Beyond the Paragraph: Teaching Writing in Middle School with Structure
If you're tired of guessing how to teach writing in middle school, you're in the right place. Robin Mellom is a veteran ELA teacher and published author of over ten children’s books with Disney, HarperCollins, and Houghton Mifflin. She brings the clarity and structure you've been craving without the gimmicks.
Hosted by Robin Mellom, author, middle school teacher, and creator of the Structured Writer’s Workshop™, each episode delivers practical, classroom-tested strategies that work in grades 4–8.
Learn how to implement evidence-based writing routines, like CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning), build lasting writing habits, and engage students in meaningful work that actually sticks.
Best of all, they will learn how to write like the pros!
Beyond the Paragraph: Teaching Writing in Middle School with Structure
Before Planning in the Fall, Give This a Listen Ep. 28
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It's a Deep Thoughts day, and I want to push on something most of us have never stopped to question: the order we plan our ELA year in.
In this episode I get into how to intertwine reading and writing: how to get students reading like writers instead of scanning for comprehension answers, how your writing lessons can cover your RL and RI standards at the same time, and how many full novels I actually teach in a year (with a nod to Kelly Gallagher on reading volume). Writing is the spine. Reading is the muscle. You need both.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
My full-year writing & grammar curriculum
Follow Beyond the Paragraph wherever you listen, and share this with a teacher bestie. To learn more about the Structured Writing method, visit structuredwritingteacher.com.
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➡️ Learn more about the FULL Structured Writing training PD
📆 Grab my yearlong writing planner for free (it includes my eBook!)
🎥 Watch the teaching strategies in action on YouTube
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HAVE A QUESTION? Email me at robin@structuredwritingteacher.com