Think Write Read

Think Write Read was born of a desire for community. Over the span of my teaching career (more than two decades) I have been a traditional classroom teacher, and a Montessori classroom teacher for toddlers, young children, tweens, teens and young adults. I have lectured in adult education, led community education projects, and worked as a private literacy and numeracy specialist. I have also had the great joy and pleasure of educating my own children at home. I have sat on the executive committee of the largest Teacher Association in Australia, the executive committee of a Home Education Association, and currently serve on the academic board of the oldest Montessori Teacher Training Institute in Australia. I have some perspective on the demands that face educators in many different settings, and the tightrope that educators walk each day in trying to serve their students whilst meeting mandates and making budgets stretch. Home Educating parents, alternative classroom teachers (like Montessori and Waldorf Steiner teachers), and Literacy Tutors have to work very hard to make resources work for these unique settings. I can help. 

 Thinking, writing and reading are connected. They are the three tasks of idea-creation. The development of writing skills should be sequential, recursive, and interleaved. Writing is not a "subject" - it is a tool for learning. It helps us to make sense of, and communicate our thoughts about the amazing world that has gone before us, surrounds us now, and leads us into the future. Writing is about self-expression. This community of educators is informed and inspired by the groundbreaking work of scholars who have gone before us. This community is about taking the best of what is out there, and putting it into practice. 

Teaching Thinking, Writing and Reading in alternative settings

The authors of the many books about literacy instruction and writing in particular, all try to break down the component skills of writing and elaborate on the ways in which these skills are best taught. The books are a fabulous introduction to teaching writing, however they are dense with content and detail, and this makes them somewhat unwieldy when it comes to implementation. The most common complaint I have heard from the adults I support is that the theory is solid but the practice is tricky. How do I take all of this information and USE it in a way that is meaningful and effective for MY child, or MY students?

In a nutshell everyone who teaches written expression will benefit from understanding the ideas explored in the books. The books are primarily aimed at classroom teachers in school settings. But what about support for those who work in alternative settings?

I support

• Home Educators
• Montessori Educators
• Classroom Literacy Teachers
• and Literacy Tutors

who want to do a better job of teaching writing in these unique settings. These educational settings are particularly well suited to intensive writing instruction, due to the high level of teacher-student interaction, and the personalisation of curriculum that is required by all. All of them are foremost about advancing THINKING through literacy.

The content shared in this community is not offered in the official trainings of The Writing Revolution, WVCEd, Montessori or Keys to Literacy, and is not affiliated with any of these organisations in an official capacity. It is a view into how I teach writing in an integrated, explicit and responsive way.

The Writing Revolution

The Writing Revolution is an approach to writing instruction devised by Judith C Hochman. Originally known as The Hochman Method, The Writing Revolution is as much a method of teaching content as it is a method of teaching writing. There's no separate writing block and no separate writing curriculum. Instead, teachers of all subjects adapt the TWR strategies and activities to their current curriculum and weave them into their content instruction. The method takes the mystery out of learning to write well. It breaks the writing process down into manageable chunks and then has students practice the chunks they need, repeatedly, while also learning content.

Structured Word Inquiry

A term coined by Dr Pete Bowers as a result of his PhD studies on how students can learn to be literate through scholarly investigation into the English orthographic system. This work not only teaches students to understand the orthography of English, it also teaches them the skills of scientific investigation: developing an hypothesis, searching for evidence that either proves or falsifies their ideas, and critically evaluating the connections between words and how they are used. 

Writing Matters

Written and shared by the late William Van Cleave, an incredible mentor to teachers around the globe (I am fortunate to count myself among them) and an inspiring guide, Writing Matters is a research-based approach to teaching the building blocks of writing. It is a sensible, practical how-to guide and a valuable source of information about how the English language works. His comprehensive guide to grammar and sentence structure should be on every teacher's reference shelf.

The Montessori Method

Whilst originally conceived as a vehicle for social change by Dr Maria Montessori, the Montessori Method has become world-renowned for its extraordinary results in teaching very young children to be literate and numerate to an astonishing degree. As a Montessori teacher for over two decades, and a Montessori teacher trainer in Australia and USA, I am inspired by this child-led, interest-based, humanistic approach that facilitates the realisation of the child's potential for learning.

Michael Clay Thompson

Michael Clay Thompson's approach to Language Arts instruction has served the homeschooling (and schooling) community for over 3 decades! I use the MCT approach to grammar and sentence analysis when giving explicit grammar instruction. The sentence analysis approach, in particular, dovetails beautifully with explicit writing instruction for all lessons. 

Self-Regulated Strategy Development

A cognitive strategy instructional approach developed by Karen Harris and Steve Graham. Students are taught task-specific strategies along with more general strategies for regulating their thinking processes, self-management strategies and the learning process. This research has been developed for over 40 years and is solid.