The Five Finger Paragraph and Five Finger Essay

By Written and Illustrated by Johnnie W. Lewis

     I'm sure everyone remembers the first time they were asked by their teacher to write an essay. What's an "essay"? Well, Lewis has come up with a set of books and teaching aids to help a parent teach their kids what an essay is and how it is supposed to be structured.

     Lewis uses the concept of color-coding and the visual aid of the human hand to show the structure of the essay. Using the five main colors, Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, and Green, and designating a finger for each, Lewis creates an easy-to-follow visual concept for children to learn how to write paragraphs and essays.

     The packet includes both a student's edition and a teacher's edition, as well as two copies of the exercises. What's even better about the exercises and books is that they are laminated and come with a dry-erase marker so the student can do the exercises in the book and the aids that accompany them without having to make copies over and over again.

     This is a great set of books and exercises. I honestly wish I had had tools like these around when I was a kid. It would've made learning how to write essays so much easier.