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Activities to Teach How to Write A Thesis Statement

Research Writing , Secondary Literacy , Writing

If there’s any literacy skill you would want your English Language Arts students to master, it would probably be how to write a thesis statement . If you want to teach your students how to write powerful, eloquent, and exceptionally captivating thesis statements, then you’ll love the activities in this article.

The key to any good essay is a strong thesis statement. A strong thesis statement sets the tone and clarifies the author’s purpose : it tells you the writer’s opinion, along with the level of thought and criticism that has gone into formulating it.

A strong thesis statement also creates an alluring introduction paragraph. This makes each paper in your grading pile a lot more inviting.

How do you teach students to write a thesis statement to make their audience continue reading? This blog post explores six activities to teach how to write a thesis statement.

1. Differentiate Between Strong and Weak Thesis Statements

Writing a thesis statement might be a new skill for your students. Thesis statements are often taught as a topic sentence or the “whole essay boiled down into one sentence.” This can be a challenging concept for your students to grasp.

To teach how to write a thesis statement, have a discussion about what makes a strong thesis statement. You can turn this into a collaborative lesson by brainstorming clarifying statements ; these statements dictate what a thesis is and is not.

For example: “ A proper thesis statement is written in one sentence ,” or “ a proper thesis statement is directly related to the rest of the essay .” This is a great opportunity to teach students the difference between concepts like a “topic sentence” or a “hook.”

Your students can use this free bookmark to differentiate between a strong thesis statement and a weak one. This slideshow lesson also explores clarifying statements with detailed examples.

2. Evaluate Thesis Statement Examples

Now that students have plenty of guidelines, challenge their understanding by evaluating thesis statement examples . You can use thesis statement examples from past students’ essays. You can even write your own examples based on the clarifying statements you create with your class.

If you’re open to your students receiving constructive, anonymous criticism , you can even have them write a thesis statement and evaluate each one as a class. I’ve had success with providing students with a thesis statement topic and having them write a thesis statement. Then, I prompt them to swap with their elbow partner to offer feedback.

If you’d rather provide a comprehensive list of thesis statements that reflect the common errors you would typically see in students’ essays, there are several student examples in this introductory lesson on how to write a thesis statement – this is one of my favourite activities for teaching thesis statement writing!

3. Provide a Thesis Statement Template

One of the easiest ways to teach how to write a thesis statement is to offer a thesis statement template . There are a variety of thesis statement templates that students can use as a framework for their essays. I start with a basic template that involves the three parts of a thesis statement: a topic, position, and evidence . I then demonstrate to students how they can create variations of this template, depending on which order they introduce each part. You can find examples for each template in these thesis statement handouts .

You can also introduce a few sentence styles to your students. These styles scaffold eloquent thesis statements. They also offer students the space to articulate their thoughts without exceeding the one-sentence limit.

Sentence Styles for the Three Parts of a Thesis Statement

Here are a few sentence styles that incorporate the three parts of a thesis statement. Each style also includes an example written by a real student:

• Style A : “Noun phrase; Noun phrase; Noun phrase – Independent Clause” Example: “The promotion of hygiene; the presence of medical professionals; the prevention of death – these are all reasons why supervised injection services are an important facet of public health.”
• Style B : If (subject + verb + object phrase), if (subject + verb + object phrase ), if (subject + verb + object phrase ), then (independent clause) Example: “If taxpayers do not wish to have their money allocated to cruelty, if more than 100 million animals die from animal testing a year, if alternatives to animal testing exist, then governments should ban the practice of testing on animals.”
• Style C : Independent clause: subject + verb, subject + verb, subject + verb Example: “College education should be entirely funded by the government: student debt would be eliminated, education would not be commodified, and access to education would not be exclusive to privileged people.”

All of these sentence styles are outlined in these practice worksheets for how to write a thesis statement, with writing prompts to reinforce each thesis statement template through repeated practice.

4. Daily Practice Activities to Teach How to Write a Thesis Statement

One of the most effective ways to teach how to write a thesis statement is through repeated practice. You can do this by incorporating daily bell ringers into your persuasive writing unit. To assign this activity, I provide students with three topics to choose from. I then prompt them to develop an opinion and write a thesis statement for one.

I’ll also include bell ringers that provide a thesis statement that students need to evaluate. Students really enjoy these drills! They get the opportunity to develop opinions on interesting topics, and many of them choose to explore these ideas as the subject of their final research paper.

If you’re looking for pre-made worksheets with thesis statement activities, these daily thesis statement bell ringers include one month’s worth of thesis statement prompts, graphic organizers, and templates in both digital and ready-to-print format.

5. Use a Self-Assessment Thesis Statement Anchor Chart

You can provide students with a thesis statement anchor chart to reference the guidelines and rules they’ve learned. A personalized anchor chart is best – like this free thesis statement bookmark – so that students can have it on hand while they are reading and writing.

You can distribute the anchor chart at the beginning of your research paper unit. Students can refer to it while evaluating thesis statement examples or completing daily practice activities. A thesis statement anchor chart has been a complete game-changer in my classroom, and I’m pleased to learn that many of my students have held on to these after completing my course.

6. Provide Engaging Thesis Statement Topics

You can collaborate with your students to generate an engaging list of good topics for thesis statements. Start by writing down every topic that your students suggest. Then, you can narrow this list down to avoid broad, far-reaching thesis statements that lead to a watered-down essay. When I make this list with my students, we end up with topics that are truly engaging for them. I also have the opportunity to clarify which topics might be a little too vague or broad for an exceptional essay.

For example, students often suggest topics like “racism” or “the problem with school.” These are learning opportunities to demonstrate to students that a great thesis statement is the essential starting point for an even greater essay.

To elaborate, a topic like racism has different implications all over the world. It is far too complex to explore in a single, 750-word essay. Instead, we work together to narrow this topic down to something like “racism in the media,” or even better, “representation in Hollywood.”

Additionally, a topic like “the problem with school” is more of a conclusion. To solve this, we work backward to identify some of the aspects of our school that make it an obstacle . This can include uniforms, early starts, or cell phone policies. This process leads students to a more concise topic, like “cell phone policies in twenty-first-century schools.”

If you’re looking for engaging thesis statement topics to inspire your students, I’ve included a list of 75 argumentative essay topics in this practice unit for how to write a thesis statement .

Tying it All Together

There are plenty of fun thesis statement activities and practice lessons that you can incorporate into your curriculum. Give thesis statements the love and attention they deserve in the classroom – after all, they truly are the most important part of a research essay.

All of the worksheets, lessons, and activities explored in this blog post are included in Mondays Made Easy’s unit for teaching how to write a thesis statement . This bundle has everything you need to teach your students how to master their thesis statements and apply these essential literacy skills to their writing.

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• Feb 18, 2020

Thesis Drawing Game

This activity was developed and submitted by Maureen Wieland, ABD from Purdue University .

Topic/Purpose/Learning Objective:

Learning the importance of a clear and complete thesis statement.

This activity can be used for any basic communication, public speaking, or even writing class as the concept of a clear thesis is relevant to all.

Students often struggle with how to construct a full thesis statement and even forget to include this important part of a presentation in their own speeches and outlines. This activity should be conducted after students have already been exposed to the structure of a thesis statement and works well as a supplementary activity to do during the same class period in which you have lectured on this topic. It's a bit humorous and will help these concepts stick.

Procedure/Steps:

Time Requirement: One round takes approximately 10 minutes. I tend to play 3 rounds when I used this activity in one 50-minute class.

Materials: Blank pieces of paper (at least 1 per student per round you intend to play) and writing utensils.

Instructions:

Divide your class into groups of 5 to 10 and have each group sit in a circle. Give each student one piece of blank paper and instruct them to write a complete and detailed thesis statement appropriate for an informative presentation at the top of the paper. Make sure they keep their writing hidden from their group. No one but them should know what they wrote. You may want to remind them about the structure and purpose of a thesis statement before they get started (important pieces such as general purpose and specific purpose statements often are forgotten by students). Allow them to be creative with these thesis statements. Some of my favorite thesis statements produced through this activity involved "informing the audience about the potential dangers of owning a unicorn as a pet" and "informing the audience about how to teach your dog to skateboard."

After each student has written their thesis statement, have them pass their paper to the person on their right. Each student should have a piece of paper with a thesis statement that the person to their left has written. They should then read that thesis statement to themselves and attempt to create a drawing that accurately represents that statement. Make sure they don't take up too much space with their drawings as this process will need to be repeated a few times. Give your students about 1 minute to draw.

Then instruct them to fold over the top of their paper so that you cannot see the original thesis statement anymore. You should only be able to see their drawing now. Once they have covered up the original thesis statement, have them pass their papers again to the right.

Now they will only see a drawing without knowing what the thesis statement originally was. They should then interpret the drawing as a best as they can into a written thesis statement. Again give them 1 minute to write out their thesis statement based off of the drawing. Then, have each student fold over their papers again so that the first drawing is now covered. Once they have done that, have them again pass their papers to the right. They should only see a thesis statement again.

Make sure you instruct your students of when they should pass their papers. Without this guidance, there tends to be confusion and a build up of papers on one student's desk per group. Repeat this process of drawing and writing as many times as you would like or as many as there is space on the paper. I have found that you can usually fit thesis-drawing-thesis-drawing-thesis-drawing-thesis comfortably on one piece of paper.

Once you have stopped the process of passing papers, have students find the paper they originally started with, the one with the thesis statement they wrote. They will most likely have to unfold all the folds in the paper to find it. Give them a few minutes to marvel at the success (or lack of success) in the progression of their thesis statement. Invite students to share this progression with the rest of the class. There are usually a few that are quite hilariously bad or incredibly good.

Discussion:

While this activity can be very fun and silly, it is also important to tie it back to the importance of a quality thesis statement. Make sure to take the time to debrief the successes or failures of some of the thesis statements in the class. Some possible questions include:

Was the original thesis statement detailed enough to inform the artist what the speech would be about? Did it include the general purpose and specific purpose statements? How could it have been worded to be even more clear?

Was the original thesis statement expressed as a declarative sentence? Was it too broad of a topic to fit in one presentation?

Why was writing a thesis statement based off of a drawing difficult? Or did students find it easy?

Why are thesis statements an important part of presentational speaking?

As an audience member, how would having a good or bad thesis statement be helpful or harmful to understand a presentation?

At what part of the speech writing process should students create a detailed thesis statement?

Assessment Recommendations:

My students absolutely love this activity! It's fun and creative and results in some funny thesis transformations that they can keep. The last time I ran this activity with my presentational speaking class, I asked them at the end of the second round if they had learned the goal of the activity (besides just having fun) and I had one student so perfectly sum it up I could have shed a tear. They catch on about the importance of being clear and detailed in their thesis statement writing and how a thesis that is ambiguous leads to disaster. That same class period, I had to remind them that the class period had ended and that they could leave because they were trying to fit in another riveting round. They still ask almost every week if we can play it again. Overall, I have found this activity to be very effective and incredibly fun.

References for more information on active and engaging classroom activities:

Kuh, G.D. (2009) What student affairs professionals need to know about student engagement. Journal of College Student Development, 50 (6), 683-706.

McClenney, K., Marti, C., & Adkins, C. (2006) Student engagement and student outcomes: Key findings from CCSSE validation research. Austin, TX: Community College Survey of Student Engagement.

Umbach, P.D. & Wawryznski, M.R. (2005) Faculty do matter: The role of college faculty in student learning and engagement. Research in Higher Education, 46 (2), 153-184.

Zhang, Q. & Zhang, J. (2006) Instructors' positive emotions: effects on student engagement and critical thinking in the US and Chinese classrooms. Communication Education, 62 (4), 395-411.

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Thesis Statement

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• Q 1 / 11 Score 0 A thesis statement communicates the main point of an essay and expresses the writer's position. For many academic essays, a thesis statement should be one sentence long. You'll usually place your thesis at the end of your first paragraph, which will be your introductory paragraph. What is a thesis statement? 29 A sentence written at the begininning of a paragraph A sentence found in the introduction A one sentence long position The main point of an essay that expresses the writer's position

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• Q 1 A thesis statement communicates the main point of an essay and expresses the writer's position. For many academic essays, a thesis statement should be one sentence long. You'll usually place your thesis at the end of your first paragraph, which will be your introductory paragraph. What is a thesis statement? A sentence written at the begininning of a paragraph A sentence found in the introduction A one sentence long position The main point of an essay that expresses the writer's position 30 s
• Q 2 Having a good thesis statement is useful for you, as it will help you stay on track as you write the rest of your essay. If a point doesn't support or relate to your thesis statement, you'll know you'll need to cut that point out. A good thesis also helps your reader. If your thesis statement is clear, a reader can know what to expect in your paper right from the start. What do you need to do if a point doesn't support or relate to your thesis statement? Write about something else Cut that point out Leave it and make it work Revise the thesis statement 30 s
• Q 3 You can pull the fundamental components for your thesis statement from your writing prompt or the topic idea that you've come up with. Because a thesis statement - particularly for a persuasive essay - should clearly present your position on a debatable topic, we can approach this in a straightforward way and try to answer the key question clearly. In order to formulate our answer, we should refer back to our prewriting, in which we generated some ideas for this particular prompt. As we determine how to answer the key question from our writing prompt, we'll first need to create a PRO and CON list. How do you begin developing a thesis statement? Brainstorm ideas, and make a PRO and CON list Write your thesis statement and check to see if it matches the prompt Begin with the prompt, refer to your prewriting, and make a PRO and CON list Make a PRO and CON list 45 s
• Q 4 Though it's certainly not a required format, some students - and writing instructors - like to use a should ... because structure for thesis statements for persuasive essays. This approach allows you to state your position clearly as well as your reasoning for that position. Add a because clause to your thesis statement. You won't need to make up your because reasoning on the fly. Instead, you can draw your reasoning directly from your brainstorming ideas. What does your best thesis statement need? a because clause enough words for a sentence evidence structure 45 s
• Q 5 There are a few things that a thesis statement should accomplish. Your thesis will be the central point of your essay; everything else that you write in your paper should revolve around and directly support your thesis. Here are two key points to remember: Don't make any points in your thesis that won't be in the rest of your paper. Don't make your thesis so vague that it doesn't really communicate anything of substance. What does your thesis statement accomplish? It is what the reader is looking for to read the paper. It is the central point of the essay that everything else revolves around and supports It is the sentence that lets the reader know you have strong reasoning skills It directs the reader to your conclusion. 45 s
• Q 6 Your thesis statement should be specific, but not so overly detailed that it can't be one concise sentence. If you end up with a thesis statement that is so overly detailed that it's a bit cumbersome, it may be a good idea to edit it. You don't need to include every major point from your paper in your thesis statement - just the major point or points that make up the heart of your argument. Remember that your thesis should serve as a guide for both you and your reader. A good thesis can help you stay on track. As you write your body paragraphs, you can ask yourself whether each point directly supports your thesis. Your thesis will also help guide the reader so that he or she knows where your essay is headed and won't be confused about your main point. Do you need to include every major point in your thesis statement? Yes No 45 s
• Q 7 What is a similarity between an overly detailed thesis statement and a vague thesis statement? There is no similarity, they are two completely different types of thesis statements. In both cases, you will need more than the required one sentence. In both cases, it will make constructing your arguments more difficult. In both cases, the thesis statement would make it more difficult for the reader to follow your arguments. 30 s
• Q 8 How does a well-written thesis statement help the reader? It succinctly summarizes the points made in the essay. It helps to introduce the sources to be used in the essay. It introduces the points to be made in the essay. It articulates both sides of the issue being discussed. 30 s
• Q 9 Why is a thesis statement the most important component of an essay? It introduces the topic to be covered in the essay. It tells the main point of the essay as well as the writer's position. It summarizes the issues raised in the essay. It effectively explains both sides of a particular issue. 30 s
• Q 10 A should ... because format for thesis statements in persuasive essays _____. allows you to state your position clearly as well as your reasoning for that position allows you to reach a conclusion on your position allows you to place your thesis statement later in your essay without causing confusion allows you to explore both sides of a given topic 30 s
• Q 11 You can make use of ideas that you generated during prewriting/brainstorming _____. to decide how to order your body paragraphs to interpret the writing prompt to write your concluding paragraph to draft the because clause in your thesis statement 30 s

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