivated when they strike, and their demands are met.

In summary, studies reveal some similarities in the nutrient contents between the organic and non-organic food substances. (Starts with similarities) However, others have revealed many considerable differences in the amounts of antioxidants as well as other minerals present in organic and non-organic foods. Generally, organic foods have higher levels of antioxidants than non-organic foods and therefore are more important in the prevention of chronic illnesses.

As time went by, my obsession grew into something bigger than art; (‘As time went by’ signals maturation) it grew into a dream of developing myself for the world. (Showing student’s interest of developing himself for the community) It is a dream of not only seeing the world from a different perspective but also changing the perspective of people who see my work. (Showing student’s determination to create moving pieces of art)

In conclusion, it is evident that technology is an integral part of our lives and without it, we become “lost” since we have increasingly become dependent on its use. (Thesis with main point)

You might also be interested in reading nursing essay examples from our service.

How To Write A Conclusion For An Essay?

How to write a good conclusion, how to write a conclusion for a college essay.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

Related Articles

Teaching How to Write a Conclusion: Don't let a Perfectly Good Essay Go to Waste. Teach Students How to Write a Good Conclusion.

• Trent Lorcher
• Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
• Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

After teaching students how to hook the reader with masterful leads and revise the middle for clarity and focus, I felt good about myself once again. I bragged to the student teachers at my school and invited them to my room to watch greatness in action. Then I read the conclusion of my students’ essays.

In shock, I ran back to each student teacher and begged them not to come near my room, apologized to the university they attended and cancelled my weekend golf trip to British Columbia .

I had work to do. I had to devise a lesson plan that taught students how to write a conclusion. Here’s what I came up with.

Techniques for an Effective Conclusion, with Examples

• A lesson learned : I guess I should have listened to my Mom when she said, “don’t smear blood on your legs and swim with sharks”
• Action : As the shark came closer, I corralled the obese adolescent, shoved him in the predator’s path, and swam like heck to safety!
• Dialogue : The angry parent cornered me and yelled, “You killed my son.” I responded, “no ma’am, that shark killed your son.”
• Emotion : The horrified parents looked on as the shark chewed their son’s knee cartilage. I drove away, relieved that it wasn’t me.
• Drawstring : I glanced over and noticed Franklin had a smirk on his face. He had done the same thing during a shark attack in New Zealand. We have held a secret respect for each other ever since.
• Surprise : I opened the newspaper and read “Mass murderer eaten by shark.” I couldn’t believe that 12-year-old was a mass murderer. It looks like I’m a hero.
• Quotation: Remember, “You don’t have to be faster than the shark; you just have to be faster than the person you’re swimming with.”

Additional Tips

• When I was in high school (and college), I would write just long enough to fulfill the assignment requirements, even if it meant adding an unnecessary page or two. Is it any wonder I didn’t know how to teach when to conclude an essay? Luckily, I learned: Read the rough draft. Find where it ends, Stop. Anything after it is unnecessary.
• Before writing the conclusion, reread the introduction. Often an effective conclusion brings the reader full circle by tying together the beginning and the end.
• For revising a rough draft, have students analyze which method they used for concluding and determine if another method might be more successful.
• Have students write two different conclusions using two different methods. In groups of 3-4, have them analyze which is better.

This post is part of the series: How to Revise Essays for Organization: Six Lesson Plans that Work

Organized people accomplish more. So does organized writing. teach your students how to organize their writing and how to revise their writing with these five excellent lessons.

• A Lesson Plan on How to Hook Your Reader with Dynamite Leads
• Writing Lesson Plan in Making the Middle Clear and Concise
• Lesson Plan: How to Write an Effective Conclusion
• Lesson Plan: How to Write Effective Paragraphs
• A Lesson Plan on Writing Coherent Transitions
• Lesson Plan: Writing a Good Topic Sentence

8th Grade Science Research Experience: Step 13: Make a Conclusion

• Step 1: Find a Project Idea
• Step 2: Formulate a Research Question & do a Project Proposal
• Step 3: State the Purpose
• Step 4: Background Research
• Free Web Search
• Step 5: Bibliography
• Step 6: Identify the Variables in your Experiment
• Step 7: Form a Hypothesis
• Step 8: Materials
• Step 9: Design & Write the Procedure
• Step 10: Perform the Experiment
• Step 11: Record your Data and Results
• Step 12: Analyze your Data & Results
• Step 13: Make a Conclusion
• Step 14: Write the Abstract
• Step 15: Acknowledgments
• Step 16: Title Page and Table of Contents
• Step 17: Proofread!
• Step 18: Write a Final Copy of your Lab Report
• Step 19: Create your Display Board
• Step 20: The VFMS Science Research Expo
• Oral Presentation
• Lab Journal/Notebook
• Schedule and Due Dates

Make a Conclusion

After reviewing the data and results in Steps 11 & 12 , make a conclusion .

When writing your conclusion:  Follow the four steps to a good conclusion. 

• Steps to a good conclusion: restate the purpose & briefly describe the experiment; state your conclusion ; Include data evidence ; state if your hypothesis supported or rejected. (Remember, it is OKAY for your hypothesis to be disproven!)

Use and refer to your data as evidence for your conclusion .   List specific examples of your data to support your statements.

In addition to the four steps, answer the following questions in your conclusion: 

• Was there anything in the experiment that you would change if the hypothesis were retested?
• How could you change or expand this experiment if you were going to do it again?
• What did you learn from the experiment?
• How could this information be used to help people or to make the world a better place?

The conclusion should be written in paragraph format.  Reference the science buddies web site for additional information.

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_conclusions.shtml#overview

• << Previous: Step 12: Analyze your Data & Results
• Next: Step 14: Write the Abstract >>
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Traditional Academic Essays In Three Parts

Part i: the introduction.

An introduction is usually the first paragraph of your academic essay. If you’re writing a long essay, you might need 2 or 3 paragraphs to introduce your topic to your reader. A good introduction does 2 things:

• Gets the reader’s attention. You can get a reader’s attention by telling a story, providing a statistic, pointing out something strange or interesting, providing and discussing an interesting quote, etc. Be interesting and find some original angle via which to engage others in your topic.
• Provides a specific and debatable thesis statement. The thesis statement is usually just one sentence long, but it might be longer—even a whole paragraph—if the essay you’re writing is long. A good thesis statement makes a debatable point, meaning a point someone might disagree with and argue against. It also serves as a roadmap for what you argue in your paper.

Part II: The Body Paragraphs

Body paragraphs help you prove your thesis and move you along a compelling trajectory from your introduction to your conclusion. If your thesis is a simple one, you might not need a lot of body paragraphs to prove it. If it’s more complicated, you’ll need more body paragraphs. An easy way to remember the parts of a body paragraph is to think of them as the MEAT of your essay:

Main Idea. The part of a topic sentence that states the main idea of the body paragraph. All of the sentences in the paragraph connect to it. Keep in mind that main ideas are…

• like labels. They appear in the first sentence of the paragraph and tell your reader what’s inside the paragraph.
• arguable. They’re not statements of fact; they’re debatable points that you prove with evidence.
• focused. Make a specific point in each paragraph and then prove that point.

Evidence. The parts of a paragraph that prove the main idea. You might include different types of evidence in different sentences. Keep in mind that different disciplines have different ideas about what counts as evidence and they adhere to different citation styles. Examples of evidence include…

• quotations and/or paraphrases from sources.
• facts , e.g. statistics or findings from studies you’ve conducted.
• narratives and/or descriptions , e.g. of your own experiences.

Analysis. The parts of a paragraph that explain the evidence. Make sure you tie the evidence you provide back to the paragraph’s main idea. In other words, discuss the evidence.

Transition. The part of a paragraph that helps you move fluidly from the last paragraph. Transitions appear in topic sentences along with main ideas, and they look both backward and forward in order to help you connect your ideas for your reader. Don’t end paragraphs with transitions; start with them.

Keep in mind that MEAT does not occur in that order. The “ T ransition” and the “ M ain Idea” often combine to form the first sentence—the topic sentence—and then paragraphs contain multiple sentences of evidence and analysis. For example, a paragraph might look like this: TM. E. E. A. E. E. A. A.

Part III: The Conclusion

A conclusion is the last paragraph of your essay, or, if you’re writing a really long essay, you might need 2 or 3 paragraphs to conclude. A conclusion typically does one of two things—or, of course, it can do both:

• Summarizes the argument. Some instructors expect you not to say anything new in your conclusion. They just want you to restate your main points. Especially if you’ve made a long and complicated argument, it’s useful to restate your main points for your reader by the time you’ve gotten to your conclusion. If you opt to do so, keep in mind that you should use different language than you used in your introduction and your body paragraphs. The introduction and conclusion shouldn’t be the same.
• For example, your argument might be significant to studies of a certain time period .
• Alternately, it might be significant to a certain geographical region .
• Alternately still, it might influence how your readers think about the future . You might even opt to speculate about the future and/or call your readers to action in your conclusion.

Handout by Dr. Liliana Naydan. Do not reproduce without permission.

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