What if young students could transform writing from a daunting task into an exciting journey of self-expression?

In this episode, Laura Stam, a second-grade teacher from Wyoming, discusses her transformative journey in writing instruction. Struggling initially with an unstructured writing curriculum, Laura discovered innovative methods to support her students.

You will hear how Laura has incorporated strategies fromThe Writing Revolution and self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) to empower her students to write confidently about their learning topics, such as the Revolutionary War and ancient China. Also, you will learn how strategic tools like mnemonics, goal setting, and structured sentence expansion activities have made her students more independent writers.

Resources:

• Focus Article: "A Path to Better Writing" by Steve Graham and Karen Harris
• Laura's Teaching Videos
  • 2nd Grade Writing: CKLA, ThinkSRSD, and The Writing Revolution
  • Writing with Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) and ThinkSRSD (2nd grade)
  • Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) Grade 2: Collaborative Writing with The Magic Fish (1/2)
    Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) Grade 2: Writing with The Magic Fish (2/2)
  • Core Knowledge Language Arts Grade 2: Indus River Writing Demo
• Institute for Excellence in Writing
• The Writing Revolution
• From Struggle to Success: Navigating the Writing Process With Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD)

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.

Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.