A working thesis is #1 priority
Write some quick with thesis builder

Some of students' initial attempts may be silly. Others may look sensible, but turn out to be unworkable. The best of the early attempts may not even end up in the rough drafts.

None of those things matter.

At this preliminary stage, writers do not trying to evaluate their theses or make them sound nice. They do not even have to know whether the assertion is true. They just look for things they could assert about their topic.

Notice that although the general subject is volcanoes, in a couple of places the writer put a specific volcano in the topic column. Unless they are responding to an exam question, give students leeway to narrow a broad topic.

Thesis builder is faster than brainstorming a topic

Unlike traditional brainstorming about a topic, brainstorming using thesis builder restricts students' attention from an overwhelming universe of things to write about to manageable number of good possibilities.

It is very possible that none of the statements created through this brainstorming is a viable thesis.

For example, the statement that "volcanoes are studied mainly via computer models" is not a good working thesis because it's not debatable: it's either true or not true.

A student might play with that factual statement and arrive at the working thesis that "computer models provide the most reliable means of studying volcanoes."

Students may also find that the list of statements contains several that together suggest a good thesis. For example, the statements contain three items that suggest something good coming from volcanoes. That might lead a student to the working thesis that "the Mount St. Helens eruption had a positive impact."

Suppose the student lacks information?

When students do traditional brainstorming, they jot down phrases related to what they already know. When they brainstorm to create a working thesis, they often come up with ideas that they don't have information to support.

Such thesis builder results from authentic writing prompts present an unsurpassed learning opportunity. When students decide on their own to learn more about part of your curriculum, rejoice and be exceeding glad. Any work they do on their own initiative is work you don't have to do.

More pages about writing and using thesis statements