MLA Format Guide and Practice

About this resource

MLA format made easy to practice: a guide, fill-in boxes and practice sources for grades 6 to 8. 26 pages, type in any PDF reader or print and write by hand.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (26 pages)

• A paper checklist with a drawn sample paper: 8 rows (font, margins, spacing, header, heading, title, paragraphs, Works Cited) to tick off.
• A heading and header page where the student types the top of page 1 in the right spots.
• The 6 core elements in color (author, title of source, container, publisher, date, location), with the patterns for a book, a website and an article.
• Find the Parts: 3 sources shown as a book cover, a web page and a magazine front, with a box for each part.
• 3 guided citation pages (book, website, article): fill one box at a time, then write the whole citation.
• In-text citations: 5 patterns (one author, two authors, three or more, no author, name in the sentence) with a "your turn" for each.
• Cite It in the Sentence: 6 sentences that need a citation at the end.
• Build a Works Cited: put 5 entries in ABC order and copy them with a hanging indent.
• 2 practice sheets with 3 sources each (6 practice sources in all).
• 2 filled examples: a guided book citation and a Works Cited page, both from an invented student.
• 17 sentence starters in 5 groups for working sources into writing.
• A one-page quick reference: the 3 citation patterns, the in-text patterns, the paper rules and a table of the 12 months (9 shortened, 3 written in full).
• A source tracker with 10 rows, a Check My Paper peer page (8 format rows and 5 Works Cited rows), and a folder cover, spine and 4 divider labels.
• 3 answer-key pages, with every citation shown in the color of its core element so you can see which box went wrong.
• Start Here with a table of which page does which job, the terms of use, and a thank-you page.

Built For The Student Holding The Page

Every student page has a big "My name" line, one short instruction with a small picture, big boxes and lines, and a star to color when done. The 13 student pages ask for one small thing at a time, so a student who is new to citing is never looking at a blank page.

Type In, Or Print

Every name line, writing line, answer box and table cell is a type-in field. In a check column, type an X, or print the page and tick it by hand. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides, Google Docs or PowerPoint file.

About The Sources

Who This Is For

Teachers of grades 6 to 8 who want citation practice a student can finish: ELA and social studies teachers, writing centers, and homeschool families. It works as a first lesson on MLA format and as a reference during a research paper.