ways to teach thesis statements

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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.

Fun Ways to Teach Thesis Statements for High Schoolers

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

The Thesis Statement Dilemma

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On my way out the door, I noticed all the English teachers were busily grading essays . “Hey, Bob,” I shouted as I stumbled into his classroom, “Not done with those essays yet? I finished mine an hour ago.” “How’d you grade them so fast?” he asked. “It’s simple,” I responded, “I didn’t teach my students how to write a thesis statement, so grading their essays was easy. I just gave them all F’s. While you guys waste your time teaching valuable lessons and then having to actually grade their essays, we watch movies.” “So, none of your students know anything about writing?” “Nope.” “You’re a disgrace!” Bob shouted. He moved toward me, stapler in hand. Next thing I remember, I was surrounded by angry tax-payers. Angry tax-payer #1 shouted, “Get up you thief! Our tax dollars pay your salary and you’re supposed to teach the children of this great state how to write! I suggest you start doing your job tomorrow morning, or you’ll pay dearly!” The angry tax-payer clubbed me with a ruler and knocked me out again. When I awoke, Bob was asking me if I wanted to learn some fun ways to teach thesis statements to my students. I now share these ideas with you.

What to Do Before Writing

• You must begin with a topic question. If your instructor has assigned an essay question to answer, this step has been done for you. If you are doing a research paper, take time to come up with a good topic question.
• You must form an opinion and state it clearly. Do not be wishy-washy.
• Be sure you have approached your evidence fairly, without bias.
• Consider both sides of a controversial issue.
• Once you’ve established the topic question, a clear position, and objectivity, you’re ready to write a thesis statement.

What Is a Thesis Statement?

Students have heard the term thesis statement hundreds of times by the time they reach high school, yet have only a vague understanding of what one is. Your first responsibility is to teach them that a thesis statement:

• Presents your opinions or thoughts on a subject or an issue. You cannot write an essay without one.
• Must contain a subject + an opinion.
• Answers the topic question (the one you created or the one presented to you by the instructor).

TIP : A thesis statement should never contain the following: in my opinion, I think, I believe , etc. Tell them that the entire thesis represents what they believe. However, it may be helpful for students to begin their thesis statement rough draft with i_n my opinion, I believe, or I think_ to make sure they are expressing their thoughts or opinion on a specific subject or issue. When writing the final draft, simply eliminate those phrases.

How to Teach Students to Write A Thesis Statement

It is important to demonstrate the difference between good and bad thesis statements. These instructions will help you teach the former:

• Good Example: Success is a result of doing the right things consistently.
• Bad Example: In a world full of success gurus and books about success, it becomes ever so more important to delineate the one trait that ultimately determines success: doing the right things consistently.
• Good example: The key to successful dieting is focusing on a specific goal.
• Bad example: T_he key to successful dieting is focusing on a specific goal, which is also the key to successfully running a business and coaching a football team._
• Good example: Lebron James’ ability to score, pass, and rebound make him the league’s most valuable player.
• Bad example: Does Lebron James’ ability to score, pass, and rebound make him the league’s most valuable player?
• Bad Example: Lebron James’ ability to score, pass, and rebound just might make him the league’s most valuable player.

Write It Out

Knowing what to do and actually doing it are not the same thing. The following steps will help you and your students write clearly:

• Write several trial statements: writing is a process - you don’t have to get it perfect on the first try. Teach your students to revise their work .
• If you’re having trouble deciding which side to take on a controversial issue, write your thesis statement from two different points of view. Then decide which one better represents your opinion. If you still can’t decide, list facts on both sides of the issue and decide which facts make a more persuasive argument.

Evaluating the Work

You’ve spent a lot of valuable classroom time teaching thesis statements, but your lesson is not finished without teaching your students how to evaluate their writing. Instruct students to use the following questions to analyze their statement:

• Good example: Romeo’s prior feelings for Rosaline diminish the credibility of his love for Juliet.
• Bad example: This essay examines whether or not Romeo’s prior feelings for Rosaline diminish his love for Juliet.
• Good example: Juliet was not the first woman to capture Romeo’s fancy; she was, however, the one who affected him the most.
• Bad example: Romeo loved Juliet with all his heart, but he loved Rosaline too. It could be argued they were both his favorite.
• Bad example: Immature, whiny, male-pig Romeo, a male harlot, ruined precious Juliet whom he loved no more than Rosaline.

More Teaching Ideas

The following activities will help reinforce the concept.

• Have students create thesis statements on a slice of paper. Collect the paper and read them to the class. Have the class vote on them.
• Do the same activity, but use individualized white boards to record judgments .
• Read the thesis statements anonymously. The ones that do not qualify get tossed in the garbage can (visualizing what happens to writing is powerful). Give students a chance to rewrite until they get it right.
• Write random topics on the board and have groups of students brainstorm good ones.
• Make the thesis statements part of a writing challenge .
• Require that students get thesis statements approved before writing an essay.

Click here for a complete 1st semester curriculum map for language arts with lesson plans and links. I hope you learned some fun ways to teach thesis statements to your students. If you have other tips, be sure to leave them in the comments. Image by  Nicholas Jackson  from  Pixabay

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Mastering How to Write Thesis Statements Once and For All

June 15, 2020 //  by  Lindsay Ann //   1 Comment

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Let’s face it…teaching students how to write thesis statements is not always easy. In fact, it can be downright frustrating sometimes, leaving you wishing you knew some fun ways to teach thesis statements

Thinking is messy. Students (and sometimes teachers, too) want to know exactly what to do, what to write, how to write good thesis statements to round off their intro paragraph . 

Welcome to how to teach thesis statements 101. You’re in the right place if: 

• You’ve ever felt like your students are robot zombies, spitting out formula thesis statements like Old Faithful. 
• You’re tired of feeling like there could be a better way to teach thesis statement writing. 
• You are fueled by coffee and a desire to help your students succeed.

Thesis Statement Structure

First off, a thesis statements should meet the following criteria: 

• Opinion statement
• One sentence
• Offers unique insight

Within the one-sentence opinion statement that offers unique insight about a text, issue, or society, students should use clear and concise writing to make their focus known to the reader. 

And, if you plan to give students a specific prompt, teach them to unpack the prompt to determine how they will respond.

Thesis Statements for Literary Analysis

9th grade English teachers at my school have developed the strategy of teaching students to think critically about texts’ messages about society and human nature through alien visitation. Talk about fun ways to teach thesis statement!!  

They begin the school year by having an “alien” visit the classroom. Each class has to name its alien visitor who is there to observe human behavior. One year my officemate’s class named its alien “fre sha voca do” and I was amazed at how quickly her freshmen, who previously did not know how to write thesis statements, started thinking about “we as humans” messages. 

As a sophomore teacher, all I have to do is say “we as humans” and students know exactly what I mean.

Now, what does this have to do with thesis statements? 

💡 Well, if students are in the habit of thinking about what messages texts send about “we as humans,” they are primed for thesis statement writing.

Thesis Statements Template

It’s nice to have a pattern to teach students. As all patterns, once students learn it, they can break it, but I have found that this pattern does help them to clarify and focus their thinking. Yes, these patterns are one of the fun ways to teach thesis statements…because they provide structure which leads to success. 

The basic literary analysis pattern for how to write thesis statements is as follows: 

Genre + Title + Author + (optional literary element) + Action Verb + WAH phrase (or a specific human sub-group, i.e. children) + Claim + Why or How. 

Let’s take a look at an example:

In his poem The Road Less Traveled, Robert Frost uses irony to suggest that we as humans lie to ourselves, creating a false sense of confidence in our own choices. 

Genre = poem Title = The Road Less Traveled Author = Robert Frost Optional Literary Element = irony Action Verb = suggest WAH Phrase + Claim = we as humans lie to ourselves How = creating a false sense of confidence in our own choices

Here’s another example: 

Let’s pretend that your students have just finished reading Born a Crime. Maybe you have asked them to compare and contrast Trevor Noah’s portrayal of apartheid to Alan Paton’s portrayal in Cry the Beloved Country. 

Well, a good thesis statement for this prompt has to capture comparison between two texts. 

Alan Paton’s novel Cry, the Beloved Country contrasts with Trevor Noah’s autobiography Born a Crime stylistically, though it touches on similar topics of racism and violence that plague post-apartheid South Africa; consequently, both texts reveal that we as humans must cling to hope and resilience even in the toughest of circumstances as the antidote to suffering.

Genres = novel, autobiography Titles = Cry, the Beloved Country, Born a Crime Authors = Alan Paton, Trevor Noah Optional Literary Element = (loosely mentioned) author’s style Action Verb = reveal WAH Phrase + Claim = we as humans must cling to hope and resilience even in the toughest of circumstances Why = hope / resilience are the antidote to suffering

Phew, that thesis statement had to cover a lot of ground. Notice the use of the subordinating conjunction consequently as a joiner word, making a one-sentence thesis statement possible.

How to Write Thesis Statements FAQ

Q: Do students have to follow the pattern exactly ?  A: No. Like ice cream, students can feel free to add some toppings.

Q: Do students have to say “we as humans” every time?  A: No. You can simply state the claim. The WAH statement is a frame to help students focus their thinking. 

👍 Are there questions that you have that I haven’t thought of here? Please leave a comment on the post and I may add your question here!

Can Thesis Statements be Questions?

I’ve heard students ask if thesis statements in essays can be a question. 

To understand why the answer is “no,” students need to understand that there is such a thing as inductive vs. deductive essay organization. 

Students are familiar with deductive essay organization. This type of organization front-loads the thesis statement as a road map for the essay, using each paragraph to prove the main claim. This is like having a fully-completed puzzle and then examining different pieces of it.

Inductive organization, on the other hand, lacks a directly stated thesis in the beginning of the essay. Instead, the thesis comes at the end and the writer weaves together different points, often using questioning to move toward a final conclusion. This is like taking the puzzle pieces out of the box and completing the puzzle only to realize the fully-completed picture in the end. 

So, students may see question-asking as a thesis writing technique, but not understand that it is an inductive organization technique leading to a larger implied or directly stated thesis.

Fun Ways to Teach Thesis Statements

Instruction for how to write thesis statements is pretty straightforward. I would suggest having students train their brains by practicing thesis statement writing individually and with peers. 

➡️ This might be a quick GimKit or Quizziz game.  

➡️ It might mean a round of “minute to win it” thesis statement writing so that students can practice turning thematic ideas into claims.

➡️ My students love using ultra clean erasable markers or whiteboard markers to write on their tables. I love that I am able to walk around and quickly redirect, cross out and make suggestions on the spot so that students can revise. 

➡️ For digital learning situations, you could utilize Padlet to collect possible thesis statements and have students vote for their favorites that best follow the thesis statement pattern. 

And maybe you want to get yourself an alien classroom pet. If students are struggling to write thesis statements, ask them what the alien would observe about humans after reading the text(s).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to have some fre sha voca do.

Hey, if you loved this post, I want to be sure you’ve had the chance to grab a  FREE copy of my guide to streamlined grading . I know how hard it is to do all the things as an English teacher, so I’m over the moon to be able to share with you some of my best strategies for reducing the grading overwhelm.

Click on the link above or the image below to get started!

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

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5 Tips for Teaching How to Write A Thesis Statement

The first time I had students write a thesis, I assumed they knew how to do it. After all, I learned all about the five-paragraph essay myself in middle school in the same school district. To my disappointment, not a single student knew how to write an adequate thesis statement. I realized it was a skill I was going to have to teach myself. After several papers and many years, here are my tips for teaching how to write a thesis statement. 

Tips for Teaching How to Write a Thesis Statement #1: Teach Directly

You need a whole lesson around the thesis statement. 

It can be ten minutes or a whole class period with note-taking and an activity. 

But you have to spend some time directly teaching the thesis statement. You can’t expect students–even seniors in high school–to know what a thesis statement is, its purpose, or where it’s supposed to go. 

If you’re teaching an essay writing unit, go ahead and explain the whole essay structure. But make sure you plan some time to specifically touch on the thesis statement and its role. 

Don’t have a thesis-specific lesson? Check out my five-paragraph essay mini-lessons here , which include some thesis-specific slides. 

Tips for Teaching How to Write a Thesis Statement #2: Explain The Role of a Thesis

I think it’s easy for students to grasp the concept of a thesis. It states what the essay is going to be about. They can get that.

But I think it’s much harder for students to understand how the thesis also guides and outlines the rest of the essay.  

By the time they’re writing the conclusion statements for their body paragraphs, they’ve forgotten their own thesis and rarely reference it. Instead of letting their thesis dictate the topic of their body paragraphs, they get stuck trying to come up with something new.

Don’t just tell students what a thesis is. Spend some time showing them how the thesis continues to be referenced in every following paragraph. Show them how the ideas presented in their thesis statement will guide the following paragraphs. 

Not sure how? This Unscramble the 5-Paragraph Essay Activity is a great start . Students will have to put the sentences in an essay in order, which can lead to some great discussions about how a strong thesis statement adds clarity to the rest of the essay’s structure.

Tips for Teaching How to Write a Thesis Statement #3: Give Students A Framework 

If your students are struggling with writing strong thesis statements, give them a framework. 

I know as teachers, it can get really boring to read “W is true because X, Y, Z.” But the structure does work, and it’s a great place for struggling writers to start. 

If you’ve used other writing frameworks in class (such as claim, evidence, and reasoning or C-E-R ), your students will be familiar with having a structure for their writing. They’ll be familiar with the concept already and a lot more confident producing their own thesis statements. 

Engage your students in more creative writing!

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Tips for Teaching How to Write a Thesis Statement #4: Provide Lots of Examples

As with teaching all new skills, you can never have enough examples. 

If your students are writing essays, provide them with examples for the topic they’re covering. But also provide lots of examples for other essay topics.

Give them examples that are both strong and weak, and let them discuss why each is which. 

Let them peer-edit one another’s thesis statements. 

You can do this in a note-taking style lesson, sit and get discussions, or, my personal favorite, a gallery walk. 

If this last idea is interesting to you, check out my Writing Strong Thesis Statements Activity . You’ll place examples of both strong and weak thesis statements around the room. Then, students will have to walk around the room, identifying which statements are strong and which are weak. It’s a great jumping off point for deeper discussions around effective theses. 

Tips for Teaching How to Write a Thesis Statement #5: Give Sentence Starters for More Scaffolding

If your students are still struggling, give them sentence starters. 

Provide students with the thesis statement itself. Leave a blank for their overall argument and their three supporting reasons (if that’s the structure you expect from them). 

Even if your students do alright with writing thesis statements, it might be nice to offer a variety of sentence starters to encourage them to try a new structure for their thesis. 

Bonus Tip: Teach the Plural Form

This is a little silly, but I thought I would add it. Teach students that the plural of “thesis” is “theses.”

Every time I use the word “theses” in my classroom, students are tickled by it. I’m not sure why they find the plural version so odd, but it’s an interesting tidbit you can casually share with your students during one of your essay-writing lessons.

Like all good teaching, taking it slow and offering multiple forms of scaffolding is the key to teaching how to write a thesis statement. 

If you’re looking for thesis or general essay-writing resources, check out my 5-Paragraph Essay Writing Resources Bundle!

Thesis Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can craft or refine one for your draft.

Introduction

Writing in college often takes the form of persuasion—convincing others that you have an interesting, logical point of view on the subject you are studying. Persuasion is a skill you practice regularly in your daily life. You persuade your roommate to clean up, your parents to let you borrow the car, your friend to vote for your favorite candidate or policy. In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement, and it serves as a summary of the argument you’ll make in the rest of your paper.

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement:

• tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
• makes a claim that others might dispute.
• is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.

If your assignment asks you to take a position or develop a claim about a subject, you may need to convey that position or claim in a thesis statement near the beginning of your draft. The assignment may not explicitly state that you need a thesis statement because your instructor may assume you will include one. When in doubt, ask your instructor if the assignment requires a thesis statement. When an assignment asks you to analyze, to interpret, to compare and contrast, to demonstrate cause and effect, or to take a stand on an issue, it is likely that you are being asked to develop a thesis and to support it persuasively. (Check out our handout on understanding assignments for more information.)

How do I create a thesis?

A thesis is the result of a lengthy thinking process. Formulating a thesis is not the first thing you do after reading an essay assignment. Before you develop an argument on any topic, you have to collect and organize evidence, look for possible relationships between known facts (such as surprising contrasts or similarities), and think about the significance of these relationships. Once you do this thinking, you will probably have a “working thesis” that presents a basic or main idea and an argument that you think you can support with evidence. Both the argument and your thesis are likely to need adjustment along the way.

Writers use all kinds of techniques to stimulate their thinking and to help them clarify relationships or comprehend the broader significance of a topic and arrive at a thesis statement. For more ideas on how to get started, see our handout on brainstorming .

How do I know if my thesis is strong?

If there’s time, run it by your instructor or make an appointment at the Writing Center to get some feedback. Even if you do not have time to get advice elsewhere, you can do some thesis evaluation of your own. When reviewing your first draft and its working thesis, ask yourself the following :

• Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. If the prompt isn’t phrased as a question, try to rephrase it. For example, “Discuss the effect of X on Y” can be rephrased as “What is the effect of X on Y?”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like “good” or “successful,” see if you could be more specific: why is something “good”; what specifically makes something “successful”?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is likely to  be “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
• Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. It’s okay to change your working thesis to reflect things you have figured out in the course of writing your paper. Remember, always reassess and revise your writing as necessary.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s first response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. See what you can add to give the reader a better take on your position right from the beginning.

Suppose you are taking a course on contemporary communication, and the instructor hands out the following essay assignment: “Discuss the impact of social media on public awareness.” Looking back at your notes, you might start with this working thesis:

Social media impacts public awareness in both positive and negative ways.

You can use the questions above to help you revise this general statement into a stronger thesis.

• Do I answer the question? You can analyze this if you rephrase “discuss the impact” as “what is the impact?” This way, you can see that you’ve answered the question only very generally with the vague “positive and negative ways.”
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not likely. Only people who maintain that social media has a solely positive or solely negative impact could disagree.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? No. What are the positive effects? What are the negative effects?
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? No. Why are they positive? How are they positive? What are their causes? Why are they negative? How are they negative? What are their causes?
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? No. Why should anyone care about the positive and/or negative impact of social media?

After thinking about your answers to these questions, you decide to focus on the one impact you feel strongly about and have strong evidence for:

Because not every voice on social media is reliable, people have become much more critical consumers of information, and thus, more informed voters.

This version is a much stronger thesis! It answers the question, takes a specific position that others can challenge, and it gives a sense of why it matters.

Let’s try another. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel: Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. “This will be easy,” you think. “I loved Huckleberry Finn!” You grab a pad of paper and write:

Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

You begin to analyze your thesis:

• Do I answer the question? No. The prompt asks you to analyze some aspect of the novel. Your working thesis is a statement of general appreciation for the entire novel.

Think about aspects of the novel that are important to its structure or meaning—for example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the shore and the river, or the relationships between adults and children. Now you write:

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Do I answer the question? Yes!
• Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? Not really. This contrast is well-known and accepted.
• Is my thesis statement specific enough? It’s getting there–you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation. However, it’s still not clear what your analysis will reveal.
• Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? Not yet. Compare scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Huck’s actions and reactions and anything else that seems interesting.
• Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? What’s the point of this contrast? What does it signify?”

After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write:

Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain’s Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave “civilized” society and go back to nature.

This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will convince the reader of your interpretation.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. 2018. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing , 8th ed. New York: Pearson.

Ruszkiewicz, John J., Christy Friend, Daniel Seward, and Maxine Hairston. 2010. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers , 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Thesis Statement Throwdown!

Every English teacher has experienced the frustration of introducing a writing skill, like how to write a thesis statement, over and over again without it “sticking.”

Three years ago, I began “flipping” my writing instruction, so students watch videos on my YouTube channel , take Cornell notes, then come prepared to class to do the actual writing. I love this approach to teaching writing! Students can watch my explanations as many times as they need to over the course of the year. Plus, I get to support them as they write in class. (See my post on synchronous editing ).

Alas, there are always students who need more practice. That said, I can only read so many essays in a year. Instead of feeling frustrated, I decided to design a fun activity to practice writing thesis statements. This is how thesis statement throwdown was born!

Thesis throwdown is a quirky combination of group collaboration, writing practice, funky music, and competition. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Write an essay prompt on the board. I vary my questions between informative and argumentative topics. KQED’s Do Now series is an excellent place to grab writing prompts!

Step 2: Put students into small groups and give them 5 minutes to construct a solid thesis statement in response to the essay question. The conversations that take place are incredible!

Step 3: Randomly select two groups to compete. I don’t tell them ahead of time who will compete in the actual throwdown because I want everyone to give it 100%.

Step 4: As each group writes their thesis statements on separate whiteboard, I play a fun but slightly random song. Our thesis throwdown music list has ranged from “Everybody Dance Now” to “Eye of the Tiger.” My philosophy is that the music keeps everyone interested and entertained while the two groups write their thesis statements on the board.

Step 5: Once both thesis statements are written on the board, I turn off the music and set to work! I edit each thesis statement and “think out loud” as I work, so students can hear what I am responding to in a positive way–strong vocabulary, parallel language, and clearly stated assertion–and what needs to be added, removed or edited. The more I let them into my process as an editor, the more likely they are to successfully edit their own work.

Finally, a winner is declared!

The entire activity takes 10 minutes from beginning to end. It’s hard to believe a writing activity can be so much fun, but this is really entertaining if you add the music and just have fun with it.

In the two weeks, we’ve done thesis statement throwdown, I am shocked by the improvement in the quality of the thesis statements. It’s worth a try if you are feeling like your students just aren’t delivering quality thesis statements. After all, the thesis is the most important sentence of an essay. We want students to leave our classes confident crafting a strong thesis statement!

48 Responses

Love it. I’ve actually been struggling with helping my GRE prep students with the essays. Can’t wait to try this out. I don’t use any music in my classes, so I’m sure turning it on will create a memorable moment they’ll associate with the theses for a long time:)

Jeremy http://stuartmillenglish.com

I hope they enjoy it, Jeremy! I’m sure the addition of music will make it interesting 😉

I read your page as a student at Heaton Middle School it helps understand your point of view.

[…] Thesis Statement Throwdown! Every English teacher has experienced the frustration of introducing a writing skill, like how to write a thesis statement, over and over again without it “sticking.” […]

[…] http://cluttered-record.flywheelsites.com/2015/02/thesis-statement-throwdown/ […]

Love it! What fabulousness do you do to help them write hooks that go beyond the BrainyQuote or “Do you have a hero? I have a hero. Let me tell you about my hero” hooks.

Pretend there’s a question mark on the end there… 🙂

No, I’ve only done this with thesis statements at this point. That said, I can imagine it would be fun for almost any type of writing review.

I teach seventh grade and I can’t wait to try this with my students.

As a wrter, editor, photojournalist & author for more than 67 years, I applaud this approach to an often-difficult task for novice writers. Way to go, Catlin. Wish I’d had teachers like you back in the 1940s when I was in hight school. – DigitalKen

[…] ideas either and sometimes it is a fine line with engagement as well. So, I modified this idea from Catlin Tucker who is just simply AMAZING and if you haven’t visited her site, you are REALLY missing […]

I think this is a winning idea for several reasons! First of all, I’m really intrigued by the idea of flipping the writing instruction so that students are doing more of their writing practice in the classroom where the support is available. I would imagine that this would lead to less student frustration and that students are finding themselves better equipped to tackle the roadblocks that occur during writing. I like the fact that this activity asks students to work collaboratively to create thesis statements and build off of each other’s ideas. Also, I really like the fact that the teacher models editing and thinking out loud. This is a great way to show students what you mean, rather than just telling them. Finally, making this activity fun with music and good-natured competition will most likely make for more engaged students. Love the fact that this idea can be adaptable to other mini writing lessons. Thanks for the great idea!

Thank you, Sara! Not only do the kids enjoy this activity, but their thesis statements have improved so much in such a short window of time. I also plan to use the same strategy for other mini writing lessons.

Take care. Catlin

Thank you, Catlin! This is a great way to practice thesis statements. I will try it this fall.

I love this idea. Getting students to write thesis statements and then support those statements with well-crafted topic sentences are the keys to building an argument. It’s a skill the students struggle with but is such a key skill to success in all subjects. A variation to this could be to get another group to edit the students’ thesis statements.

My students absolutely love this activity. It got amazing reviews at the end of the year. I’m trying to figure out how to use a similar strategy to analyze textual evidence.

I hope your kids enjoy it!

[…] #1 Thesis Statement Throwdown […]

Is there a place where writing prompts are put together without the instructor having to create them? If so, this would be a great help. My urban seventh graders need many, many practice prompts to become adept at creating introductory sentences and thesis statements.

I design many of my own writing prompts. I also grab topics from KQED Do Now ( http://ww2.kqed.org/education/category/do-now ) and the released SAT essay prompts ( https://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/prep/essay-prompts ). The KQED Do Now topics will be a better fit for your 7th-grade students than the SAT release questions. Many of the KQED Do Now questions lend themselves to argumentative writing.

Thank you, Catlin! I am a lazy curriculum author looking for an easy way to gather prompts. After thinking about my request, prompts without the context of the article would be kind of useless. I’m in Florida where we had argument tested last year. I have been concentrating on informative this year but have the kids ready for argument just in case. Since text-based writing is new to students, I developed a template for them to follow at the beginning of the year and find them now differentiating their writing from the template.

[…] learned about this activity from Catlin Tucker’s blog. I adapted it a bit, but the idea is the same. My students are in Lit Circles and competing to earn […]

[…] for each prompt. See my post about this step here. The idea was inspired by Catlin Tucker’s blog post. Check it […]

I did this lesson in my 9th grade classes today, and it went really well. One student requested I play Michael Jackson, and I discovered every single kid likes him, so I went with that. Thanks for the great idea!

I’m so glad it went well, Mindi! I will occasionally take requests too 😉

Sorry, but the nature of a good thesis depends to a great extent on the nature of the assignment–the kind of essay you’re being asked to write.

If the assignment is to write an argumentative or persuasive essay, the thesis should be a sentence that clearly states your position on the issue you’re writing about.

If you’re writing an extended definition, a one-sentence formal definition would be a good thesis: “A ____ is a ____ with _____.” (I. e. it should put the thing being defined in its class or category and distinguish it from other members of that class.)

If you’re writing a process analysis, the thesis should describe the process in one sentence–say whether it’s a simple process or a complex one, or mention the number of steps, or simply say in that one sentence what it does.

[…] Tucker’s “Thesis Statement Throwdown”, you can see the original lesson plan here. My mini-lesson is totally different from Tucker’s, but if you look hard into hers, you can […]

I might give this a try with my ESL students in China. Getting them to write thesis statements hasn’t been easy, even for the smartest ones. Solid idea. Thanks.

Since their first language is not English, I think I’ll probably give them more than 5 minutes to come up with their thesis statements though.

Love this and planning on trying it in class tomorrow! Should you see this before then – how do you go about choosing a winner? Do you “judge” the edited or unedited versions of the thesis statements?

Hi Shannon,

I judge the original versions since I make the edits.

Catlin –

Love the Thesis Statement Throwdown and would like to share it with our teachers as way to provide feedback. Would it be okay to link to your site in a document that we are sharing with our teachers? It will be in our curriculum repository that is only accessible to teachers in Fairfax County Public Schools. Thank you for your consideration.

Yes, you are more than welcome to link to my site! I hope it’s a useful resource for your teachers.

Thank you for sharing! I teach AP US History and the students struggle with developing thesis statements. I look forward in using this strategy with my AP kids.

[…] KQED’s Do Now series is an excellent place to grab writing prompts! […]

I did this with my juniors today and it was great. I chose really thought provoking prompts from the website you recommended. I did it three times and saw the thesis statements improve with each round. This was really engaging and the first time I’ve taught thesis statements in a fun way. Thank you for sharing.

I’m currently in my education clinicals (student teaching with one class), and I’ll be using this activity tomorrow with high school seniors. They struggled with thesis statements, so I’m hoping this will be a fun way to practice!

I love this idea, but after students show some improvement (or even at the beginning of the process), how can students be more in charge of their learning? In other words, I’d love for students to be the ones acting as the Editor and doing the judging. Maybe using a few strong writers of the group be a guest judge and let them lead by example? I don’t want to be gatekeeper forever, and I believe students will and can step up when given the chance. Love the idea. Going to try soon!

Absolutely, Jane! Once kids can hear you talk through correcting a few and have a better handle on what a strong thesis statement looks like, they should absolutely be able to give each other feedback!

Can any one give me a feedback about my thesis statement, thank you in advance

“Although most students have an awareness about basic academic integrity in their previous education; it is significant to students taking a class about academic integrity before they apply college or university because of the increasing number of cheating, plagiarism and academic dishonesty in the higher education”.

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This is amazing. Thank you! I’ve been looking for a fun activity to bring the point home with my students. This will definitely help!

Wonderful! I hope they enjoy it!

Catlin! I did this today with my Grade 10’s and was it ever valuable! I did the edits and each one was a learning opportunity for students. We had a quick discussion about each edit and moved on. The lesson flowed beautifully, and the music was a fun touch. I will definitely get students to do the editing after the first few Thursdays (our bellringer for the day) and have them talk through their edits as well. Great lesson! Thanks for sharing.

Yay! I’m so happy to hear that you used this strategy and you all enjoyed it, Wendy!

Just a heads up…your kids will get good at thesis statements FAST, so be prepared for your throwdown to evolve. We started doing analytical throwdowns with quotes after thesis statements and the “throwdown” format worked well for any type of writing practice. I also started taking song requests from the winning teams which they LOVED 😉

[…] Catlin Tucker: Thesis statement throwdown […]

[…] librarian does – I started researching. I came across the idea of the Thesis Throw Down from Catlin Tucker but decided to alter it a bit to put my own spin on it. I tried the lesson a couple of times last […]

I love how you explain it.

I like that you used this strategy.

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Writing a Thesis Statement Free Lesson Plan

Here is a guided writing workshop to teach students how to brainstorm and draft a thesis statement. This activity provides students an opportunity to consider their prompt and develop a claim that is effective and arguable. Three handouts are included in each download, with the teacher version also containing instructions on how to conduct the workshop.

This lesson plan can be used with any persuasive, argumentative, or research-based essay.

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How to craft a killer thesis statement.

Thesis statements are tricky. Maybe that’s because there’s so much pressure riding on them. How do you distill all of the ideas of an essay into one or two sentences? It has also been said that the thesis statement is a road map, marking the path of an essay and guiding the reader through the points of the body paragraphs.

I think that intimidates the heck out of students.

A Better Way to Approach Thesis Statements

A thesis statement, in its simplest terms, is a statement. That’s a nice starting point. Instead of conveying all the implications above, and scaring students, just start by saying, I want you to make a statement.

They can handle that.

They like to make statements with their clothes or their taste in music. In doing so, they express something about who they are and how they see things. This isn’t that much different. They are going to express something, an opinion.

That’s the next step… to have an opinion.

If our goal as writing instructors is to teach our students how to write, not what to write, then we must preach that they express their own ideas. And it all starts with the thesis. They must make a statement that comes from their own thinking and understanding. They must write for themselves. Unfortunately, most student write based on what they think their teacher wants to hear.

Years of experience back this up. Each spring I spend a week grading the AP Literature exam essays.  Over the course of the seven days, I typically grade 1,100-1,300 essay. The ones that stand out check off the same boxes — insightful and original thesis, perceptive analysis, well-appointed textual support, and a strong and confident voice. The lower-half essays do just the opposite.

What a Thesis Should Do

A more advanced, but still not intimidating, way to think about the thesis is to view it as engine of the essay.  That’s something that can all understand and relate to. After all, high school kids want to drive everywhere.  With a car, the engine converts energy into power, making all the other parts move. The engine propels it forward. The same is true of a good thesis. It moves the argument or opinion forward. It makes all the other parts of the essay turn.

Our students have the keys to a powerful engine that will move the reader.

They are in control.

And they get to decide where the reader is going.

That’s different than a roadmap with landmarks and coordinates already plotted and submissively followed. An engine gives them the freedom to go where they want.

The Finer Qualities of a Thesis

• It moves from the general to the specific
• It has insight
• It is original
• It answers the prompt

An Example of a Rock-Solid Thesis

Here’s a prompt I gave my students this week:

Chapter 26 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor questions, “Is He Serious? And Other Ironies.” Using Foster’s text as a guide, analyze the use of irony in 1984 and connect its purpose to the meaning of the work as a whole.

A Sample Weak Thesis

Here is a formulaic, superficial thesis that our students need to avoid.

In George Orwell’s futuristic novel, 1984, irony plays a major part and affects many of the novel’s plot twists, contributing to the development of the story and the meaning of the work as a whole.

Let’s poke some holes for a second. There are two glaring weakness with this thesis statement:

1. It basically repeats the prompt, hiding the true voice of the writer.

2. There no insight, and perhaps worse, there is no demonstration that this writer has read  1984 .

A Stronger Thesis

In the novel 1984, Winston feels the incongruity between appearance and reality in this supposed utopia, but as he crusades against the psychological manipulations of the party he ultimately is doomed to conform to its power.

What makes this better?

• It start with general ideas  — in the novel 1984 —  but it quickly identifies specific elements  by naming a character, mentioning the utopia, and identifying the goals of the party.
• It has insight  because it argues that Winston is aware of the irony that exists between the party’s propaganda and reality, but it sets up the bigger irony of the crusader that is doomed to love Big Brother.
• It answers the prompt  by identifying the irony — the supposed utopia — and connects that irony to the meaning of the work as a whole — psychological manipulation as a tool to maintain power.

Writing a Killer Thesis Statement

My class drafted that thesis statement during a mini lesson that connected  1984  and How to Read Literature Like a Professor.

Writing a good thesis statement is the result of two simple actions:

• understanding what the prompt is asking
• asking questions of yourself to develop insightful responses to the prompt

This prompt had two parts:

• The role of irony in 1984
• How that irony factors into the work as a whole

Here are the questions we asked in class during the mini lesson:

• What are some of the examples of irony in 1984?  — The party slogans, the utopia/dystopia disconnect, the ministries, doublethink, the acts of betrayal.
• Are these examples limited or pervasive?  They are pervasive
• Why has the party created a society in which these things are pervasive?  Because it feeds their purpose, which is to have psychological control over its citizens. The more the party slogans are repeated and the more doublethink occurs, the more a person loses their humanity and becomes part of a herd mentality.
• Why does the party want to strip people’s humanity and exert psychological control?  It is how they can maintain totalitarian power.

When you progress through a sequence of questions that feed upon each other, you arrive at insightful conclusions that can be pieced together to form an outstanding thesis.

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5 Tips for Teaching Thesis Statement Writing: Teaching How to Write a Thesis Statement

Since the thesis statement is such a crucial part of any academic paper or essay, I make sure I spend some time on each essay teaching thesis statement writing to my students. When my students complete a formal essay in class, I make it a point to go through the entire writing process with them. Once students have brainstormed and selected the main ideas for their essays, it is time to write the thesis statement.

When I teach my high school English students about the thesis statement, I tell them that it is a roadmap or framework sentence that encapsulates the entire main argument or claim of the essay. I have my students write their thesis statement at the end of their introduction, and I like to have them keep it to one sentence.

For middle school and high school students, writing a thesis statement can be a challenging task. Here are some steps that I walk my students through to help them craft a strong thesis statement .

5 Tips for Teaching Thesis Statement Writing

1. identify topics, supporting arguments, and main reasons..

I have my students outline their essays by identifying the main topic, supporting arguments, or main reasons. These ideas will be the basis for their thesis statement. When it comes to teaching how to write the thesis statement, it helps if students can identify the main elements of the essay first.

2. Brainstorm more ideas

Next, I have my students brainstorm ideas related to their main topics. This step helps them determine if they have enough reasons to include in an entire body paragraph. By brainstorming more ideas, students also get a stronger viewpoint of their essays.

3. Narrow the essay focus

Once my students have a list of ideas, I have them begin narrowing down their focus. They look for common themes or patterns they might find from their brainstormed ideas, and then I have them use them to develop a single, clear, concise thesis statement.

4. Thesis statements should be specific

As students develop their thesis statement, I have them check to make sure it is specific and focused. I instruct my students to avoid vague or general statements and try to make their thesis statement as specific and concrete as possible.

5. Make it clear and concise

Finally, I have my students revise and edit their thesis statements to ensure they are clear and concise. I like to remind my students that I should be able to read their thesis statement and know exactly what their entire essay will be about.

By teaching students these five steps, they can write a strong and effective thesis statement. If you are looking for additional help teaching students how to write a thesis statement, I like to use this Thesis Statement and Introduction Teaching Unit in my classroom with my students.

Thesis Statement and Essay Introduction – Essay Writing Unit – PRINT & DIGITAL

Help your students master the art of writing an introductory paragraph and thesis statement with this print and digital essay writing unit focusing on the introduction. This lesson will help your students improve their essay writing skills and write a well-developed and complete thesis statement and introduction paragraph for their multi-paragraph essay.

This essay writing teaching resource includes everything you need for instruction, including an editable presentation for direct instruction, practice work, and student handouts to help guide them through the thesis statement writing process.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Extremely satisfied

“ What a great resource! Students really need this reinforcement on thesis statements when they are writing. I often found myself struggling teaching writing because, as a natural writer, it came easy to me. I, then, found it a challenge to teach. This resource was a huge help and made teaching thesis statements a breeze.”

“ This seems to be such a challenging task for younger students, so I love that this product has a variety of ways and situations to conceptualize and implement the principles of thesis statements. The more ways they can see examples, the better! This is a very organized, systematic approach that helped me keep my focus while guiding students through this process. Thanks!”

“ I always find teaching the Thesis to be much more complicated for my 7th & 8th graders than it should be. Not anymore! This resource was so helpful and laid the aspects of a thesis out in such a clear and concise manner that my students were able to wrap their heads around it much sooner. They definitely had stronger thesis statements & I felt like I didn’t have to work quite as hard to make it happen. Thanks!”

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How to Write a Thesis Statement: Tips for Teaching

• December 7, 2023
• Adult ESL , Classroom Activities , Lesson Planning , Teaching Writing

Teaching academic writing can be challenging, especially when it comes to teaching students how to write a thesis statement. The thesis statement plays a central role in an essay, so it is worthwhile to spend a significant amount of time teaching this concept. Know that it will take time to refine and revise thesis statements for beginner writers.

What is a Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement:

• – is sometimes called a claim .
• – controls where the central ideas of an essay go.
• – is at the end of an introduction paragraph.
• – answers a prompt (a writing topic)  or a question
• – expresses a viewpoint (a claim) or argues for an idea that the audience may not have considered (it does not state the obvious).
• – is concise, to-the-point, and 1-2 sentences long. 
• – creates an argument that matches the required length of the essay.
• – is clearly and entirely explained and supported in the rest of an essay.

Teaching Thesis Statements

Before students begin writing a thesis statement, they need to analyze and discuss example thesis statements. Show students several examples of different types of thesis statements and how they directly answer the essay question/prompt. Break down example thesis statements. Analyze the different parts of the thesis and discuss their purposes. For example:

Give students step-by-step instructions for writing a thesis statement. Here are my five steps:

• 1. Understand the prompt.
• 2. Brainstorm and then select the best 2-3 ideas from that brainstorm.
• 3. Write a statement that expresses a viewpoint. Make sure it answers the prompt.
• 4. List reasons that support that viewpoint.
• 5. Combine your viewpoint statement and the reasons for that viewpoint.

Writing clear, concise thesis statements takes time. Encourage students to keep practicing, and incorporate explicit instruction in your class. Doing simple thesis analysis activities on a regular basis will help students get the hang of it.

Below is my best-selling Thesis Statement Guide ! This is a complete guide for beginning writers that includes thesis analysis activities and step-by-step instructions for how to write a thesis statement with a graphic organizer. I also have a Literary Analysis Essay Guide that takes students through the whole essay-writing process. These are perfect for middle school, high school, or ESL students who are ready for academic writing.

I hope these tips will make teaching writing easier for you, and that your students will grow into confident and skilled writers! Check out this related post on The Writing Process Steps and Why They Matter .

If you are starting out with writing paragraphs, check out this  Paragraph Writing Bundle  from my store!

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• How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

How to Write a Thesis Statement | 4 Steps & Examples

Published on January 11, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 15, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . It usually comes near the end of your introduction .

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate back to this idea.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

• Start with a question
• Write your initial answer
• Develop your answer
• Refine your thesis statement

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Table of contents

What is a thesis statement, placement of the thesis statement, step 1: start with a question, step 2: write your initial answer, step 3: develop your answer, step 4: refine your thesis statement, types of thesis statements, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis statements.

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

• Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.
• Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.
• Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest of your paper.

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The thesis statement generally appears at the end of your essay introduction or research paper introduction .

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts and among young people more generally is hotly debated. For many who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education: the internet facilitates easier access to information, exposure to different perspectives, and a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers.

You should come up with an initial thesis, sometimes called a working thesis , early in the writing process . As soon as you’ve decided on your essay topic , you need to work out what you want to say about it—a clear thesis will give your essay direction and structure.

You might already have a question in your assignment, but if not, try to come up with your own. What would you like to find out or decide about your topic?

For example, you might ask:

After some initial research, you can formulate a tentative answer to this question. At this stage it can be simple, and it should guide the research process and writing process .

Now you need to consider why this is your answer and how you will convince your reader to agree with you. As you read more about your topic and begin writing, your answer should get more detailed.

In your essay about the internet and education, the thesis states your position and sketches out the key arguments you’ll use to support it.

The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its many benefits for education because it facilitates easier access to information.

In your essay about braille, the thesis statement summarizes the key historical development that you’ll explain.

The invention of braille in the 19th century transformed the lives of blind people, allowing them to participate more actively in public life.

A strong thesis statement should tell the reader:

• Why you hold this position
• What they’ll learn from your essay
• The key points of your argument or narrative

The final thesis statement doesn’t just state your position, but summarizes your overall argument or the entire topic you’re going to explain. To strengthen a weak thesis statement, it can help to consider the broader context of your topic.

These examples are more specific and show that you’ll explore your topic in depth.

Your thesis statement should match the goals of your essay, which vary depending on the type of essay you’re writing:

• In an argumentative essay , your thesis statement should take a strong position. Your aim in the essay is to convince your reader of this thesis based on evidence and logical reasoning.
• In an expository essay , you’ll aim to explain the facts of a topic or process. Your thesis statement doesn’t have to include a strong opinion in this case, but it should clearly state the central point you want to make, and mention the key elements you’ll explain.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

Follow these four steps to come up with a thesis statement :

• Ask a question about your topic .
• Write your initial answer.
• Develop your answer by including reasons.
• Refine your answer, adding more detail and nuance.

The thesis statement should be placed at the end of your essay introduction .

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How to Teach Middle School Students to Write a Thesis Sentence

How to Write an Anecdotal Essay

A lesson teaching middle school students how to write a thesis statement should use a simple step-by-step process that teaches them exactly what a thesis statement is, explains the difference between argumentative statements and facts, and encourages the class to become an active part of the learning process through collaboration and discussion. By the end of your lesson, students should be able to write their own thesis statements at home.

Write a factual statement on the board, such as "The sky is blue." Then write an argumentative statement, such as "The sky is bluest in the summer." Show the students the difference between the two statements and explain that a thesis must an arguable statement.

Write a broad question on the board, such as "What would make school less boring?" Call on students to offer answers, and list some of the best on the board.

Turn the answers into arguments by combining them with the question to form a single thesis sentence, such as "School would be less boring if group work was maximized in the classroom."

Assign a separate topic and instruct students to brainstorm and develop their own thesis statements at home.

• Pick topics that are of interest to middle schoolers, such as school or aspects of pop culture.
• Create a collaborative atmosphere by inviting students to interject their own opinions and beliefs, thus personalizing the learning process.
• Limit the amount of time you spend talking "at" students. Format your lecture like a conversation in order to stave off classroom boredom and torpor.

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• Purdue Online: Purdue Online Writing Lab: Thesis Writing, Elyssa Tardiff/Allen Brizee, 2/24/2011
• www.Dummies.com: How-To: Forming a Thesis, Copyright 2011 Wiley Publishing

Neil Richter began his writing career in 2007. He has served as a writing tutor and published reviews in the local Illinois newspaper "The Zephyr." Richter holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in English literature and film from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill.

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How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement: 4 Steps + Examples

What’s Covered:

What is the purpose of a thesis statement, writing a good thesis statement: 4 steps, common pitfalls to avoid, where to get your essay edited for free.

When you set out to write an essay, there has to be some kind of point to it, right? Otherwise, your essay would just be a big jumble of word salad that makes absolutely no sense. An essay needs a central point that ties into everything else. That main point is called a thesis statement, and it’s the core of any essay or research paper.

You may hear about Master degree candidates writing a thesis, and that is an entire paper–not to be confused with the thesis statement, which is typically one sentence that contains your paper’s focus. 

Read on to learn more about thesis statements and how to write them. We’ve also included some solid examples for you to reference.

Typically the last sentence of your introductory paragraph, the thesis statement serves as the roadmap for your essay. When your reader gets to the thesis statement, they should have a clear outline of your main point, as well as the information you’ll be presenting in order to either prove or support your point. 

The thesis statement should not be confused for a topic sentence , which is the first sentence of every paragraph in your essay. If you need help writing topic sentences, numerous resources are available. Topic sentences should go along with your thesis statement, though.

Since the thesis statement is the most important sentence of your entire essay or paper, it’s imperative that you get this part right. Otherwise, your paper will not have a good flow and will seem disjointed. That’s why it’s vital not to rush through developing one. It’s a methodical process with steps that you need to follow in order to create the best thesis statement possible.

Step 1: Decide what kind of paper you’re writing

When you’re assigned an essay, there are several different types you may get. Argumentative essays are designed to get the reader to agree with you on a topic. Informative or expository essays present information to the reader. Analytical essays offer up a point and then expand on it by analyzing relevant information. Thesis statements can look and sound different based on the type of paper you’re writing. For example:

• Argumentative: The United States needs a viable third political party to decrease bipartisanship, increase options, and help reduce corruption in government.
• Informative: The Libertarian party has thrown off elections before by gaining enough support in states to get on the ballot and by taking away crucial votes from candidates.
• Analytical: An analysis of past presidential elections shows that while third party votes may have been the minority, they did affect the outcome of the elections in 2020, 2016, and beyond.

Step 2: Figure out what point you want to make

Once you know what type of paper you’re writing, you then need to figure out the point you want to make with your thesis statement, and subsequently, your paper. In other words, you need to decide to answer a question about something, such as:

• What impact did reality TV have on American society?
• How has the musical Hamilton affected perception of American history?
• Why do I want to major in [chosen major here]?

If you have an argumentative essay, then you will be writing about an opinion. To make it easier, you may want to choose an opinion that you feel passionate about so that you’re writing about something that interests you. For example, if you have an interest in preserving the environment, you may want to choose a topic that relates to that. 

If you’re writing your college essay and they ask why you want to attend that school, you may want to have a main point and back it up with information, something along the lines of:

“Attending Harvard University would benefit me both academically and professionally, as it would give me a strong knowledge base upon which to build my career, develop my network, and hopefully give me an advantage in my chosen field.”

Step 3: Determine what information you’ll use to back up your point

Once you have the point you want to make, you need to figure out how you plan to back it up throughout the rest of your essay. Without this information, it will be hard to either prove or argue the main point of your thesis statement. If you decide to write about the Hamilton example, you may decide to address any falsehoods that the writer put into the musical, such as:

“The musical Hamilton, while accurate in many ways, leaves out key parts of American history, presents a nationalist view of founding fathers, and downplays the racism of the times.”

Once you’ve written your initial working thesis statement, you’ll then need to get information to back that up. For example, the musical completely leaves out Benjamin Franklin, portrays the founding fathers in a nationalist way that is too complimentary, and shows Hamilton as a staunch abolitionist despite the fact that his family likely did own slaves. 

Step 4: Revise and refine your thesis statement before you start writing

Read through your thesis statement several times before you begin to compose your full essay. You need to make sure the statement is ironclad, since it is the foundation of the entire paper. Edit it or have a peer review it for you to make sure everything makes sense and that you feel like you can truly write a paper on the topic. Once you’ve done that, you can then begin writing your paper.

When writing a thesis statement, there are some common pitfalls you should avoid so that your paper can be as solid as possible. Make sure you always edit the thesis statement before you do anything else. You also want to ensure that the thesis statement is clear and concise. Don’t make your reader hunt for your point. Finally, put your thesis statement at the end of the first paragraph and have your introduction flow toward that statement. Your reader will expect to find your statement in its traditional spot.

If you’re having trouble getting started, or need some guidance on your essay, there are tools available that can help you. CollegeVine offers a free peer essay review tool where one of your peers can read through your essay and provide you with valuable feedback. Getting essay feedback from a peer can help you wow your instructor or college admissions officer with an impactful essay that effectively illustrates your point.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

How to Teach Children to Write a Thesis Statement

Shandi stevenson.

By helping students to understand the purpose of a thesis statement, how it is put together and where it belongs in a composition, you can equip them with a skill that will make writing faster and easier. The ability to write an effective thesis statement makes it easier for students to write good papers and develops skills such as summary, organization and argumentation that will be valuable for the rest of their lives.

Explore this article

• Purpose of a Thesis Statement
• Good and Bad Thesis Statements
• Methods for Writing the Statement
• Practice Writing Thesis Statements

1 Purpose of a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is usually the last sentence of the first paragraph of a composition. It states the topic of the paper and the argument the author will make about the topic . It also outlines, in order, the points the paper will make to construct that argument. The first paragraph of the composition should provide an introduction to the paper's topic and its importance. The thesis statement then provides the specific approach to the topic the author will take. The succeeding body paragraphs refer back to and develop the points mentioned in the thesis statement. For example, the thesis statement, "School lunch reform is important, because it makes students healthier, helps students learn better and saves schools money," should be followed by one body paragraph discussing the health benefits of lunch reform, one discussing the academic benefits and one discussing the financial benefits.

2 Good and Bad Thesis Statements

Once students understand what a thesis statement's basic function is, it is helpful to have students practice recognizing effective and ineffective thesis statements. Use a page of thesis statements, some of which are correct and others which are not, have students practice recognizing which sentences meet the requirements of a good thesis statement and which do not. Students can then explain and discuss their reasoning. Allowing students to work on this in small groups can be a helpful way for them to grasp the skill quickly. Have students work individually or in groups to rewrite and improve poor thesis statements. The two most important concepts for students to grasp about the thesis statement are that it must state an opinion or an argument , rather than a fact and that it must be as specific as possible . Most students begin by writing thesis statements that are much too broad and must learn to narrow the focus.

3 Methods for Writing the Statement

Students may find it helpful to first write thesis statements for existing compositions, of which only the thesis statement has been left out or covered up. Students identify the essay's argument and its main points and draft a thesis statement to reflect them. This allows students to practice writing a thesis statement without having to plan and organize an argument at the same time. Students can also compare their thesis statements with other students', and with the original; this allows them to recognize that there is no one right way to phrase a thesis statement, yet every thesis statement must include certain elements.

Some students may then find it helpful to practice writing their own thesis statements using a fill-in "template," such as: " ** is important because of ** , ** and ** __," or "Martin Luther King Jr. changed America in three important ways: _, _ and ____." This exercise helps students make the transition to generating and organization their own arguments, while still getting a little help structuring and wording the thesis statement.

4 Practice Writing Thesis Statements

Once they have mastered the basic concept and structure of the thesis statement, students will benefit from practicing the skill as often as possible, and from plenty of feedback on how they can improve their thesis statements. It can take a long time for the skill to become second nature. In addition to requiring students to include thesis statements in all their compositions, consider using other games and activities for extra practice, such as letting students submit thesis statements to a contest and vote on the winner, working as a class to write a "thesis statement" for a math, science or social studies lesson on the board and letting students write thesis statements about things that interest them.

• 1 Indiana University Writing Center: Thesis Statements
• 2 Slide Share: Thesis Statement Power Point
• 3 University of Michigan: Templates
• 4 Teachers Net: Using Spongebob to Teach Thesis Statement
• 5 Gustavus Adolphus College: Tips on Writing a Thesis Statement

About the Author

Shandi Stevenson is a teacher, tutor and author whose work has appeared in national and international publications including "Shibboleths," "Homeschooling Today," and "Resort Living." She holds a Bachelor of Arts in literature in English and a Master of Arts in humanities.

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How to Write a Thesis Statement in Four Easy Steps

Everyone knows that a good thesis statement is clear, specific, and focused. It draws the reader’s attention to your topic and announces your perspective on the topic.

But while teachers often tell you what to put in your thesis statement, they don’t always tell you how to write a thesis statement. The four steps below will show you how to write thesis statements quickly and effectively.

Scientists discover a cause of lupus and a possible way to reverse it

• Feinberg School of Medicine

The autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus — known as lupus — affects more than 1.5 million people in the U.S. It can result in life-threatening damage to multiple organs including the kidneys, brain and heart. The causes of this disease have long been unclear. Existing treatments often fail to control the disease, the study authors said, and have unintended side effects of reducing the immune system’s ability to fight infections.

But now, Northwestern Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital scientists have discovered a molecular defect that promotes the pathologic immune response in lupus and show that reversing this defect may potentially reverse the disease.

“Up until this point, all therapy for lupus is a blunt instrument. It’s broad immunosuppression,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Jaehyuk Choi, associate professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine dermatologist. “By identifying a cause for this disease, we have found a potential cure that will not have the side effects of current therapies.”

“We’ve identified a fundamental imbalance in the immune responses that patients with lupus make, and we’ve defined specific mediators that can correct this imbalance to dampen the pathologic autoimmune response,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Deepak Rao, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and co-director of its Center for Cellular Profiling.

In a study published in Nature on July 10, the scientists report a new pathway that drives disease in lupus. There are disease-associated changes in multiple molecules in the blood of patients with lupus. Ultimately, these changes lead to insufficient activation of a pathway controlled by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), which regulates cells’ response to environmental pollutants, bacteria or metabolites, a substance created when the body breaks down food, drugs, chemicals or its own tissue. Insufficient activation of AHR results in too many immune cells that promote the production of disease-causing autoantibodies.

To show this discovery can be leveraged for treatments, the investigators returned the AHR-activating molecules to blood samples from lupus patients. This seemed to reprogram these lupus-causing cells into a type of cell that may promote wound healing from the damage caused by this autoimmune disease.

“We found that if we either activate the AHR pathway with small molecule activators or limit the pathologically excessive interferon in the blood, we can reduce the number of these disease-causing cells,” said Choi, also the Jack W. Graffin Professor at Feinberg. “If these effects are durable, this may be a potential cure.”

Choi, Rao and colleagues next want to expand their efforts into developing novel treatments for lupus patients. They are now working to find ways to deliver these molecules safely and effectively to people.

Other Northwestern authors are first author Calvin Law, Arundhati Pillai, Brandon Hancock and Dr. Judd Hultquist.

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