As the leaves change and a chill enters the air, many of us are getting ready to introduce our first cited essays or research papers, and we all know what that means: the dreaded “nitty gritty” MLA citation questions are about to start rolling in. “Do I italicize or use quotation marks?” “Where does the period go… or is it a comma?” “What’s the difference between my in-text citations and my Works Cited?” “What about this weird source type? What do I do??”
If you’re like me, you’d rather spend your time giving feedback on students’ writing, voice, and content instead of marking up a billion MLA formatting & citation errors. (And we all know it’ll be closer to a billion errors than zero!) So, today I want to share some strategies and resources that can help you teach MLA once, teach it well, and then free up your time for the more meaningful parts of essay and research paper writing!!
A) Always Start with the “Why”
Before diving into a bunch of boring/nitty-gritty rules, I always spend time talking to my students about citation in general so I can help them understand why citation matters. They may think that it is not going to be useful in real life or that it’s something they can offload to AI, but we need them to understand that citing sources is something we’ll be asked to do throughout our lives, even if we don’t go into academia. Plus, it’s about more than rule following: it’s about intellectual honesty, giving credit where it’s due, and helping our readers find our sources. When students see citation as part of being a credible writer rather than just a bunch of arbitrary rules, they’re more invested in getting it right.
A great discussion to have as a class would include ways students see citations in their daily lives, like when YouTubers cite fitness studies when discussing the best bench press technique, or when a cosmetics company cites research that shows their product works better than a competitor or that they are truly vegan, while other companies aren’t… Ask students when and why people cite their sources, and what citing sources does to our credibility. They’ll start to get it right away!
B) Layer Your Instruction
I used to try to teach everything all at once, right away on our first essay. Honestly? That was not a great method.
Here’s what works for me now: I don’t try to teach everything at once. Instead, I break MLA into manageable chunks, and I come back to it often throughout the year.
- Start with basic document formatting (margins, headers, spacing)I ask my students to set up ALL of their classwork using MLA formatting, and we practice early in the year with our first assignment. They have access to a “how-to” document on our class Canvas page (like Google Classroom), and they can use that for all future papers if they are unsure about formatting. I also like to have them write an “MLA header” at the top of written work, too. I even give extra credit for perfect ones (Name, Teacher, Class, Date) on tests!
- Move to in-text citations (teach the basics students will use most)When we write our first 1-2 literary critical essays in the year (Sept/Oct), I don’t ask for a Works Cited page, though I do show them what one would look like for the book/story we’re writing on. Instead, we focus only on in-text citations, and I keep it simple with single-author stories/books with easy-to-find page numbers. For our 3rd or 4th typed paper, we get into a little bit more advanced in-text citations, like what to do if there’s no author or if we can’t find page numbers. These papers usually involve internet research (perhaps background info about a play or book we’re about to read or research for an informative or persuasive essay).
- Later, tackle Works Cited pages (start with the most common source types)Once we get to our final paper for the Fall semester (or maybe our first literary analysis in the Spring), I’ll start asking them to make Works Cited pages, as well as continuing to include proper in-text citations. We’ll have 1-2 lessons where I walk them through these, and then all future papers will require one, and they’ll have to produce it themselves with minimal help (though they do have access to all my “how-to” PowerPoints and handouts on our Canvas page).
- Finally, address special cases as they come up in student workI don’t try to teach every little weird case to the whole class; for example, what do we do if we have two authors with the same last name? For things like this, I will do a demo lesson (typically each time we’re getting into citation) where I show them how to look up questions like this using Purdue Owl!
C) Give Them Tools They’ll Actually Use
I realized early on that my students needed quick-reference materials they could turn to when I was running around the room helping other kids. If I’m not available and their question is a simple one, they should be able to look at something that can help them out!
I’ve found that tools like checklists, handouts, and step-by-step guides reduce the “Can you just check this?”-type questions and help build their independence. My students learn that they can answer their own questions and move along with their work, and this is a huge step towards building their college and career readiness, too!
Complete MLA Teaching Materials
If you’re looking for everything you need to teach MLA 9 (the latest version of MLA), all in one place, I’ve bundled all of my PowerPoints, worksheets, and handouts together! This includes comprehensive lessons on formatting, in-text citations, and Works Cited pages, plus more! It’s everything I use to teach MLA formatting & citation, scaffolded for all students and ready to use. The bundle is currently 20% off at $16.78!
What you’ll get:
- MLA 9 In-text Citation PowerPoint – Thorough lesson slides covering the basics, plus common tricky scenarios; visual and color-coded
- MLA 9 Works Cited PowerPoint – A great set of clear, visual, color-coded instruction materials to make students masters of building Works Cited pages
- MLA 9 Citation Help Packet – Student handouts your kids can reference during all types of cited essay writing, including research papers and projects
- Research Skills: Citing Websites Handouts – These handouts focus specifically on web sources (the ones students use most!). Use these for mini-lessons with you as the guide, or provide these as references to students who are already familiar with citation.
- MLA Formatting Lesson + Review Game – Make MLA engaging with a game-based approach to reviewing MLA formatting (best for grades 9-12).
The bundle also includes these items, which you can try for free at the links below!
🎯 Free MLA Citation & Proofreading Checklist and Proofreading Skills Rubric – Quick way for students to self-check their work before submitting.
🎯 MLA Citation and Formatting Checklist and Grading Rubric – Makes your grading more consistent and transparent, allowing you to assess their MLA skills and even grade them, if you choose. Also can serve as a more THOROUGH self-check than the option above.
🎯 MLA 9 Citation and Plagiarism Webquest – This independent activity teaches citation while encouraging students to explore and understand key plagiarism concepts. It’s great for a day of independent work where you can catch up on paperwork, or you could use it for a sub day, as it requires very little work or knowledge on the sub’s part!
Going Beyond the Basics
Do you, like I do, teach AP or dual enrollment? These students will often need to know APA as well as MLA. My Teaching APA through MLA materials ($3.99) help students who already know MLA make the conversion to APA 7. Having worked on this method of teaching APA, I know that this way (working from what they know about MLA) is MUCH easier than trying to teach APA from scratch!
Try this out this year: Think about building citation skills slowly and methodically. Don’t ask the kids to do everything all at once. Maybe you start with formatting now, add in-text citations/parentheticals in the winter, and then ask them to add in Works Cited pages in the spring.
See how much more buy-in you get from the kids when you make this skill feel more manageable. Instead of balking and being turned off by the overwhelm of doing 100% of MLA formatting/citation all at once, your students will gain confidence over time and be more likely to try. A win for both you and them!!
P.S. All of my resources are aligned to MLA 9 (the current edition), so you can be confident you’re teaching the most up-to-date guidelines 🙂
RELATED BLOG POSTS:
A List of All the MLA Teaching Tools I Use
Using Webquests to Teach Citation/Anti-Plagiarism
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