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NEW - Explicit Teaching Application - webinar now avaiable
Writing rope
Writing rope
Created by Joan Sedita
The model identifies the multiple components that are necessary for skilled writing—this graphic is similar to the reading rope. It can be used to depict the many strands that contribute to fluent, skilled writing. It should be noted that instruction for many skills that support writing also support reading comprehension.
To learn more, see Sedita’s explanation.
Helen Walls
Helen Walls
Dr. Helen Walls is a professional learning facilitator and educational researcher, with 20 years' experience working in schools. She is committed to raising achievement in writing by sharing evidence-based, practical methods to engage every student. Helen is managing director of The Writing Teacher, a consultancy that provides writing workshops and resources for teachers, all accessible online. She is also a member of the Massey University school support team. See her website to learn more The Writing Teacher
Dr. Helen Walls and Chrissie Braid have published How to teach Writing, Spelling and Grammar.
All of the videos below are essential viewing for teachers supporting children across ALL year groups.
All of the videos below are essential viewing for teachers supporting children across ALL year groups.
Introduction
Introduction
In this 4 minute video, Helen introduces this series of 5 short videos which have been made to support students from Year 5 - 10 (approximately) who are still struggling with the foundational technical skills of writing.
The videos will cover foundational and technical skills:
handwriting,
spelling,
working with a sentence, and
writing for authentic purposes.
Foundational and technical skills
Foundational and technical skills
In this 5 minute video, Helen explains the basics of:
cognitive load,
working memory,
long term memory, and
why it is important for teachers to have these understandings.
Students must be able to start to automatise some of the surface aspects of the writing process and free up space for other aspects such as interesting words and ideas.
teaching spelling
teaching spelling
In this 10 minute video, Helen unpacks the 4 key principles of teaching spelling :
Sound work,
Sounds can be spelt a number of different ways,
Spelling should be taught little and often, and
Keep it Simple - 1 rule at a time.
She also discusses practical methods of teaching spelling in your classroom such as:
repetition,
finger spelling,
Elkonin boxes,
dictation, and
teaching irregular heart words such as 'friend'.
She also talks about incorporating meaning and morphology.
Handwriting
Handwriting
In this 5 minute video, Helen talks about the benefits of handwriting for all areas of learning.
Helen suggests:
that handwriting is taught little and often -10 minutes each day,
the importance of explicitly teaching letter formation,
how to ensure that students transfer handwriting skills to their writing work,
when to introduce cursive,
how to support older students who are still experiencing handwriting difficulties, and
when and how to introduce working on a computer.
Sentences
Sentences
In this 9 minute video, Helen discusses how to teach students to work with sentences.
Helen describes two key strategies to do this:
“Think, write and then read and check every sentence”
“Sentence combining.”
Helen also models how to teach sentence combining.
Helen also briefly talks about “Fast Feedback” to support development of students' writing skills.
Bringing it all together
Bringing it all together
In this 12 minute video, Helen discusses how to bring this all together in a lesson structure so that students can apply the skills of spelling, handwriting and sentence structure in their writing (this lesson is particularly for older struggling students).
You will find some additional resources Helen has shared around sentence combining below.
You will find some additional resources Helen has shared around sentence combining below.
Sentence combining (1).pdfWhat is Sentence-combining
A Guide to Sentence Combining.pdfA guide to sentence- combining.
Saddler on sentence combining.pdfWriting better sentences
Sentence-combining instruction in the classroom
Special issue on writing and writing difficulties.pdfBulletin :Special issue on writing and writing issues.
A practitioner's story - The Syntax Project
A practitioner's story - The Syntax Project
Sarah Peck is a classroom teacher at Cashmere Avenue School in Wellington, and has kindly recorded this webinar of her experience with using the Syntax Project.
Ngā mihi to Sarah for sharing this recording.
For more information check out The Syntax Project Ochre Education
Sarah is passionate about literacy and evidence-based teaching approaches that support successful learning outcomes for all. She has undertaken the LMIT (Learning MATTERS intervention teaching) training approved by the International Dyslexia Association, and currently leads literacy at her kura.
The Syntax Project was created by experienced teachers (led by educational researcher Stephanie Le Lievre) to provide lesson content for the explicit teaching of sentence level writing instruction.
In this video, Sarah unpacks the Syntax Project, where to find the resource, models part of a lesson and shares examples of student progress. She also discusses the impact it has had on her teaching, and the students in her class.
Sentence-Definitions-Matter_-Respect-The-Clause (1).pdfUnderstanding sentence construction, particularly the role of clauses, is crucial for teachers to effectively guide student writers. While explicitly defining every sentence structure isn't always necessary for students, a teacher's strong grasp of these concepts helps address common errors and promote clear and correct writing. Mastering clause understanding can demystify sentence structure and improve teaching practices.
Extras
Extras
The report provides specific teaching techniques to help 4th- to 12th-grade (Years 3-11) students become proficient and flexible writers. It focuses on all students, not just those with writing difficulties, and addresses the needs of low-achieving writers, including those with learning disabilities and those lacking proficiency. The report discusses the effects of writing instruction on students across the full range of ability.
Written by Steve Graham
WRITING NEXT: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools guide.
WRITING NEXT: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools guide.
Effective strategies to improve writing in older students.pdfPage updated
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