TSI 2 Essay Outline Template

Scaffold / organizer · Grades 9–12 · PDF · $4 or included with All-Access

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

• Five-paragraph outline template with suggested sentence counts per paragraph
• Hook options (question, strong statement, scene)
• Fill-in qualified thesis frame with two reasons
• Counterargument paragraph scaffold
• Conclusion moves: restate thesis, address the opposing view, explain why it matters

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