Thesis Statements and Body Paragraphs--due before winter break!

Now that we've chosen topics and done some research, we've also started writing thesis statements.  Students will be getting feedback on their thesis statements so they can revise them when we write the introduction paragraphs.  Here are the notes we used to craft solid thesis statements.

Once we started the body paragraphs, our goal was to help students "unpeel" or rely less on the acronyms we've used in the past for body paragraphs.  Just like the videos reminded us, body paragraphs must several things:
1.  a topic sentence
2.  supporting sentences
3.  concluding sentence

So, to write a the first body paragraph, include these parts:

1.Topic sentence – decide which reason you want to start with.

2.Decide what evidence you want to use from the articles. Which parts will you paraphrase? Quote directly?

3.How does this evidence affect your position? How is it relevant? How does it connect with your experience? (You could even add a counterclaim here if it is relevant.)

4.Link back to your thesis or point.