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Writing is a task as complex and multifaceted as reading-but it's often taught as a single skill. Discover how to plan and deliver comprehensive, explicit, and evidence-based writing instruction with this groundbreaking book, aligned with IDA's Structured Literacy approach and based on the latest research.: critical thinking, syntax (sentences), text structure, writing craft, and transcription (spelling and handwriting). Teachers of Grades 4-8 will get crystal-clear guidelines that demystify the process of helping students learn to write and write to learn across academic content areas. And with dozens of included templates, handouts, and other resources-available for download online-teachers will have all the tools they need to design and deliver explicit, high-quality writing instruction.

Joan Sedita's innovative Writing Rope weaves multiple skills and strategies into five fundamentals of a comprehensive writing curriculum

Perfect for professional development, this invaluable planning guide will help teachers apply the science of reading to the skill of writing-and help students master a critically important aspect of literacy.

TEACHERS WILL:

Learn the fundamentals of effective writing instruction. Get research-based background knowledge about writing development, the five components of the Writing Rope framework, the role of fluent transcription skills in proficient writing, and the intentional choices proficient writers make about writing craft.

Apply evidence-based practices in the classroom. Teach essential skills all students must learn to become proficient writers, focusing on critical thinking strategies for generating ideas and gathering information before writing, strategies for each stage of the writing process, syntactic awareness and sentence writing, paragraph writing, and skillful structuring of different types of text.

Help students "write to learn." Teach students how to use writing to enhance their learning across different content areas. Learn how to plan effective writing assignments in different content areas, and explicitly teach students skills for summarizing texts and writing about narrative and expository text.
PRACTICAL MATERIALS : Apply the Writing Rope framework to support your students' writing skills with classroom activities, Connect to Your Classroom questions, suggestions for scaffolding, a Writing Assignment Guide to use with any grade or content area, and 40+ reproducible instructional resources for students and teachers.

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The Writing Rope: A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects

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The Writing Rope: A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects

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Judith C. Hochman (Author), Natalie Wexler (Author), Kathleen Maloney Doug Lemov (Foreword) & 1 more

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The Writing Revolution 2.0: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades

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Amazon.com: The Writing Revolution 2.0: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades: 9781394182039: Hochman, Judith C., Wexler, Natalie, Maloney, Kathleen, Lemov, Doug: Books

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Well established as a definitive text--and now revised and updated with eight new chapters--this book translates cutting-edge research into effective guidelines for teaching writing in grades K-12. Illustrated with vivid classroom examples, the book identifies the components of a complete, high-quality writing program. Leading experts provide strategies for teaching narrative and argumentative writing; using digital tools; helping students improve specific skills, from handwriting and spelling to sentence construction; teaching evaluation and revision; connecting reading and writing instruction; teaching vulnerable populations; using assessment to inform instruction; and more.

New to This Edition

Chapters on new topics: setting up the writing classroom and writing from informational source material.

New chapters on core topics: narrative writing, handwriting and spelling, planning, assessment, special-needs learners, and English learners.

Increased attention to reading-writing connections and using digital tools.

Incorporates the latest research and instructional procedures.

Handbook of Writing Research, Second Edition , edited by Charles A. MacArthur, Steve Graham, and Jill Fitzgerald, which provides a comprehensive overview of writing research that informs good practice.

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Illustrated with vivid classroom examples, the book identifies the components of a complete, high-quality writing program. Leading experts provide strategies for teaching narrative and argumentative writing; using digital tools; helping students improve specific skills, from handwriting and spe...

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Isabel L. Beck (Author), Margaret G. McKeown (Author), Linda Kucan (Author) & 0 more

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Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction

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Amazon.com: Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction: 9781462508167: Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, Linda Kucan: Books

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About the Method | Self-Regulated Strategy Development Writing

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Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is a proven set of writing interventions and teaching tools that empower K-12 students to find success in writing.

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Berninger, V., & Graham, S. (1998). Language by hand: A synthesis of a decade of research on handwriting. Handwriting Review, 12, 11-25.

Connelly, V., Dockrell, J., & Barnett, J. (2005). The slow handwriting of undergraduate students constrains overall performance in exam essays. Educational Psychology, 25, 99-107.

Edwards, L. (2003). Writing instruction in kindergarten: Examining an emerging area of research for children with writing and reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36, 136.

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Fink, B. (2000). Is handwriting causally related to learning to write? Treatment of handwriting problems in beginning writers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 620-633.

Graham, S., Struck, M., Richardson, J.,& Berninger, V. (2006). Dimensions of good and poor handwriting legibility in first and second graders. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29, 43-60.

Graham, S., Weinstein, N., & Berninger, V. (2001). Which manuscript letters do primary grade children write legibly? Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 488-497.

Other helpful sources

Berninger, V. (2004). Understanding the graphia in dysgraphia. In D. Dewey & D. Tupper (Eds.), Developmental motor disorders: A neuropsychological perspective (pp. 328-350). New York: Guilford.

Berninger, V. W., & Amtmann, D. (2003). Preventing written expression disabilities through early and continuing assessment and intervention for handwriting and/or spelling problems: Research into practice. In H. L. Swanson, K. R. Harris, & S. Graham (Eds.), Handbook of Learning Disabilities (pp. 345-363). New York: Guilford.

Troia, G.A. (2006). Writing instruction for students with learning disabilities. In C.A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research. New York: Guilford.

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Berninger, V., & Graham, S. (1998). Language by hand: A synthesis of a decade of research on handwriting. Handwriting Review, 12, 11-25. Connelly, V., Dockrell, J., & Barnett, J. (2005). The slow handwriting of undergraduate students constrains overall performance in exam essays. Educational Psychology, 25, 99-107. Edwards, L. (2003).

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Amazon.com: Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer’s Workshop: 9781032807348: Anderson, Jeff, Thibodeaux, Lisa: Books

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Amazon.com: Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage, and Style into Writer’s Workshop: 9781032807348: Anderson, Jeff, Thibodeaux, Lisa: Books

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Author Jeff Anderson and literacy coach Whitney La Rocca lead a vibrant approach to grammar instruction in Patterns of Power: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language, Grades 1-5. Here, young, emergent writers are invited to notice the conventions of the English language and build off them in this inquiry-based approach to instructional grammar.

The book comes with standards-aligned lessons that can be incorporated into basal texts in just 10 minutes a day. Patterns of Power's responsive, invitational approach puts students in an involved role and has them explore and discuss the purpose and meaning of what they read. Students study short, authentic texts and are asked to share their findings out loud, engaging in rich conversations to make meaning. Inside you'll find:

Over 70 practical and ready-to-use lesson plan sets that include excerpts from authentic and diverse mentor texts curated for grades 1-5 and can be adapted over 5 grade levels

Real-life classroom examples, tips, and Power Notes gleaned from the authors' experiences that can be applied to any level of writer

Resources, including a Patterns of Power Planning Guide and musical soundtracks, to use in classroom instruction or as handouts for student literacy notebooks

Patterns of Power provides a simple classroom routine that is structured in length and approach, but provides teachers flexibility in choosing the texts, allowing for numerous, diverse voices in the classroom. The practice helps students build cognitive recognition and provides a formative assessment for teachers on student progress. With these short lessons, students will gain confidence and move beyond limitation to produce effortless writing in your class and beyond.

The Patterns of Power series also includes Patterns of Power: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language, Grades 6-8, Patterns of Power en Español: Inviting Bilingual Writers into the Conventions of Spanish, Grades 1-5, and Patterns of Wonder: Inviting Emergent Writers to Play with the Conventions of Language, PreK-1.

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Patterns of Power, Grades 1-5: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language

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Amazon.com: Patterns of Power, Grades 1-5: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language: 9781625311856: Anderson, Jeff, La Rocca, Whitney: Books

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Amazon.com: Patterns of Power, Grades 6–8: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language: 9781625315151: Anderson, Jeff, Leech, Travis, Clark, Melinda: Books

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Amazon.com: Patterns of Power, Grades 6–8: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language: 9781625315151: Anderson, Jeff, Leech, Travis, Clark, Melinda: Books

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I am pleased to announce that Brookes Publishing in August published my new book titled The Writing Rope: A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects. I am also delighted that my friend and colleague, Jan Hasbrouck, wrote the foreword. The book can be ordered at the Brookes website (and click here for a free book study guide). I wrote about The Writing Rope framework in a 2019 article, and again in a Literacy Lines January 2020 blog post. Later, the International Dyslexia Association included it in their collection of infographics.

Why did I create The Writing Rope framework?

I had been thinking about the need for a model that could identify the components that make up skilled writing for a while. The literature and discourse related to literacy instruction tends to focus on reading, even though writing is just as important for student literacy achievement. Much has been written about the multiplicity of skills involved in reading, beginning with the "five components" necessary for skilled, fluent reading that became popular after the 2000 report of the National Reading Panel (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension). On the other hand, when attention is paid to writing instruction, teachers are not sure what to include. Many educators who are knowledgeable about effective reading instruction are not able to identify the components of skilled writing or essential elements of a curriculum for teaching writing. I developed The Writing Rope to help educators readily identify these components.

Over the past ten years, with the help of the team at Keys to Literacy, I published the Keys to Early Writing and Keys to Content Writing courses that have been used to train teachers across the U.S. The professional development experiences with teachers that resulted, combined with the research on effective writing instruction, form the basis for The Writing Rope. I organized the numerous skills, strategies, and techniques that students need to integrate for skilled writing into five components. To visually represent the components, I first considered the metaphor of a wagon wheel to represent how the components work together, like spokes in a wheel. But I kept thinking about the powerful image of the rope strands in Hollis Scarborough's Reading Rope, and decided to develop my framework with a nod towards that model. One of my hobbies is drawing and water color painting, and one night I sat down and sketched out a drawing of a rope and added wording for the five strands (shown below). For the new book, the graphic designers at Brookes Publishing did a great job of adding color to the rope (also shown below).

How can The Writing Rope be used?
As noted above, my original intention was to develop a framework that could identify the major components that make up skilled writing. It can be used by administrators and curriculum directors to help determine if the writing curriculum being used covers all essential writing skills and strategies. It can also be used to review writing programs that are being considered - which components are included, and what's missing. For English language arts teachers, The Writing Rope can serve as a master plan to help teachers make sure they are providing instruction for all the strands in the rope. For content teachers of all subjects, the first three strands of the rope (Critical Thinking, Syntax, Text Structure) include instructional suggestions that can be integrated in content instruction. For those who read The Writing Rope book, I included significant references to the research related to writing instruction so teachers can see how the suggested instructional practices are evidence based. I also included "Connect to Your Classroom" activities to help readers apply what they learn to their teaching.
What grades are addressed?
While the book was written with educators of students in grades 4-8 in mind, teachers will find instructional suggestions that can be used across all grades. For example, the suggestions for developing syntactic awareness and improved sentence-writing (such as sentence-combining) are helpful for primary grade students, as well as older students who do not have strong sentence writing ability. The instructional suggestions under the critical thinking strand for the stages of the writing process and strategies for writing about text sources (such as two-column note taking) can be introduced with second and third graders, and also used by high school students who are writing research papers.
How is The Writing Rope book organized?
The book chapters are organized into three sections, listed below:
Part 1: Laying the Foundations for Teachers & Students

1 Introduction to The Writing Rope

2 What do we know about effective writing instruction?

3 Transcription skills

4 Writing craft

Part 2: Skills and Strategies - Learning to Write

5 Critical Thinking: Stages of the writing process

6 Syntax and sentence skills

7 Text Structure: Paragraph Skills

8 Text Structure: The three types of writing

Part 3: Application - Writing to Learn

9 Critical Thinking: Summary writing

10 Critical Thinking: Writing from text sources

11 Putting it all together

Related Professional Development
If you are interested in participating in live or online professional development that includes instructional practices found in The Writing Rope book, contact Keys to Literacy for information about Keys to Early Writing (for grades K-2) and Keys to Content Writing (for grades 3-12).

Joan Sedita

Joan Sedita is the founder of Keys to Literacy and author of the Keys to Literacy professional development programs. She is an experienced educator, nationally recognized speaker and teacher trainer. She has worked for over 35 years in the literacy education field and has presented to thousands of teachers and related professionals at schools, colleges, clinics, and professional conferences.

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New Book: The Writing Rope - Keys to Literacy

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I am pleased to announce that Brookes Publishing in August published my new book titled The Writing Rope: A Framework for Explicit Writing Instruction in All Subjects. I am also delighted that my friend and colleague, Jan Hasbrouck, wrote the foreword. The book can be ordered at the Brookes website.

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Cognitive Load Theory: A teacher’s guide

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How can you use Cognitive Load Theory to improve learning outcomes in your classroom?

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Article with best practice checklist and handwriting speed norms

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Article with best practice checklist and handwriting speed norms

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Sorry, we just need to make sure you’re not a robot. For best results, please make sure your browser is accepting cookies.

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What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades (Published 2014)

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Even as the emphasis shifts to the keyboard, experts say that learning to write by hand improves motor skills, memory and creativity.

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The essential motor skills required for handwriting success - GriffinOT

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Well developed gross and fine motor skills are essential for a a child to be successful with their handwriting. Here we discuss five handwriting essentials.

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Handwriting and fine motor skills :: Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Trust

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Handwriting and Fine motor skills involve the use of the smaller muscle of the hands, commonly in activities like using pencils, scissors, construction with bricks, doing up buttons and opening lunch boxes.

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Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) - Model Teaching

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Readers of the article will be able to define a claim, identify appropriate student evidences, understand how students justify the evidence that supports the claim within their reasoning, and how to implement the CER strategy into classroom labs.