Developing a Question, Hypothesis, Thesis Teacher Resources

The skill set required of readers of informational text includes the ability to identify an article’s thesis or main idea, as well as the supporting points. Learners can practice these skills by analyzing an essay about the treatment of...

Each presidential election year, the debate about the electoral college rages. Michael C. Maibach's "A Defense of the Electoral College" offers young political scientists an opportunity to examine a reasoned argument for why the...

Eleventh graders create an album based on a thesis statement about life in the 20th century after completing the introductory lesson for a lesson on the web site "When Work is Done".

Are your pupils ready to move beyond a thesis statement by adding additional detail to their introductory paragraphs? Provide this handout to give your class some ideas for spiffing up their work. The page includes a sample paragraph...

For many emerging writers, essays are completed step-by-step. With the help of this lesson, learners will narrow down a topic, develop a thesis statement, develop a preliminary outline, conduct Internet research, and understand the...

Students develop a topic to conduct research. They formulate questions about it and use a graphic organizer for categorizing information. Students use the information to generate a thesis to narrow the focus of the paper. They write a...

In this narrowing a topic worksheet, students complete a chart in which they begin with a broad topic and narrow it down to a subtopic that interests them. Students then create a topic statement for their subtopic.

Students are introduced to the career of welding through a video and conduct a brainstorming session on careers. They identify components of the workplace in their chosen career field and develop a list of potential job sites in the...

Students are able to revise their own essays for greater clarity and fluency, adding explanation where needed and cutting extraneous information where appropriate. They are able to compose an academic essay with a complete introduction,...

Twelfth graders write self-identity essays of three to five paragraphs in length. They include topic sentences, transition words, and concluding paragraphs in their essays, They read their essays to classmates.

The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a...

Seventh graders create a final project called Industry X (which was previously researched in the unit) has plans to build in town. There is a special town meeting scheduled to discuss this matter and allow everyone to express their...

Help young writers with the daunting prospect of a five-paragraph essay. Using William Golding's Lord of the Flies, learners work through a short process to shore up their brainstorming and prepare to write a longer essay.

The main idea of this resource is that you should take a look if you're planning to teach main ideas in your class! Cover just about everything you need to know about main ideas with a packet of materials that includes information and...

William Golding's Lord of the Flies is a treasure trove of symbolism and literary themes. Help your kids note the richest passages in the book with a instructional activity and graphic organizer. The instructional activity prepares...

Students record all of the instances of physics and science they are involved with in a full day. As a class, they complete a KWL chart on physics and read a story about Murphy's Law and the character's experiences. Individually, they...

Support your learners during the speech-writing process with a five-page graphic organizer. Pupils have plenty of space to write in their evidence and arguments on this resource. The organizer provides some prompts for each section to...

A lot of writers don't like creating an outline before writing the first draft of their paper. Introduce them to what an effective and organized outline looks like with this presentation. Designed for higher education, you could easily...

Students write sentences using different writing styles. Through peer editing, they hone their writing to create effective thesis statements. They create a glossary of text messaging terms.

Get your writers started on their personal essay with a learning exercise that gently guides them into formulating some ideas they might use. Strengths, weaknesses, major experiences, influential individuals, all offer something that can...

The answer is blowin' in the wind. Using the resource, scholars read and analyze a model essay about wind power. Next, they work in groups to write an introductory paragraph that expresses an opinion about the topic. 

Young scholars identify areas of interest and conduct preliminary research using on-line and library resources to develop their thesis statements.

Poor organization often destroys an otherwise good paper. After writing a first draft, individuals consider the organization of ideas, a topic discussed in the 16th handout in the 24-part Writing the Paper series. The resource covers...

A strong essay eliminates weak or unnecessary material. Determining what information contributes to an essay and what information should be deleted is a skill readers and writers of informational text must develop. Class members practice...