Take the first step with Sizzling Starts
A classroom full of fun, enthusiasm and great writing
begins with Sizzling Starts®
What is a Sizzling Start?
A piece of writing needs to grab the reader’s attention right from the start. But most students start with overused (and let’s face it, dull) openings: ‘Once upon a time…’, ‘One day I…’ or ‘In my opinion…’.
Sizzling Starts techniques are guaranteed to banish those boring introductions once and for all.
Open a story with your character jumping out of a plane or when the train is veering off the track. Start a persuasive text with a thought-provoking expert quote. Spark interest with a fascinating fact at the beginning of an information report.
And once students learn the techniques, they’ll notice Sizzling Starts in everything they read and watch!
'Sizzling Starts has been a game changer for us. It has really opened the students' (and teachers'!) eyes to richer vocab, setting the scene with a show, don't tell and allowing a story to start with impact.'
Gray Primary School, NT
'My Year 7s LOVED Sizzling Starts. They just loved reading them aloud with passion and energy.'
Forbes High School, NSW
'Marking NAPLAN this year, I noticed the Seven Steps flair in students' writing - I could pick the Sizzling Starts!'
Coomera Rivers State School, QLD
New to Seven Steps?
Seven Steps to Writing Success is the proven, research-based approach to teaching writing that students love.
Seven Steps has already helped over 50,000 teachers unlock the inner writer in every student. How? By explicitly teaching them the skills that professional authors use, including how to:
- plan and structure an engaging text
- come up with creative, unique and cohesive ideas
- hook the reader from the first sentence
- bring writing to life with descriptive language.
These skills not only help students become great writers but also enhance their reading skills. Students learn to read like a writer and write like a reader.
So where do you begin?
At the Sizzling Start of course! Although it’s Step 2 of the Seven Steps, it’s the easiest place to begin for both students and teachers.
Seven Steps is based on best-practice pedagogy, with each Step chunked to reduce the cognitive load on students. So don’t ask students to write a whole text – just focus on Sizzling Starts for 2 weeks.
We give you everything you need to do it: training videos, classroom PowerPoints, exemplars, lesson plans, activities, assessment tools and more!
Your literacy classroom will be bursting with creativity, fun and a buzzing writing culture!
Ready to get started with Sizzling Starts?
Sign up for a free account and inject fun, collaboration and engagement into your literacy classroom.
You’ll see a marked difference in your students’ writing from the first lesson and there will be a knock on effect on their reading comprehension and communication skills as well.
Most importantly, your students will enjoy their writing lessons, engage with the activities and feel proud to share their writing with the class.
Your free account will give you access to the Sizzling Starts modules across all text types – narrative, informative and persuasive.
You’ll find everything you need to learn, teach, apply and assess Step 2: Sizzling Starts.
- Short training videos
- Teaching resources
- Assessment resources
- A certificate to celebrate your students’ writing success.
All in Teacher Hub – the online home of Seven Steps!
'Students remember to use Sizzling Starts outside of writing class - in science, geography, history. They also use the concept in poetry and when writing reviews.'
Nunawading Christian College, VIC
'Sizzling Starts has encouraged even my most reluctant writers!'
St Margaret Mary's Randwick North, NSW
'When working through Sizzling Starts, there were peals of laughter. One student said his sense of humour could finally be appreciated in the classroom!'
Aitken College, VIC
Writing sample
Classroom display
Template
Informative report
‘🔥🔥 Sizzling Start 🔥🔥
Focusing on the Seven Steps to writing everyday has improved my students’ writing so much in just 5 weeks!!’
Check out this pop art classroom display. These students have used action words to engage the reader. Thanks for sharing @missclassroomcat.
‘Kids loved writing a variety of Sizzling Starts for their narratives then choosing their best one to display 🔥’
‘Have you ever seen a Monarch butterfly slowly emerge from a Chrysalis?
It takes a bit to come out – they can take about 3-4 days. They stay still and move their wings a bit and sometimes move a bit.’