TSI 2 Essay Outline Template

Scaffold / organizer · Grades 9–12 · Word doc (.docx) · $4

This is the outline my students fill in before they draft a TSIA2 essay. It breaks the essay into five paragraphs and tells them what every stage of each paragraph needs to do.

The intro gives them a hook menu, a preview, and a fill-in-the-blank qualified thesis ("Although some people believe ___, ___ because ___ and ___"). Each body paragraph runs topic sentence, evidence, reasoning. Paragraph 4 is a counterargument where they bring up the other side's evidence and take it apart. The conclusion restates the thesis and ends with a connection to the reader.

What's included

• 3-page five-paragraph outline (.docx) with tips, sentence starters and writing lines for every stage
• Prompt-in-my-own-words and pick-your-side warm-up box
• Hook options (question, strong statement, scene)
• Fill-in qualified thesis frame with two reasons
• Counterargument paragraph: the other side, their best evidence, your rebuttal
• Transition word bank, before-you-submit checklist, and what a 5+ essay does (300–600 words, score of 5 or higher)

How teachers use it

• Planning step for timed TSIA2 practice essays
• Scaffold for students who stall on structure or run short on length
• Works for any argumentative prompt, not just TSIA2

Topics: staar, test, prep, review, ecr, essay, writing, journal, prompts, bell, ringer, high, school, grade, 9, 10, 11, 12