Try the following with your students:

1. Choose one of the sample questions. Design a template, which includes an introduction, conclusion and the first sentences of each paragraph of a potential answer to the question. Get your students to complete each paragraph, ensuring that they fully explain and develop the opening sentence using accurate, well researched supporting 'evidence'.
2. Get students to design their own templates, as in 1 above, which they can swap with other members of the group for completion.
3. Write a model answer to one of the sample questions, but design it so that the paragraphs are out of sequence. Get students to put the paragraphs in the right order. They should be able to justify/explain their work to the rest of the group.
4. Use the same model answer and create gaps in the text by extracting key pieces of factual/supporting material. Get students to fill in the gaps using textbooks/handouts. You may need to provide some clues by using the first letters of key words/terms and parts of dates.
5. Divide your students into groups of three to four. Provide each group with a sample essay title and a plan. Each member of the group takes one or two aspects of the plan and writes a paragraph for each aspect. Once completed, the group then decides on how the paragraphs can be edited and linked to form a model answer. Completed answers can be copied and swapped with other groups. This is a good activity for mixing students with different abilities but can equally be used for differentiating.