Middle-school students must be able to write explanatory/informational, argument, and narrative genre pieces and respond to literature, both for standardized tests and, more importantly, real-world writing. With a balanced literacy approach, Wolfe provides core instruction, teaching strategies, and mini-lessons on these text types, each of which can be delivered in a four- to six-week time period. Each mini-lesson includes applicable Common Core Standards, materials lists, overviews, planning tips, procedures (including modeling, guided practice, and independent practice opportunities), reading connections, formative assessments, and reproducible graphic organizers for scaffolding. Prerequisite skill overviews and rubrics--both analytic for formative assessments and holistic for summative assessments--are also provided for each genre unit to simplify your teaching and ensure student success.