One of the most frequent questions from those entering the sometimes-stressful years of middle school is what English teachers expect from their students. A qualified middle school writing tutor from the Gilliam Writers Group can help put your fears to rest, but first, a few pointers to get your recent middle schooler on the right track.

The most important preparatory work a writing tutor can help guide your student through is the outline. When I was going through school, I was always frustrated by my teacher’s advice to start writing with an outline, but that’s because I didn’t understand its utility. A proper outline doesn’t only lay out the ideas that will be developed in a paper, but actually includes real written sentences that will carry over into the rough draft. That way, when your middle school student starts writing their paper, the hardest part, getting over that blank page, will already be done.

Start by brainstorming ideas. When enough ideas have been generated that they begin to repeat themselves, chunk them into different categories. These will become our paragraphs. Now gather evidence: find two quotes for each “chunk” of ideas. From these quotes, write clear, arguable topic sentences that don’t extend longer than a line and a half. When all evidence has been gathered and all topic sentences written, now your student is ready to write their thesis statement.

While high school is the time when papers become more sophisticated, middle school writing is the stage in your student’s learning when the fundamental elements of writing are taught. Always start with an outline! Ask one of our online writing tutors to walk your student through the process of writing a paper before the paper is written. With the help of one of our writing tutors for middle school, your student will soon be whizzing through their assignments!