A post specifically designed for instructors who teach W.2 in middle school ELA. In this post, we’ve included learning targets, concept breakdowns, resource suggestions, and activity and assessment ideas!
The second writing standard in the Common Core is all about informative or explanatory writing.
This standard is different than the first writing standard that focuses primarily on the skill of being able to create a claim and support it within a formal context. This standard is all about presenting informative information, and in a day and age where YouTube and TikTok are the first places people go in search of information, we are going to have to get creative with this standard.
I think the part of this standard that sticks most strongly with me is the organizational emphasis as well as the very specific reference to career development documents found in 8th grade.
In the 7th grade, students are expected to examine a topic, organize the information they find, and analyze it in their writing. These same things are referenced in the 8th grade standard; only the 8th grade standard also mentions career development documents, which gives us some useful suggestions related to a direction we might take in working with this standard with 8th graders.
As we discussed in the W.1 post, writing has changed. Students now have different ways of sharing information, whether through formal essays, writing podcast scripts, social media essays, etc.
As you consider different ways to approach W.2 with your middle schoolers, remember to keep in mind what students will really need to be able to do on their own and how we might help them use the resources available to them to get ahead.
As we start talking about how to teach W.2 in middle school, let’s start with the learning targets!
Learning Targets
By focusing on learning targets, we can model our lessons to hit on very specific goals and skills. In this post, we talk about how we break down each standard and make a plan for learning, practicing, and reviewing the standards throughout the year using the checklists below.
I also like to use the checklists to take a closer look at the differences in expectations and skill development between the grade I teach and the grade, both directly before and after my grade level. This allows me to focus more fully on the nuances between the grade levels.
Here are the learning targets around which we developed our resources for W.2.
Teaching W.6.2 (6th Grade)
6th Grade Standard: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
6th Grade Learning Targets
- I can create an introduction that states my main topic and organize the examples and evidence clearly.
- I can support my topic(s) with examples 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 ideas and concepts.
- I can construct a concluding statement or section that reinforces my main topic.
Teaching W.7.2 (7th Grade)
7th Grade Standard: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
7th Grade Learning Targets
- I can write a thesis statement that previews the topic, supports the topic with facts, details, quotes, and examples, and composes an appropriate concluding statement.
- I can use multiple strategies to organize the information, such as charts, pictures, headings, and multimedia, to help inform the reader as well as recognize and use a formal style throughout the piece.
- I can identify and use appropriate transitions and vocabulary for informational writing.
Teaching W.8.2 (8th Grade)
8th Grade Standard: Write informative/explanatory texts, including career development documents, to examine a topic and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
8th Grade Learning Targets
- I can introduce a topic clearly in order to preview what is to follow, organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories, as well as compose a conclusion that supports the information or explanation presented.
- I can develop my topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information in order to connect the evidence to the topic and clearly explain how the evidence supports the claim.
- I can incorporate formatting, graphics, and multimedia to aid comprehension, use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify relationships among ideas, and utilize precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic, all while maintaining a formal style.
Writing with an Audience in Mind
As you think about the different ways students may organize information, discuss the differences in effect between presenting an idea as a general point and going into detail on a specific point.
For example, we can state the steps to creating something, but do we need to go into further detail about exactly how each step plays out? Maybe. It depends on the audience.
As I sit here writing this post about W. 2, I know that my desired audience (middle school ELA teachers) is most likely generally aware of how to teach writing (to some degree). I also know that they probably already know what a thesis statement is and what a 5 paragraph essay is. So, I don’t feel the need to explain those things in more detail here.
On the other hand, if my main audience was brand new teachers or even people outside of education altogether, I may approach the discussion of this topic in a completely different way with a lot more detail given to identifying concepts and defining terms.
Audience is extremely important to conquering the skills associated with W.2.
Exploring Different Mediums
As we mentioned earlier, students have access to so many more mediums than we did even one decade ago. In fact, these days, when someone wants to learn something new, they don’t go to a book or even a dictionary or other reference material; they go to Google, YouTube, TikTok, and other social media platforms and search engines, which means that students need to be able to write for these different mediums as well.
As you begin to plan how you will teach this standard, consider how you might have students practice writing and presenting within these different contexts to prepare them for the world better we are now living in!
Resources for teaching W.2
When picking resources to help teach W.2, you’ll want to make sure the resource teaches, practices, and reviews the standard at the appropriate level for the students you’re teaching.
We have created grade-level specific resources for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, and they work really well for setting a foundation for the W.2 standard that you can continue to build on throughout the year! Click on the links below to learn more.
The resources include a lesson/activity for each specific learning target or concept and also include assessments, posters, and answer keys.
Activities and Projects for Practicing and Assessing W.2 in Middle School
- Showing Vs. Telling: Spend time talking about how some language ‘shows’ and some language ‘tells.’ Then, discuss ways students can show their readers the information in interesting ways. In our 8th-grade resource, we discuss different types of features writers can add to their writing, videos, or social media graphics to better explain their points. Some of these include charts, graphics, videos, and music.
- Focus on Word Choice: In our 6th-grade unit and our 7th-grade unit, we have some handouts focused on word choice. As students consider how they might explain a new topic to their chosen audience, they will also want to consider what language might be most effective for that audience. Spend time focusing on how different words convey different meanings!
- Identifying Formal Style: Students have many opportunities to speak and present informally, but there are still those few times when a formal style is necessary and appropriate. In our 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade resources, we spend time specifically detailing the qualities of formal writing.
Working through the writing standards and making a plan for teaching them can take a lot of time. Hopefully, this post has given you some ideas for how to teach W.2 in middle school ELA, and you can use the ideas and resources in this post to make an effective plan that you can be happy with throughout the year.
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