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The Hochman Method helps students write clearly and think critically by teaching them writing step by step, across all subjects. It makes writing less overwhelming, so students can share their ideas with confidence.
Teachers in grades K-6 will be trained in The Hochman Method for writing (The Writing Revolution) during the 25-26 school year and it will be implemented in classrooms. The goal is for full implementation for the 26-27 school year. These writing strategies are being imbedded into our K-6 curriculum across language arts, mathematics, science and social studies.
What is the Hochman Method (The Writing Revolution)?
The Hochman Method, also called The Writing Revolution, is a way of teaching writing that helps students become stronger thinkers, readers, and communicators. Instead of starting with long essays right away, students learn to build their skills step by step—beginning with clear sentences, then moving to paragraphs, and finally essays.
Here’s how it works:
Sentence-level work first: Students practice making complete, thoughtful sentences. They learn to expand, combine, and improve their sentences so their ideas are clear.
Structured thinking: Writing is taught as a tool for thinking. Students use writing to organize ideas, make connections, and show understanding of what they read.
Across all subjects: The method isn’t just for Language Arts. Students use these strategies in science, social studies, and math to explain their thinking in clear, complete sentences.
Confidence building: By practicing manageable steps, students gain confidence as writers. They see how good writing helps them express their ideas and succeed in school.
Why it matters: Writing is one of the most important skills for school and life. The Hochman Method helps all students—whether they love writing or find it challenging—become better at explaining what they know and telling their stories.
The Six Principles of the Hochman Method
The Six Principles of the Hochman Method
Students learn to write through explicit instruction.
Writing isn’t left to chance. Teachers give students clear, direct lessons on how to write strong sentences, paragraphs, and essays instead of just assigning writing and hoping students figure it out.Sentences are the building blocks of all writing.
Instead of starting with long essays, students begin with the smallest unit—a sentence. By practicing complete, well-structured sentences, students build a strong foundation for all other types of writing.When embedded in the content of the curriculum, writing instruction is a powerful teaching tool.
Writing isn’t just for language arts class. Students use writing strategies in science, social studies, and math to explain what they know. Writing helps them think more deeply about what they are learning.The content of the curriculum drives the rigor of the writing activities.
Students write about the topics they are studying—whether it’s history, literature, or math. This way, writing becomes a tool for learning and for showing understanding, not just a separate skill.Grammar is best taught in the context of student writing.
Instead of learning grammar through random worksheets, students learn grammar while they are writing. For example, they may practice commas while combining two ideas into one clear sentence.The two most important phases of the writing process are planning and revising.
Students are taught to plan their ideas before writing and to revise their work after. This shows them that good writing doesn’t happen all at once—it’s a process of thinking, drafting, and improving.
The Research
The Research
Explicitly teaching strategies for planning, revising and editing writing has had strong and consistent positive effects on writing skill across grade levels. (Graham et al., 2012; Graham & Perin, 2007)
The What Works Clearinghouse, part of the federal government’s Institute of Education Sciences, has recommended that students be taught to construct sentences, specifically mentioning sentence-combining and sentence expansion, another strategy used in TWR’s method. (IES Practice Guide, 2018)
Teaching sentence-construction skills has improved reading fluency and comprehension. (Graham and Hebert, 2010)
Cognitive science research that has not focused primarily on writing instruction also provides support for TWR’s approach. More generally, TWR’s approach is supported by well-established research on working memory.
Providing feedback on the effectiveness of students’ writing and monitoring students’ progress has improved students’ writing. (Graham et al., 2011)
Embedding writing instruction in content and having students write about what they are learning in English language arts, social studies, science, and math has boosted reading comprehension and learning across grade levels. (Graham et al., 2020; Graham and Hebert, 2010)
Summarization and sentence-combining, both TWR strategies, have had strong positive effects on learning and on writing skill. (Graham & Perin, 2007)
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