More people than ever before are in need of housing assistance for two main reasons. First, incomes have not kept pace with housing costs. Second, there is less low-rent housing available. The problem is the most severe for people who are low-income. Very low-income housing (for those under 50% of median income) is rarely developed, and requires help from the government to both build and maintain it.

(From High Rise in Housing - The Sky's the Limit by Lynn Peterson)

• Read the above paragraph about the present housing situation in the United States.
• Now, look at the first sentence in the paragraph. This is the topic sentence because it tells you the topic (or main idea) of the paragraph. The next two sentences give supporting details and explain more about the idea in the topic sentence. Notice the writer used the words "first" and "second" to help the reader to understand that she is making two points. This is one possible way to write a paragraph. You may want to use this to help you write your paragraph in Step#2.

• Now it's your turn. Write how you think the housing situation will be in the year 2020. Maybe the situation will impove. Perhaps it will get worse.
• First,use another piece of paper to write down some of your ideas and then organize them before you start.
• If you want, you can begin your paragraph the same way as the reading. (For example, "In 2020, more people than ever...") Or you can be creative and think of another way to get the readers' attention.
• Click in the space below to begin to type.