(1.2) Day 4 Thesis Statement Review

Lesson Objectives:

• Identify the thesis statement in an EAP essay.
• Identify the characteristics of an effective thesis statement:  specific, focused, offers original perspective, makes an assertion, and avoids making an announcement.
• Analyze weak/strong thesis statements identifying weaknesses/strengths
• Work to improve our own thesis statement through reflection/alternations

Part I: Warm Up (10 min)

Most of you likely already have experience working with and studying thesis statements. The thesis statement is one of the most important components of an academic paper because it informs your reader, specifically, what your paper is going to be about. In pairs, work to come up with a definition for a thesis statement. Then, discuss these questions in your group.

What is the thesis? 
Where does it generally go? 
What role does it play in an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) essay? 
Does an academic research paper (where you collected data) have a thesis sentence? 

Be prepared to share with the class.

WRITERS HELP RESOURCES: Implicit Thesis Statements Vs. Explicit Thesis Statements

Model Papers: Is there always a thesis statement? 

Part II: Writing Activity (20 min) 2:10-2:30

To begin today's lesson on thesis statements, I would like you to analyze existing weak thesis statements, explain why they are weak, and make revision.  You should open up the document THESIS STATEMENT WORKSHEET and work together in pairs. I will go over the answers with everyone in the THESIS STATEMENT PPT.

Part III: Lecture on thesis statements (10 min) 2:25-2:35
We will discuss the basics of thesis statement foundation and the process of how they should be formed. To access this information, you can click on the following like titled, CREATING A THESIS STATEMENT.

Part IV: Thesis Writing Activity (25 min) 2:35-3:00

Open the diagnostic exam that you wrote in Google docs. Find your thesis. Copy and paste it directly into the THESIS STATEMENT CRITIQUE WORKSHEET . Please do not edit your thesis yet. If you aren't sure which sentence was your thesis, copy and paste the most likely sentence or two. Save the thesis-statement critique to your desktop and wait for further instructions.

When you are done with this activity, go back to your diagnostic and revise the thesis within the introduction paragraph. Do you have adequate transition between your introduction and your thesis statement? Save what you have thus far with regard to your thesis revisions.. 

Part V: Writer's Help 3:00-3:20

We will be "testing" out Writers Help as many students have yet to use the software. Please go to the website, log in, and wait for further instructions. We will be doing activities on Thesis statement writing. 

Thesis Statement Exercise 1
Implicit Thesis Statements Vs. Explicit Thesis Statements
Model Papers: Is there always a thesis statement? 

Lecture materials:
THESIS STATEMENT WORKSHEET

Thesis Statements PowerPoint

Thesis Statements PowerPoint with narration (for students who are absent)
CREATING A THESIS STATEMENT.
 THESIS STATEMENT CRITIQUE WORKSHEET 

*Hacker & Sommers (2012) Rules for Writers 7th Ed, Boston: Bedford Books pg. 28-29

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Supplemental Materials for Reference:
THESIS STATEMENT PPT 
"thesis statements" for Published Research Papers

Narrowing the Topic:

Click HERE to access document titled, Four Basic Elements to a Thesis. Access to the PowerPoint is HERE.