Virginia SOL 11.W.2.A.i
The Standard
Composing a thesis statement that clearly communicates the writer’s position or assertion.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify their audience, purpose, and position before drafting. They write a clear thesis and revise it as their ideas develop through drafting and editing.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student writes a focused, debatable thesis that states a clear position. The wording fits the intended audience and purpose, and the student can revise it when the draft changes.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often write a topic or fact instead of a debatable position. They may make the thesis too broad, list unrelated points, or ignore the intended audience and purpose.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Write a one-sentence thesis for an email to the principal arguing for or against starting school 30 minutes later. Underline your position.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups claim, audience, and purpose cards; have them combine one of each and build a matching thesis with sentence strips.
Compare two thesis statements about school start times, then write which better fits a parent audience and explain why.
Run a thesis sort: students label examples focused, too broad, factual, or mismatched, then revise one weak example.
Draft a thesis for a city council email arguing for one local change, with residents or officials chosen as the audience.
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