How to Teach W.1 in Middle School 

Resources and tips to help instructors figure out how to teach W.1 in middle school ELA.

As we begin our deep dive into the Common Core Writing Standards, we have to consider all of the different ways that writing has changed over the last 10 years.

Writing instruction, albeit still based on the same general concept, cannot be taught in the same way it was taught a decade ago as the tools, resources, and even the mediums for content creation have completely changed.

Gone are the days when students had to dive deep into an MLA guide to figure out how to cite their papers. Now, they can simply drop a URL into an add-on in their Google Document, and the citation will appear. To state it simply, the internet, and now AI has changed the landscape of writing.

As you consider how you will teach the writing standards, take time to seriously consider what students really need to be able to do independently and what they can do with tools. 

For example, as we look at this first writing standard and really think about how to teach W.1 in middle school ELA, we will not want to spend an astronomical amount of time teaching students how to cite sources manually. Instead, we need to really explain to them why sources are cited in the first place.

Rather than expecting formalized 5 paragraph essays, we need to teach students how to confidently state a claim and then create an essay or piece of writing that supports that using a variety of credible sources.

Rather than asking students to find details to support their statements (which they can now do with Chat GPT or another AI tool), we need to ask them how they will make sure the sources they are using are credible, up-to-date, and how they plan to clear state their own opinion on the topic.

Writing has changed, and as we work through the writing standards, our focus must also change.

Let’s begin our journey through this first writing standard by breaking down the standard into learning targets.

Learning Targets

Learning targets help us to break standards down into clear ‘I can’ statements that we can use to guide our teaching. It is not enough for us to just attack the standard in our own grade level. We also want to take the time to see how the standard is different than the same standard at the grade below and above ours.

I like to use the checklists below to help create a plan for covering the many ELA standards throughout the year. These checklists allow me to quickly see the standard as it is written at each of the middle grade levels, and teachers can use this information to lay out some learning targets while also digging into the nuances between the standards at different grade levels.

• 6th Grade Standards Checklist
• 7th Grade Standards Checklist
• 8th Grade Standards Checklist

After reviewing the standard at each middle-grade level, here are the learning targets on which we developed our resources for W.1.

Teaching W.6.1 (6th Grade)

6th Grade Standard: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

6th Grade Learning Targets

• I can create an introduction that states my main argument and organize the reasons and evidence clearly.
• I can support my claim(s) with reasons and evidence from credible sources.
• I can maintain a formal style in my writing while using words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claims and reasons.
• I can construct a concluding statement or section that reinforces my main argument.

Teaching W.7.1 (7th Grade)

7th Grade Standard: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

7th Grade Learning Targets

• I can introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims, and I can support the claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
• I can organize the reasons and evidence logically, and I can provide an introduction and a concluding statement that follows and supports the argument presented.
• I can use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), reasons, and evidence, as well as establish and maintain a formal style.

Teaching W.8.1 (8th Grade)

8th Grade Standard: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

8th Grade Learning Targets

• I can present claim(s), distinguish alternate or opposing claims, and support claims(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate and credible sources while demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
• I can organize the reasons and evidence logically, as well as establish and maintain a formal style.
• I can utilize words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), reasons, and evidence.

Steady Growth Through Middle School

If you read the standards and learning targets above, then you know that the standards are identical from 7th to 8th grade, which means that as teachers in a district, we have to figure out how to break down this huge standard into more bite-size pieces and assign those pieces to each grade level.

As you can see, that is what we’ve done in the learning targets.

Within the nuances of the learning targets, you’ll see that the 6th-grade and 7th-grade learning targets specifically mention an introduction and conclusion. This offers a little more guidance about a skill that might be taught exclusively in these grades, where it will be expected that students in 8th grade already know that information.

All grade levels focus on the formality of the writing, which means that students need to be writing for a formal, educated audience in all three grade levels.

The formality also means that we need to explain to students the differences within varied contexts. For example, there is a difference between a blog post, school essay, letter to the editor, and maybe even a review or social media campaign.

As I said earlier, the landscape of writing has changed; therefore, the assignments and projects we use to practice also need to change.