Students often want to know what the life of a real author is like. These three free sample videos (from Seven Steps Online) provide a glimpse into real writers’ work and how they use the Seven Steps concepts in their writing.

Kids LOVE chatterboxes. Use this template to help prompt new writing ideas for your students, and for a little classroom fun! There are more writing prompts in the Step 1 Action Activities on Seven Steps Online.

The Curriculum Matrix is a planning tool designed to help you quickly and easily find the content you require. This extract from the Curriculum Matrix lists the Year 2 Australian Curriculum content descriptions covered by each Step and directs you to the relevant pages in the Early Years Writing Manual. The full matrix is available on Seven Steps Online.

This short play was created using dialogue from Jen McVeity’s novel Dreamcatcher. As explained in our Narrative Writing Manual, ask students to rehearse the play in groups, then discuss what the dialogue reveals about each of the characters and the plot.

Try these practical writing activities that use apps and software, video and audio! There are lots more ideas on using digital technology in the writing classroom in the Action Activities series on Seven Steps Online. << Back to Article

Jillian Mudford from Bellevue Hill Public School has kindly allowed us to share her comprehensive list of picture books that are perfect for modelling Seven Steps techniques. So many ways to inspire students’ creative writing! Seven Steps Online members can assess dozens of Story Graphs on popular themes and inquiry topics. << Back to Article

The beauty of the Seven Steps is that once you have mastered them they can be applied to any creative
text types including poetry. Haiku are a great place to start with any age group, try this activity and see
how the Seven Steps can help you to teach this form of poetry.

In our Seven Steps workshops and school PD sessions, we share a number of videos and advertisements that provide perfect examples of the Seven Steps in action. Teachers use them to engage students and to show them how real-world stories are carefully planned and crafted, regardless of whether they are written or filmed.

Make your Seven Steps workbooks look super snazzy with these covers! Download the colour or black and white version for students to stick on the front of their workbooks.

Tanya Gill from Allenstown State School has kindly allowed us to share the Term 4 planning document for their Writing Improvement Agenda (for 2015). Their approach was modelled on a similar plan implemented by Crescent Lagoon State School in 2014 which amalgamated the NAPLAN Marking Criteria and the Seven Steps in a fortnightly scheme of work.  << Back to Article

Sizzling Starts are the most effective way to engage the audience and the quickest way to improve students’ writing results. This extract from the ‘Simple Guide to Improving NAPLAN Data’ is a great starting point when preparing students for the NAPLAN Writing Test. The complete guide is available on Seven Steps Online.