How do we help pupils to write better paragraphs without actually doing it for them? How do we break down the process of essay writing into smaller steps without taking away pupils’ sense of the essay as a whole? How do we give lower-attaining pupils models, structures and frames without letting them turn analytic writing into a jigsaw puzzle? How do we help pupils to manage two (sometimes conflicting) stages of thinking: the thinking that comes from wrestling with organisation and structure, and the thinking that tumbles out as the ideas wilfully shape themselves into a couple of sentences? Working with a mixed ability Year 7 group on the Crusades, Maria Bakalis seeks to manage these tensions. She draws upon existing published practice, showing these potential contradictions and critically analysing her own attempts to resolve them. Her central thesis is that writing is a form of thinking and a tool for thinking, that historical understanding is shaped, developed and demonstrated by writing. Writing is not some additional skill, it is part of the process of reasoning and thinking historically. She chooses to focus on the smaller unit within an analytic essay – the paragraph – as a framework for building pupils’ reflection.