Middle School Writing Skills: What Changes and Why So Many Students Struggle
Often in elementary school, everyone can be seen as a good writer. But there is a shift when students get to middle school. The type of writing changes from basic expression to structured thinking. Gaps may appear in students that weren’t strong writers in elementary school. So why the shift?
Why Middle School Writing Is Different
As students develop their writing skills, changes must be made to the way they think and reason, which helps them organize their thoughts for writing. There is a shift to more critical thinking, argument building and the use of evidence in their writing.
Students will also be given opportunities to write in all subjects, not just ELA. Science may ask for explanations or lab reports, social studies may challenge students with an argument, and in all subjects, students could be faced with short answer responses. Teachers will use evidence-based strategies to support middle school writing in all subjects and expect students to plan, draft, revise and edit.
Why So Many Middle Schoolers Struggle with Writing
When students begin using their writing skills more in middle school, it becomes apparent to teachers that there are gaps. They find weak sentence structure and grammar and lack organization to their writing. Because at this level, students are expected to write more for their homework, classwork and/or tests. Skill development can be overlooked because of the higher demand for writing.
Middle school students are used to completing worksheets which may include short responses. But they have not been given consistent practice on full, structured writing. With this higher level of critical thinking and writing structure, students do not know how to “plan out” their writing and may also struggle with the editing process.
While students may struggle, encouragement will motivate students to want to own their writing and improve. Help them understand that taking a risk will be worth it and we can help them along the way if something feels difficult.
How to Improve Writing Skills for Students
As parents, we can coach our students at home with their writing assignments by first asking them, “What’s your plan?” instead of asking “Is it done?” Then we can help them brainstorm first instead of jumping right into their writing. Helping them learn to pause, process and organize allows them to see the vision of the writing assignments before they begin. Encourage them to write a draft without worrying about it being perfect or errorless. It’s just a draft. Lastly, revise with them.
For students that still struggle with writing in middle school, encourage them to write in a daily journal. It can be on a free topic or specific topic within a subject area like social studies. Spending 5-10 minutes each day can improve writing skills. After reading a novel for pleasure, students can write a quick summary or opinion response. You can even find scholarship opportunities that will give your student practice towards applying as well as writing practice.
Be a support for your struggling student. Remove critiquing and give examples, explain “why”, but don’t do all the thinking for them. Being an independent writer with clarity and confidence is more important than perfection. Remind students that with practice, writing will become stronger, which in return makes them stronger thinkers.