Teaching Writing Style To Middle Schoolers

Proper formatting and the use of citations can be missed easily among all of the mechanical improvements we try to make before releasing our charge to high schools.  Teaching students how to create well-formatted final copies, to support claims with quotes and internal citations, and to provide works cited lists can be particularly difficult if not taught and encouraged consistently across subject areas.  My interdisciplinary team colleagues recently helped me create and institute a two-page “style guide” of sorts, which is a watered-down version of MLA guidelines.  Click here for a PDF copy or here for a Word copy of this guide.  Consistent reminders and references to this style guide by several of us have already resulted in marked improvements in the quality of final copies and use of internal citations.