This 9-page packet has everything needed to guide students through a writing project which teaches students how to prove a thesis in a rather unique way. Included is a Project Description sheet, Prewriting Activity, a sheet of Possible Thesis Statements, A Note Sheet to help organize students' ideas, a sample essay with intentional "mistakes" for discussion, a Peer Edit sheet, and a Peer and Self Response sheet.

One of the most common comments that English teachers constantly put on students' papers is "Be sure to use specific details to prove your point". As you move on in education and in life, proving your point becomes increasingly important. Everyone has an opinion, but to make a convincing argument on any topic, you must be able to support your opinions.
The goal of this assignment is to improve your writing and supporting skills through a style of writing that is not always associated with opinions: pure description. For this activity, you must put your "vocabulary of opinions" aside, yet still get your opinion across. You will be describing a specific aspect of your school using only pure description. That means that you cannot say that "the locker room smelled horrible", but rather, that "the locker room smelled of week-old sweat socks". The added twist here is that your description must not be just some random observation. Through your description, you must make some statement about your school. Your statement, however, must not be stated in words anywhere in your description.