Writing a PEEL paragraph

Learning goal. Students can write an analytical paragraph about a short text using PEEL:

• Point: one sentence that answers the question;
• Evidence: a short, exact quotation;
• Explain: what particular words suggest;
• Link: a sentence back to the question.

Who uses it. Year 7–9 students on their own, about 20 minutes. Use it just after the teacher has introduced PEEL, or as a first introduction with the teacher circulating. Afterwards the teacher reads a few of the "Your turn" paragraphs aloud, or collects them on paper.

The learning move. A worked example that fades. First a fully worked paragraph, revealed one part at a time with a "why?" prompt at each part. Then a partly worked paragraph for the student to finish. Then the student writes one alone, with a checklist. It ends with one retrieval question.

How students reach it. One .html file, opened in a web browser on the student's device. There is no login and no account, and it needs no internet. Publishing it as a link is a stretch (card 17).

Must do.

• One idea per screen, over 6 screens.
• Reveal the worked example one part at a time, with a "why?" question whose reason stays hidden until asked for.
• A partly worked example (Point and Evidence given; the student writes Explain and Link).
• A full attempt with a 4-point checklist, and a "Copy my paragraph" button that copies it to the clipboard only.
• Show example answers only after the student has written something.
• One retrieval question from memory, with feedback that explains. Hide Back on that last screen, so students answer without looking back.
• Keep the extract one click away on every screen that uses it.
• Move focus to each new screen's heading.

Must never do.

• Show a model answer before the student has tried.
• Mark or score students' writing, by rule or by AI.
• Save or send what students type.
• Use a text still in copyright without permission.
• Add walls of text, decorative images, or a controversial topic.
• Load anything from the internet.

Acceptance criteria.

1. Every quotation in the examples appears word for word in the extract: each one is compared, not judged by eye.
2. Example answers stay hidden until the student has typed something.
3. Exactly one screen is visible at a time, and focus moves to each new screen's heading.
4. It works with the keyboard only, at 320 px, at 4.5:1 contrast.
5. No network requests and no storage: the page does not save what students type or send it anywhere.

Test cases (written before building).

Non-goals. It does not judge the quality of students' writing. It does not teach how to embed quotations, or subject terminology, in depth. It does not cover PEEL variants (PEE, PETAL and others). It is not a whole essay.

Reuse plan (checklist item 11). A week later, students answer the retrieval question again and write one PEEL paragraph on a new extract without the tool.

Check of learning (checklist item 12). The teacher marks that paragraph against the four checklist points. How many students have an Explain that names what particular words suggest? Compare with the "Your turn" paragraphs from the first lesson.

Copy this, fill in the four [YOUR CLASS: …] gaps with your partner, then give it to your AI tool with the .html file.

Learning goal. [YOUR CLASS: in one sentence, what kind of paragraph, about what kind of text or source? e.g. PEEL about a history source, or PEE about a poem]

Who uses it. [YOUR CLASS: year group, when in the lesson, and what they have already been taught]

The learning move. A worked example that fades: fully worked with "why?" prompts, then partly worked, then the student's own attempt with a checklist, then one retrieval question.

How students reach it. One .html file, opened in a web browser. No login, no account, no internet needed.

Must do. One idea per screen. The worked example is revealed one part at a time, with a "why?" at each part. Example answers only after the student has written something. A 4-point checklist and a "Copy my paragraph" button (clipboard only). One retrieval question with feedback that explains, with no Back button on that screen. Keyboard and phone width must work. [YOUR CLASS: the text or source students will use (your own, out of copyright, or one you have permission for), and the three questions: worked, partly worked, your turn]

Must never do. Model answers before an attempt; scoring students' writing; saving or sending what they type; copyrighted text without permission; decoration; loading anything from the internet.

Acceptance criteria.

1. [YOUR CLASS: how will you check that every quotation matches your text exactly? For example, find each quotation in your text and compare it word for word, with your partner.]
2. Examples stay hidden until the student has written something.
3. One screen at a time.
4. Keyboard, 320 px and contrast all work.
5. No network requests or storage.

Test cases. Keep T1–T6 and T8 above. Rewrite T7 for your text.

• An automated browser test ran every test case above at 320 px wide, using the keyboard only. All passed.
• All 17 quotations in the examples and hints were compared with the extract: each appears word for word, apart from ‘lonely’, which is taken from the question.
• Accessibility: text contrast at least 4.5:1, a visible focus outline at every Tab stop, controls at least 24 × 24 px, no sideways scroll at 320 px, nothing moves, and no issues found by the axe-core accessibility checker. Each text box has a visible label.
• The page made no network requests and stored nothing; it tells students it does not save or send what they type.
• Not tested: real screen readers, Safari and Firefox, or real phones. Try it on a class device before you use it.

What went wrong in testing, and the fix

• Back was still on the last screen, so students could go back and look before answering the memory question. Fix: Back is hidden on screen 6, and T6 checks that the keyboard cannot reach it.
• Start again left old messages on screen, such as "Write your paragraph first". Fix: Start again clears them, and T8 checks it.
• A Check button stayed on screen after answering, because a layout rule overrode the setting that hides it. Fix: hidden things now stay hidden.

The teacher's build checklist (12 points)

1. "Replace the extract and all three questions with this history source and these questions: [paste]. Keep the same screens, the same 'why?' prompts adapted to the new text, and quotations in ‘single quotes’ copied exactly. Change nothing else."
2. "Change PEEL to PEE (Point, Evidence, Explain) everywhere, including the checklist and the retrieval question. Change nothing else."
3. "Add a second 'Your turn' screen with a new question on the same extract, after screen 5, in exactly the same format. Change nothing else."