Whether you’re a veteran or a newbie, this post is a complete guide to every middle school writing standard, and is a great one to review as you begin planning for a new year. In this post, we go over every standard and provide resources (blog posts and resources) that you can use to teach each.
There are many moving parts when it comes to teaching writing in middle school ELA. You have to teach:
The good news? When you zoom out, the writing standards aren’t random; they actually form a clear progression that build on each other one year to the next.
In this post, we’re providing a complete guide to every middle school writing standard. We’ll walk through each of the middle school writing standards (W.1–W.9), how they connect, and how you can approach them in a way that makes sense for both you and your students.
Start with Argument Writing (W.1)
Argument writing is one of the most important skills students will develop.
While learning about argument writing, students are learning how to:
But here’s the shift we have to make as teachers in our technology-driven world.
It’s no longer about just finding evidence. Students can do that quickly with technology or by simply asking their phone. Instead, we need to focus on the big 3 of developing an argument.
To help teach this standard, we have developed a unit for each grade level covering Writing Standard 1. Click on the links below to learn more.
If you want a full breakdown of learning targets, activity suggestions, and resources, check out the full post: How to Teach W.1 in Middle School
Informational writing is all about helping students teach the reader something clearly.
Although some parts of informative writing are similar to argument writing, there are some differences.
Students must:
One of the biggest challenges here is helping students understand that informative writing changes based on the audience and the type of writing being done.
Students may need to explain a concept differently depending on whether they are writing:
For a full breakdown, including learning targets and activity ideas: How to Teach W.2 in Middle School
To help teach this standard, we have developed a unit for each grade level covering Writing Standard 1. Click on the links and pictures below to learn more.
Narrative writing is where students really get to be creative and shine.
While working on narrative writing, they are learning how to:
The biggest struggle that we see in middle school ELA: Adding enough detail
Students often assume the reader understands what they mean, so they rush through important parts of the story; however, slowing down the process and focusing on brainstorming, feedback, and revision makes a huge difference here.
For a full breakdown and classroom ideas check out our blog post all about W.3: How to Teach W.3 in Middle School
We also have a series of resources designed to teach this specific standard. These units come complete with lessons, handouts, assessments, projects, and more!
W.4 is one of the most flexible (and powerful) standards as students focus on: WHY they are writing, WHO they are writing for, and WHAT format fits their audience and message best.
This standard opens the door to so many different products:
Instead of assigning the same type of writing every time, this is your opportunity to let students choose the best format for their audience and message.
For more ideas and structure, check out our blog post: How to Teach W.4 in Middle School
We also have a series of resources designed to teach this specific standard. These units come complete with lessons, handouts, assessments, projects, and more!
W.5 is the backbone of all writing as this is where we teach and learn about writing process from planning, to creating a first draft, revising, and rewriting.
One of the best ways to build this habit of working through the full writing process is through consistent, low-pressure writing practice.
Even something as simple as a weekly writing routine can build these skills over time:
For a full breakdown of strategies and resources, read the complete blog post: How to Teach W.5 in Middle School
We also have a series of resources designed to teach this specific standard. These units come complete with lessons, handouts, assessments, projects, and more!
Standard 6 is where writing becomes real for students as they explore and practice writing in real-world setting with an emphasis on different types of publishing.
W.6 focuses on:
Some examples of products students can create include:
This is also a great place to introduce both short-form and long-form writing, responsible use of AI, and how to collaborate online with others.
For more ideas and resources for teaching Writing Standard 6, check out our blog post: How to Teach W.6 in Middle School
We also have a series of resources designed to teach this specific standard. These units come complete with lessons, handouts, assessments, projects, and more!
Writing Standard 7 is all about asking questions and researching for answers.
While working on the skills in Standard 7, students learn how to:
These projects don’t have to be long or overwhelming; in fact, shorter research projects (even once per quarter) can be extremely effective and manageable within your schedule.
For a full breakdown of W.7 and more ideas on how to teach it, check out our blog post: How to Teach W.7 in Middle School
We also have a series of resources designed to teach this specific standard. These units come complete with lessons, handouts, assessments, projects, and more!
Once students can research, we need to teach them how to do it well and giving appropriate credit to their sources.
Writing Standard 8 focuses on evaluating sources, avoiding plagiarism, quoting and paraphrasing content, and citing sources.
This is one of the most important real-world skills students will develop.
As our technology continues to develop and use of AI is more popular, students need to understand:
For more support and ready-to-use resources, check out this blog post: How to Teach W.8 in Middle School
We also have a series of resources designed to teach this specific standard. These units come complete with lessons, handouts, assessments, projects, and more!
W.9 brings all of the other standards together with a focus on application. Students are now:
This is where they apply the things they have learned to different types of sources (i.e. literature)
If students struggle here, it’s often because they need more support in earlier standards like W.7 and W.8.
For a full breakdown we’ve written a whole post on this standard. Check it out here: How to Teach W.9 in Middle School
We also have a series of resources designed to teach this specific standard. These units come complete with lessons, handouts, assessments, projects, and more!
Over the last few years, we have written a significant number of posts about the standards. In those posts, we’ve provided a bunch of different activities and project ideas for each standard. Definitely take the time to check out the individual resources and standard blog posts listed above for many ideas for each specific standard.
Teaching writing in middle school doesn’t have to feel overwhelming.
When you look at the standards as a connected system where each part grows on the previous year/standard, everything starts to make more sense:
Each standard builds on the next.
And when students experience that progression clearly, their writing improves in a meaningful and lasting way.
If you’re looking for ready-to-use lessons, activities, and assessments aligned to each of these standards, be sure to check out our Standards-Based Units, designed to walk students through each skill step-by-step while saving you time in your planning.
