Mastering the Art of Writing Thesis Statements: A Guide for Teachers of 8th Graders

For years, I've honed my essay-writing skills and mastered the art of crafting clear thesis statements. Yet, when tasked with guiding others in this craft, I encountered a surprising challenge. It's a common hurdle: what comes naturally to us can be difficult to convey to others.

Teaching students the intricacies of writing thesis statements is crucial, yet it presents its own set of difficulties. As a former student myself in secondary school, I vividly recall grappling with this challenge firsthand, as some educators struggled to effectively impart this essential skill. My own journey was fraught with frustration, marked by tears shed over receiving C's on my essays during my first year of undergrad, despite having been an 'A' student in English during my final year of high school. Reflecting upon this, I realized that had I been adept at crafting thesis statements in high school, it would have better equipped me for success in my first year of post-secondary studies. After four years of diligent practice in university, writing thesis statements now comes as second nature to me. However, articulating the process of crafting one remains one of the most daunting tasks. Thankfully, with the guidance of my mentor teacher (MT), I gleaned valuable strategies to aid students in understanding and mastering this challenging aspect of essay writing.

I began with sourcing ideas on the internet on how to convey the concept to my grade 8s. While my mentor teacher led the lessons, I grappled with understanding how to teach it effectively when students inevitably came to me with questions. Through teaching and observing my students, I uncovered effective strategies rooted in the process of scaffolding, where educators progressively introduce and reinforce concepts to support student learning. One particularly effective approach is the method of modeling and demonstration, which involves providing step-by-step guidance on writing a thesis statement. This method guides students through understanding by initially presenting the concept collectively as a class, then advancing to collaborative group activities, and finally encouraging independent practice. Such a structured approach caters to various learning preferences and fosters deeper comprehension and retention. By affording multiple opportunities for engagement and reinforcement, educators can empower students to take ownership of their learning journey and cultivate the skills necessary for success both within and beyond the classroom. In my mentor teacher's lesson on essay writing and crafting a strong thesis, I delved into the benefits and implementation of this progressive teaching method.

In our language class, my MT began by introducing the basics. What exactly is a thesis statement? In simple terms, it's a concise summary of the main point or claim of an essay. We likened it to a roadmap that guides readers through their essay and we broke it down into three components.

• Topic: What is your essay about?

• Claim: What is your stance or argument on the topic?

• Reasons: What are the main points that support your claim?
  

With our eighth graders, we embarked on crafting a thesis statement as a collective group by first identifying a broad and relatable topic that resonated with all students: uniforms. We then broke it down to a claim that was arguable by our students:

With that claim we encouraged our students to be more specific . This involved narrowing down the focus of the argument to a particular aspect or dimension of the topic. And while finding specifics, student began to identify the following potential reasons why uniforms should be mandatory:

Students shared different perspectives on how uniforms potentially decreases bullying behaviour based on how students express themselves through their clothing style; strangers on school grounds can be easily spotted; and uniforms are inclusive and give students a sense of belonging to the school community. Once the students conjured up viable reasons, we were able to focus on producing a strong argument.

We also talked about a good hook to engage readers to the text and entice them to read on. Students learned that statistics and expert knowledge on a specific topic are ways to hook readers in. The class then developed the following hooks and posted them on the board and then later produced their own thesis statements in their notebooks:

After I understood how to walk learners into how to write a thesis statement, I, being a visual learner, composed the following drawing to help me remember the core components to share with my learners in the future:

After this two-day lesson, I learned that employing a progressive approach to teaching by initially modeling and demonstrating concepts as a class, followed by group collaboration, and ultimately fostering independent practice, cultivates a comprehensive understanding among students. This method caters to diverse learning styles and encourages active engagement and critical thinking. By gradually transitioning from guided instruction to autonomous learning, students develop confidence in their abilities and acquire the necessary skills to apply knowledge independently. As educators, embracing this structured approach ensures that each student is empowered to succeed, equipped with a solid foundation and the tools for lifelong learning.