FROM THE DESK OF The Structured Writing Teacher

If your students say “because I like it!” when asked to explain their thinking, you’re not alone. Teaching Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) is one of the most powerful ways to build strong writers in grades 4–8, but it can also be one of the trickiest to get right. As a middle school teacher and the creator of The Structured Writing Workshop™ , I’ve spent years testing ways to make CER writing stick. Today, I’m sharing the three-step system I use in my own classroom. It's engaging, scaffolded, and ready for real-world writing. 💬 Why CER Is So Hard for Middle Schoolers Ask a student to tell you why they prefer Reese’s over KitKats, and they’ll have no problem answering. But ask them to support that claim with real evidence? “Because it’s good!” “Because I like it!” “Because it just is!” CER requires students to move beyond opinion and into evidence-based thinking. That shift doesn’t happen overnight. So I break CER into three manageable, confidence-building phases. ...