1. Organizing an Essay Building a thesis statement and topic sentences

2. Create Thesis Statement  Thesis=subject + opinion (stance, belief, point of view, argument)  Can someone disagree?  Have you written a fact?

3. Thesis or Fact?  Teenagers should be allowed to vote at age 16.  Sonora’s mascot is the Zapata Raider.  Students must complete four years of English in order to graduate.  The U.S. government should give more money to schools.  Public transportation should be free.

4. Subjects  Public parks  Candidate for president  School supplies  Movie prices  Teenage curfew  School day length  Length of lunch

5. Topic Sentences  These are the first sentences of each body paragraph  Like a thesis (subject + opinion) only more specific

6. Examples  Thesis: Lunch period should be longer  TS#1: Students would have more time to re-energize for later classes  TS#2: Students would have more time for clubs and extra-curricular activities  TS#3: Students would have more time for tutoring or other academic help.

7. Create a thesis and three TS for each subject  Fast food  School lockers  Police officer on campus  Rated R movies  Presidential candidate  Using iPods during tests