Thesis in one sitting
This week in one line: any question, to a sentence you could defend, in under five minutes.
From question to arguable thesis
Last week you learned to read the question like a marker. This week you answer it, fast, with one sentence that takes a position. That sentence is the spine of the whole essay, and it is worth practising until it comes out in minutes, not agonised over for twenty.
Warm in
Say back last week's move: the three question shapes, and the invitation word. Then one quick sort: Nat reads two questions aloud from the question bank, you name each one's shape before she finishes the sentence.
The work: arguable, then three goes
First, the idea (about 3 minutes). A thesis is not a fact and not a summary. It is a claim someone could push back on. If nobody could disagree with your sentence, it is a restatement, not a thesis.
Jealousy is an important theme in Othello and it causes a lot of problems.
Shakespeare presents jealousy as something manufactured and weaponised by Iago, not a natural response, so the tragedy springs from Othello's readiness to believe rather than from any betrayal.
Then, three goes at plan-in-three (about 9 minutes, roughly 3 each). A plan-in-three is tiny: read the question, write your position in one sentence, then jot three reasons you could grow into paragraphs. No full sentences needed for the reasons.
In the station: write yours first, then tap "Reveal a strong version" and compare. The gap between yours and the model is the lesson, not a mark.
Rough day? Two goes, not three. A talked-out thesis counts the same as a typed one.
Close it
Say-it-back: Josh explains the disagree test in his own words, as if teaching it to someone else. Then compare his best thesis of the three against the strong version in the station: what did the model do that his did not? Set the phone follow-up below before packing up.
One more plan-in-three, on a fresh question
5 to 10 minutes, once, any day before next session. Open the question bank, pick any question you have not planned yet, and do the full plan-in-three in your notes app: shape, one arguable sentence, three reasons. Run the disagree test on your sentence. Bring it next week, it becomes the seed for the lever.
The whole trick this week is speed without panic. In the exam you get about five minutes for this, so we practise it small and often until a thesis in one sitting feels normal. Rough is fine. Arguable beats beautiful every time.