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
How to Build Writing Stamina in Your Students (Grades 3–8) Ep. 31
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I'm breaking down writing stamina — what it actually is, why it's the missing piece in most writing instruction, and the simple daily habits that build it.
Stamina isn't just "writing for a long time." It's the mental and emotional resilience to push through hard, long-term work without quitting — and it's a skill we can teach. Here's how I build it with my students in grades 3–8:
✏️ Daily 3-a-day warm-ups — sentence combining (the most research-backed way to teach grammar that sticks), a quick grammar/test-prep question, and a short quick-write scene
✏️ Weekly structured writing workshops — where students set line goals, track personal records, and beat them week over week
✏️ Quantity before quality — why getting words on the page first is the key to unlocking revision later
If your students freeze up, stall out, or "don't know what to write," this is where to start.
🔗 Full-year writing curriculum is now available for grades 3–8 — check out your grade level here: [LINK]
🎓 New to the Structured Writers Workshop? Take the free crash course: [LINK]
Thoughts? Questions? Send me a text message!
➡️ 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
📝 Read the latest blog posts for writing tips & ideas
HAVE A QUESTION? Email me at robin@structuredwritingteacher.com