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Ohio Youth History Day

Creating Thesis Statements

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What is a Thesis Statement?

What do you think of when you hear “Thesis Statement?”

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Thesis Statements…

Introduce your topic
Make a claim
Show Historical Significance
Provide a roadmap for the rest of your project

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Parts of a Thesis Statement

Introduction-Brief (quick/short) who, what, when, and where
Claim-an opinion on your topic after you do your research/collect evidence (not just a fact)
Historical Significance-the why; how is it important in history

Now that your students know what a thesis does and why they need one, explain that you are now going to breakdown the different parts that a good thesis should have.

Introduction: This answers the “who, what when and where” questions of your topic. Be careful not to give too many details, just enough so the reader can understand what your topic is about. You can provide more details in the other parts of your project.

Claim: This is a stance you have taken on you project after doing your research. It is not just a statement of fact. A claim should:

show your own thoughts and ideas about your topic. It shouldn’t be something someone could find by reading an encyclopedia article or doing a quick Google search
be able to be reasonably argued against
be supported by evidence in the rest of your project

Historical Significance: This tells the reader why your topic was important in history. In other words, it answers the question “so what”? Here are some things to keep in mind when talking about Historical Significance:

A topic does not have to be famous or have had a world-wide impact to be significant. Local topics can be significant as well.
Some things are interesting but may not be historically significant. An example are fads like the different TikTok challenges. They can be amusing, but anybody 50 years from now might have a hard time explaining what impact they had on history.

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Claim or Fact?

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776.

CLAIM

FACT

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Claim or Fact?

Heavy taxes were the most important reason why the 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence.

CLAIM

FACT

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Claim or Fact?

The Constitution was created to establish a system of limited government and protect citizens’ rights. The most important right for citizens is the freedom of speech.

CLAIM

FACT

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Claim or Fact?

There are five rights guaranteed to citizens in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

CLAIM

FACT

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Example Thesis Statement

The Thirteen Colonies declared independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. This was because many people in the colonies felt they were being unfairly taxed when they did not have representation in the British Government. This belief effected the way Americans would create the laws of their new country.

Introduction

Claim

Historical Significance

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Tips for a GREAT Thesis Statement

Keep it Short and Sweet
Connect to the Theme
Don’t be Afraid to Change

Keep it Short and Sweet: The reader should be able to find your thesis and pick out your claim and historical signicance quickly and easily. If you bury your thesis under a bunch of extra words and details, this might be harder to do. Your thesis statement should be 3-6 sentences long.
Connect to the Theme: Every year, Youth History Day has a theme that every project should relate to in some way. Using words from the theme in your thesis is a great way to show the reader the connection your topic has to the theme right way. This can also be done for other school projects if your teacher has given you a theme or broader topic for you to write about.
Don’t be Afraid to Change: As you do more research, you might find evidence that changes your thoughts about your topic, especially your claim. If this happens, don’t be afraid to change your thesis to match. This is what real historians do!

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Which Thesis is Better?

World War One was one of the first conflicts where radio was used. With it, commanders could communicate with soldiers on the front lines miles away. This was an improvement over older technologies like telegraph and telephone lines.
World War One saw many changes made to how battles were fought. One of the biggest reasons for the change was the ability to communicate instantly over long distances using radio. This would effect how future wars were fought and how people got information and entertainment back home.

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Which Thesis is Better?

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became popular in the 1950’s. There were many growing families during this time and people wanted a quick and easy food that kids could make themselves. This sandwich changed how Americans ate lunch and is still one of the most popular sandwiches today.
Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich. It’s invention was made possible through advances in food manufacturing including sliced bread, grape jelly, and smooth peanut butter. PB&J sandwiches are easy to make, healthy, and delicious.

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Which Thesis is Better?

Leonardo is the best Ninja Turtle. He has two swords and his mask is blue, which is the best color. Raphael is also cool, but not as cool as Leonardo. That is why Leonardo is the leader.
Leonardo is the best Ninja Turtle. This is because of his leadership skills and his ability to get his brothers to work together. This has allowed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to win many times when the odds were stacked against them.

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Activity: Thesis Statement Puzzles

With your group:

Cut out the puzzle pieces
Read each piece
Try to match the pieces together to create strong thesis statements. *There are pieces that WILL NOT fit into your puzzles*
Discuss what makes each complete thesis statement ‘STRONG’

Divide students into groups of three or four. Give each group a printout of Thesis Puzzle Pieces: Set 1.
Students will have 15 minutes to cut out each puzzle piece and use them to make strong thesis statements.
There are a few “wrong” pieces in each puzzle. These pieces are shaped so they physically do not fit with the rest of the pieces, but they also contain text that does not make for a strong thesis. After the students complete their puzzles, discuss what pieces they didn’t use and why.
Next pass out Thesis Puzzle Pieces: Set 2 and repeat step II. This set does not contain different shapes to indicate which pieces are the correct ones, and student must decide for themselves.
Once again, discuss what thesis statements students were able to create, which pieces did they leave out, and why.