Starting Middle School ELA Mid-Year: Curriculum for January Hires
Hired to teach middle school ELA in January? ELA Complete – Middle School gives you 100+ resources for grades 6–8 in reading comprehension, text analysis and narrative, informative and argumentative writing. You can teach from it in the first week of semester 2 and spend your evenings learning names and reading student work instead of writing lessons.
See ELA Complete – MS →ELA Complete – Middle School is a no-prep English language arts curriculum for grades 6–8 with 100+ resources, starting at $149.90. A January hire can use it to run semester 2 right away: comprehension and analysis of short stories, articles and speeches, and writing instruction from paragraphs to full essays, including planning, drafting, revising and editing. Units work in sequence or individually.
The curriculum
ELA Complete – Middle School, Grades 6–8
Start with the full curriculum. The other resources below are optional add-ons. Open any cover for the full contents and price.
The real problem
The ELA problems that show up in January
ELA is the subject where a lost fall shows most. If the class had a string of substitutes, students may have done reading logs and little writing. Their last real essay could be from last spring. Now you have a stack of 120 students, a writing assessment on the school calendar, and colleagues who assume grammar and paragraph structure were already covered. Reading levels in a middle school classroom vary widely, and you do not know yet who reads fluently and who avoids text. A novel may also have been started and abandoned, with half-used class sets on the shelf. You have to decide whether to finish it, drop it or replace it. Then there is grading. Writing takes the most time to assess, and in your first weeks that time is limited. If you assign essays before you know the class, you spend weekends grading work you cannot yet interpret. What helps is short, focused reading and writing tasks that show you where each student stands before you assign anything long.
Why it fits
Why it fits a semester 2 start
The curriculum covers reading and writing in parallel, with short texts that do not depend on a fall novel.
- Short stories, excerpts and articles let you teach analysis without a book students half-read.
- Plot, character, theme and conflict lessons give you an early read on comprehension levels.
- Paragraph structure lessons come before full essays, a good restart after a weak fall.
- Textual evidence tasks show quickly who can support a claim and who only retells.
- Planning, drafting, revising and editing steps break writing into pieces you can grade quickly.
- Differentiated worksheets help when reading levels in one class span several grades.
Getting started
Your first two weeks with ELA Complete
A sample sequence for the start of the semester. It is a suggestion, not a schedule built into the product.
- Read one short story togetherChoose a short story from the reading section and work through plot, character and conflict. A shared text on day one tells you how students talk about reading.
- Collect a single paragraphAsk for one paragraph answering a question about the story with evidence from the text. It takes little time to grade and shows you writing levels across the class.
- Switch to nonfictionMove to an article or speech and teach author's purpose and point of view. Students who struggle with fiction sometimes do better with informational text, and you learn that early.
- Plan before anyone draftsStart a writing unit with the planning stage. Short, checked outlines prevent the pile of unfocused essays that sinks a new teacher's weekends. Check each outline before drafting starts.
- Grade the revision, not just the draftUse the revising and editing materials so students improve their own work. A revised draft gives you a fairer first grade than a cold essay.
Which version
Which version makes sense for you
The $149.90 version has all 100+ resources and is enough for semester 2 and beyond. The $189.90 option includes Teach-Life-Balance, a digital time-saving course with a planner, guides and templates. It contains no reading or writing lessons. For an ELA teacher, grading load is often the real problem, and that course is about managing time and workload. If evenings are already full in your first month, it may be worth the difference. If not, the standard version covers everything.
Honest limits
Things the curriculum does not cover
It does not include class sets of novels. If your school assigns a specific book, you teach it alongside these materials. State test preparation is not a separate component. Check the units against your state's ELA standards and your district's scope and sequence. If other ELA teachers at your grade level want to use it, send Teach Lessons a short message before sharing. If the curriculum does not fit, you can exchange it within 7 days for store credit of equal value. Store credit is not a cash refund.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is it aligned to Common Core or my state's ELA standards?
It is not approved, adopted or certified by any state or by Common Core, and there is no guarantee of alignment. It is written for U.S. middle school ELA classes and covers comprehension, analysis, writing and language. Compare the units with your state's standards and your district's expectations, and add whatever is required but missing.
The class started a novel in the fall. Do I have to finish it?
That is your call and possibly your department's. The curriculum uses short stories, excerpts and articles, so it does not depend on a full-length book. Many teachers in your position finish a novel only if most students actually read it; otherwise, short texts let everyone start the semester on equal footing.
How do I handle a class with very different reading levels?
The worksheets are differentiated, so you can assign the same text with different levels of support. Short texts also make it easier for slower readers to finish. You still decide who gets which version; the first comprehension tasks help you make that call within days.
We have a writing assessment in spring. Does this help?
It covers narrative, informative and argumentative writing with planning, drafting, revising and editing, and teaches students to use textual evidence. Those are core skills for most writing assessments. It is not a test prep package, so check your district's assessment format and practice that format specifically.
Can I teach grades 6, 7 and 8 from the same product?
Yes. It covers grades 6–8 and the units can be used individually, so you can place each grade in the right content. If you teach one grade only, you will still use only part of the materials, which leaves room for the next school year.
Can I get it before my first day?
Yes. Access is instant: a download link arrives by email, and the files are also in your customer account under Orders. You can print the first short story and paragraph task the same day. What comes in the package is listed on the product page. Read the contents there before your first planning meeting.
Start the semester with something to read and write
Check the contents on the product page and pick the version that matches your workload.
See ELA Complete – MS →