How the Promise–Proof–Plan Model Made My Lessons Actually Stick
Ever taught a lesson that felt like it landed... only for students to forget everything by next week?
I’ve been there. I’d put energy into my slides, find the perfect clip or quote, and set up a killer activity—but by the time the bell rang, half the class was mentally already at lunch.
Then I started using the Promise–Proof–Plan structure.
It changed everything.
🔑 The Idea: Simple Structure = Lasting Impact
We talk a lot about scaffolding students’ learning, but we rarely talk about scaffolding our delivery. That’s what this model does:
Promise – What’s the payoff? Why should they care?
Proof – Where’s the evidence? What makes it real?
Plan – What are we going to do about it?
It’s clean. It’s easy to remember. And it gets students invested from the start.
🧪 How I Use It in Class
Here’s how it looks in a typical high school History or English lesson:
✅ 1. Promise (Hook them early)
“By the end of today’s lesson, you’ll be able to out-argue half the internet about whether Julius Caesar was a hero or a tyrant.”
This is the buy-in moment. It’s not a learning intention. It’s a personal reward. It gives them a reason to stay tuned.
✅ 2. Proof (Show, don’t tell)
“Let me read you what he said about himself... and then what his enemies wrote.”
I give a quote, an image, a stat—something real. It sparks curiosity and makes the content stick.
✅ 3. Plan (Clear steps forward)
“Now, we’re going to write one killer paragraph that shows your take. I’ll walk you through the PEEL structure using Question Quest to guide your writing.”
This is where tools like Question Quest or Boss Battle come in. I hand them the steering wheel, but I stay in the passenger seat.
🧠 Why It Works
The Promise hooks their attention
The Proof satisfies their curiosity
The Plan gives direction and momentum
It keeps the room focused without me needing to do backflips every five minutes to keep them on task.
How to Teach PEEL Paragraphs in Under 10 Minutes (And Actually Get Results)
It all begins with an idea.
Let’s be real. Teaching PEEL paragraphs can feel like banging your head against the whiteboard some days.
You model the structure. You colour-code examples. You hand out templates. And still—blank stares, half-finished sentences, and paragraphs that jump from Point to Explain to... a random fact about the moon.
That’s exactly why I created Question Quest. I needed something fast, interactive, and actually fun. Something that didn’t need printing, wasn’t just another worksheet, and gave instant feedback on what students were doing well (and what they weren’t).
The Problem
Most students don’t struggle with ideas—they struggle with structure. They’ll tell you what they think, but they skip over the evidence or completely forget to link their ideas back to the question.
And when they do write a full PEEL, they often don’t realise they’ve misspelled five words and used zero punctuation.
The Fix: Question Quest
Question Quest is a simple AI-powered writing tool that walks students through PEEL paragraphs. It’s built like a game—three progress bars (Spelling, Grammar, and Use of Evidence) fill up or drop down in real-time as they type.
There’s no login. No student data. Just a clean interface that asks them one question:
“What’s your response?”
How I Use It in Class
I put a question on the board (e.g. “Why did Hitler come to power in 1933?”)
Students enter that question into the tool themselves
They type their paragraph—and they can’t hit “Finish” until their errors are fixed
Progress bars will fill or fall as the student writes in real time.
It’s a quiet, focused 10–12 minutes of writing. Every time.
Bonus: It works great on Chromebooks.
Why It Works
Instant feedback = no waiting for you to mark
Visual progress bars = built-in motivation
PEEL structure reinforced = actual improvement over time
Plus, students love it. And that alone is a win.
Try Question Quest Free
If you want to get your students writing solid PEEL paragraphs without the drama, give it a go.
Click here to try Question Quest