Start with a SpongeBob-inspired question on which students must take a position. Drawing inspiration from the cartoon, questions could concern who loves Krabby Patties (a popular snack food among the show's characters) the most, or whether Patrick Starfish or Sandy Cheeks is SpongeBob's best friend. Students do not need to be overly familiar with the show; the objective is to give them a topic that will demonstrate how a thesis addresses a question. This question is called a "prompt."
Ask your students to answer the question by consensus, then use their responses to start the sample thesis. For the prompt, "Who loves Krabby Patties the most, SpongeBob or Patrick?" a class will answer one way or the other. Write the students' answer on the board: "SpongeBob loves Krabby Patties more than Patrick does." Explain to students that this is the argument of their thesis, also called the "position."
Provide evidence to support your students' argument. You can certainly make this step up. For example, you could say that SpongeBob has eaten more patties than Patrick, that SpongeBob was named Customer of the Century, or that SpongeBob loves them so much that he got a job at the Krusty Krab. Or, you can also ask students who may have seen the show to contribute evidence. Write the evidence on the board and try to get at least three points to demonstrate how a thesis statement frames a five-paragraph essay.
Connect all the parts of your thesis into one coherent sentence. "SpongeBob loves Krabby Patties more than Patrick does because SpongeBob has eaten over 1,000 patties." Or, "SpongeBob has been to the Krusty Krab more often than Patrick, and SpongeBob has been named Customer of the Century." Underline each part of the thesis -- position, evidence or support -- so that students can clearly identify these parts of a thesis. Ask students to then write their own sample thesis statement, and let them share their samples with their classmates.