Writing collaboratively is a wonderful scaffold and it also gives a far better result. Just look at all the scriptwriters who work together to create a popular TV series like Modern Family. So, when you get students to tackle a full text for the first time, don’t ask them to do it alone. Get them…
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Step by Step Blog
3 Quick Tips to Encourage Student Collaboration
Everyone loves a good collaboration. The Wright Brothers. Yothu Yindi. Mickey and Minnie. Macaroni and cheese. But how is this wizardry achieved in a writing classroom? Good news: it’s not magic. Through short, practical, collaborative activities, students feed off each other’s energy to develop better ideas. Engaging students in the writing process with their minds,…
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5 Writing Activities for Halloween
Boo! It’s time to get your scare on: hello, Halloween! Many of us love to dress up for Halloween, but it’s also the perfect time to go beyond spooky sartorial choices and explore your students’ writing creativity. These five Halloween writing activities will help your students create a creepy tale or two. 1. Picture Writing…
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How to create a fun daily writing activity that students love!
Repetition makes muscle memory. Which is why daily writing is so important – the more your students practise brainstorming, planning and writing, the ‘stronger’ they’ll become. But we all know we can’t ask students to write a full story every day. It’s just too much! Instead, focus on one skill at a time and introducing…
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Seven Steps and BrightPath
One of the great things about adopting the Seven Steps and BrightPath is you don’t have to get rid of things that are already working well in your classroom. If you are doing great things, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water! Instead, build on the foundations you have already laid to create…
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Facts can be as fun as fiction: improving informative writing
So, what is informative writing? At its simplest, any text that seeks to ‘inform’. This includes a fabulous variety of things like: reports emails documentaries news articles sports reports science experiments even things like the description of how a fridge works! In this wonderful digital era, texts are completely multimodal – they can be written,…
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The Educator Hot List 2019: Seven Steps Creator named for the fourth year running!
It’s official! Seven Steps creator and CEO, Jen McVeity has been named in The Educator’s 2019 Hot List for the fourth year in-a-row! The Educator is one of the most renowned Australian publications for senior educational professionals and decision-makers. This lists highlights the outstanding work and research in the name of ensuring students have the…
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National Science Week: Fun Writing Activities
Attention, moonwalkers! National Science Week is 10-18 August. The theme is Destination Moon: more missions, more science. What a fantastic way to celebrate the Moon Landing 50th Anniversary! This is a great time for big-picture thinking with your students: explore moon missions and space programs of the past, present and future. Solve problems and use…
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