Why Strong Readers Can Still Struggle With Middle School Writing
Why Doesn't Strong Reading Automatically Lead to Strong Writing?
Parents sometimes assume that a child who reads well should naturally be a strong writer.
But by middle school, the connection isn't that simple.
A student may understand a novel, have a strong vocabulary, and score well in reading while still struggling to organize an argument, support ideas with evidence, develop a distinctive voice, or explain ideas clearly in writing.
That's because understanding what an author wrote and understanding how the author created it are different skills.
Middle School Students Need to “Read Like a Writer”
By Grades 6–7, students need to start looking beyond what a text means and examine how the writing works.
In a recent EiFO Grade 6–7 writing class, students were asked to study a writer's argument and identify:
How early does the writer make the claim?
What evidence does the writer provide?
What kind of evidence is it?
How does the writer respond to an objection?
What part of the argument is missing?
How much of the passage's effectiveness comes from argument, and how much comes from the writer's voice?
An example from an EiFO Grade 6–7 writing lesson. Students analyze a writer's claim, evidence, response to an objection, and voice.
Why Does This Matter for Their Own Writing?
When students read only for comprehension, they may understand perfectly well what the author is saying.
Reading like a writer asks a different set of questions:
Why did the writer put the claim here?
Why was this evidence chosen?
How does this sentence affect the reader?
What makes the writer's voice noticeable?
What would make the argument stronger?
Instead of simply telling students, “Add more evidence,” we want them to understand what effective evidence actually does.
Instead of saying, “Make your writing more interesting,” we want them to recognize how writers create voice.
That is a much more advanced stage of writing development.
Strong Reading Is an Advantage—But Students Still Need to Learn the Craft of Writing
Strong readers already have an important foundation. They have been exposed to vocabulary, sentence structures, ideas, and many different kinds of texts.
The next step is teaching them to notice how effective writing is constructed and apply those techniques themselves.
That's one reason reading and writing instruction become increasingly connected as students move into middle school.
At EiFO Academy, our middle school writing classes help students move beyond simply completing writing assignments. Students learn to analyze how writing works, develop and support ideas, make purposeful writing choices, and become more independent writers.
