Classroom Strategies that Build Confident Student Writers

Classroom Strategies that Build Confident Student Writers

Writing is more than a skill. It’s a thinking process, a learning tool, and a powerful way for students to make sense of the world. Yet teaching writing often feels overwhelming, especially when time is tight and curricula lack structure. Fortunately, there’s a growing body of research that shows how to make writing instruction more effective, engaging, and connected to content.

This collection of podcast episodes highlights expert voices and real teachers who are putting research into practice. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refine your routines, you’ll find strategies here that help students write with confidence, clarity, and purpose.

"The Writing Revolution with Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler"

In this episode, Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler, authors of The Writing Revolution, share how their approach transforms writing instruction by embedding it within the content that students are already learning.

The Writing Revolution method starts with explicit instruction at the sentence level and builds toward sophisticated writing through practices such as outlining, revising, and using academic syntax. Most importantly, this method treats writing not as an isolated skill but as a tool for building knowledge and improving comprehension, especially when embedded across the curriculum.

Listen to learn how to embed sentence-level strategies into your instruction, connect writing to content, and make revision meaningful.

• How are your writing activities helping students experiment with complex sentence structures? In what ways could this kind of practice support students’ reading comprehension?
• How does starting at the sentence level support the needs of both struggling and advanced writers in your classroom?
• How often do you guide students through meaningful revision? What strategies (such as sentence combining or targeted revisions) could make this process more effective?

Classroom Move to Try

Invite students to expand a simple sentence by adding detail or using a connector. Reflect on how the change affects meaning.

"A Path to Better Writing with Steve Graham"

What does it take to truly improve student writing? In this episode, writing researcher Steve Graham shares insights grounded in decades of research. From the foundational role of feedback and fluency (yes, handwriting and typing matter!) to the benefits of integrating writing across the curriculum, Steve makes a compelling case for why writing instruction needs to be intentional, ongoing, and connected to reading. He also discusses the growing role of interactive writing for young and developing writers and offers his take on how technology may influence writing practices. This episode offers timely guidance for today’s classroom.

Join Steve Graham for a research-packed conversation on what works in writing, what matters most, and how to prepare students for the future of literacy.

• What are some new opportunities to weave writing into different parts of the day? How might that help students see writing as a tool for thinking and learning?
• As students grow as writers, how might building fluency in both handwriting and typing support their confidence and independence? What’s working well, and where could a small shift help?

Classroom Move to Try

Give students time to write a short response connected to the topic of study, then allow time for them to revisit their response with a peer to add clarity or precision.

"Evidence-Based Writing Instruction for Young Learners with Karen Harris and Young-Suk Grace Kim"

As educators, you know reading and writing aren’t just connected, they’re interdependent. In this episode, researchers Karen Harris and Young-Suk Grace Kim share compelling insights into how young students develop foundational writing skills and why writing instruction should begin early and be deeply integrated with reading. Young-Suk introduces a memorable “house” analogy to show how reading and writing support each other, while Karen explores the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model: a research-backed approach that combines explicit writing instruction with strategies for self-regulation.

You'll also hear about their latest study with Grade 1 and Grade 2 students and the promising SRSD Plus model, which adds key components such as handwriting fluency, spelling, and oral language. If you're looking for practical, evidence-based strategies to support young writers, you won't want to miss this episode.

Learn how to connect reading and writing, strengthen foundational skills, and apply evidence-based practices such as SRSD and SRSD Plus in your classroom.

• How could a structured approach such as SRSD support your students in planning, drafting, and revising their writing?
• What role does handwriting fluency play in your writing instruction? How might improvements in fluency affect student confidence and output?
• In what ways do you explicitly support young students’ self-regulation during the writing process?

Classroom Move to Try

Model a strategy such as planning with a graphic organizer, then let students try it with a short piece. Emphasize how planning helps their ideas take shape.

"Aligning Early Writing Routines to Research"

For many young students, writing can feel like a struggle, but it doesn’t have to. In this episode, Grade 2 teacher Laura Stam shares how she shifted from an open-ended, unstructured writing approach to one grounded in research-based routines. Drawing from The Writing Revolution and SRSD, Laura describes how she equips her students to write about rich topics such as the Revolutionary War and ancient China. Through tools such as mnemonics, goal setting, and structured sentence expansion, she’s helped her students become more independent, reflective writers. Her classroom journey offers practical, classroom-tested strategies that prove early writing instruction can be both rigorous and joyful.

Hear how one teacher transformed her early writing block by using research-based strategies, and walk away with tools you can try tomorrow.

• How might strategies such as sentence expansion and the use of mnemonics improve student fluency and confidence?
• How are your writing routines supporting independence? Where might students still be relying on scaffolds, and what could help them take the next step on their own?
• In what ways could goal setting and self-monitoring help your students take more ownership of their writing process?

Classroom Move to Try

Use a mnemonic or sentence expansion routine with a shared text. Celebrate when students move from scaffolded to independent use of the strategy.

"A Knowledge-Based Approach to Writing: The Vermont Writing Collaborative"

Writing instruction can do more than teach structure and skills—it also can deepen understanding. In this episode, Joey Hawkins and Diana Leddy of the Vermont Writing Collaborative share a powerful approach to writing that centers on knowledge. By focusing on three essential pillars—backward design, building understanding through active engagement with content, and direct instruction—this model helps students write with clarity, purpose, and insight.

How do high-quality instructional materials support and execute this approach to writing for understanding? Learn how writing can be a tool to support deeper knowledge building.

• How might designing writing tasks with the end goal in mind (backward design) change your current approach to lesson planning?
• How do your current instructional materials support writing as a process of working with knowledge, not just demonstrating skills?
• In what ways do your students currently build understanding before writing? Could incorporating more discussion, movement, or modeling improve outcomes?

Classroom Move to Try

When introducing a new writing task, start with discussion and content exploration. Consider asking students what ideas they already have that can then help them write with understanding.

"Diana Leddy - The Painted Essay®"

Teaching students to write a clear, organized essay doesn’t have to be overwhelming or overly abstract. In this episode, Diana Leddy of the Vermont Writing Collaborative introduces The Painted Essay, a powerful visual tool that helps students grasp the structure of expository writing.

By quite literally “painting” the parts of an essay—introduction, proof paragraphs, conclusion—students learn to understand what they’re writing, why they’re writing it, and how to communicate their ideas with purpose. This simple yet rigorous approach supports all learners in developing strong thesis-driven writing, and it helps teachers demystify the writing process from the start.

Bring clarity and confidence to student writing. Explore how The Painted Essay can transform your approach to teaching expository writing, with visual strategies you can use in your next lesson.

• In what ways does your instruction emphasize why students are writing, not just what they’re writing?
• How might using color or other visual tools support metacognition during writing?

Classroom Move to Try

Color-code a shared model paragraph together, discussing what each part does. Have students apply the structure to their own writing.

The Painted Essay® is a registered trademark of Diana Leddy. All rights reserved.​

"Research-Backed Writing Strategies from a 5^th Grade Classroom"

What happens when research meets real-world classroom practice? Grade 5 teacher Elise Frank shares how she brought the ideas from “A Path to Better Writing” into her own teaching and made writing more accessible, engaging, and effective for her students. By breaking down the often “invisible” processes behind writing, Elise helps students take ownership of their work, make use of meaningful feedback, and see writing as a tool for learning across subjects. Whether you’re aiming to strengthen your writing instruction, build student independence, or inspire more thoughtful written responses, this episode is packed with practical strategies that turn research into meaningful classroom practice.

Hear how one teacher simplified writing instruction, increased student ownership, and made writing work across the curriculum.

• What parts of the writing process feel most invisible or unclear to your students? How might you make those steps more explicit?
• How do your students currently respond to feedback? What changes could encourage more ownership and reflection?

Classroom Move to Try

Have students reflect on how each part of the writing process helps them make their writing stronger.

Educators looking to bring this research to life in their classrooms can explore programs such as Arts & Letters™ and Wit & Wisdom®. Both programs are built on the belief that writing is a tool for learning and expression, with writing rooted in knowledge-rich content and instruction designed to support all learners.

Putting the Research to Work in Writing Instruction

These conversations reveal a powerful truth: Great writing instruction isn’t about flashy prompts or one-size-fits-all programs. It’s about helping students make meaning, build knowledge, and express what they’ve learned with growing independence. As you reflect on these episodes, consider how one new routine, one strategy, or one change in structure might shift your students’ experience with writing. Start small, stay curious, and keep learning alongside your students.