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TWR’s Alexandria Chalonec and Christine Teahan presented an overview of the Hochman Method during the ResearchED conference in Greenwich, CT. Natalie Wexler, co-author of The Writing Revolution and author of The Knowledge Gap, also appeared at the conference to discuss the connection between literacy and cognitive load theory.
These presentations introduced new audiences to key TWR strategies and the impact of explicit writing instruction on learning and building knowledge.
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The winners of TWR’s 2024 Black History Month Writing Contest have been selected.
Winning entries were written by students from the following schools:
The contest was open to students in grades 3-12 whose teachers are subscribed to TWR’s Resource Library. Hundreds of students throughout the U.S. participated in the contest by submitting responses to the writing prompt, “Who inspires you and gives you hope for a better tomorrow?”
While reading submissions, the judges were excited to see students using Single-Paragraph Outlines and other TWR writing strategies to compose meaningful tributes to the Black figures who inspire them.
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In April, the TWR team continued to visit classrooms in partner schools.
During a visit to P.S. 21 – Margaret Emery-Elm Park School in Staten Island, TWR faculty saw students using the Single-Paragraph Outline (SPO) in 1st grade to identify character traits while studying Chester’s Way. Fourth graders also developed SPOs while studying “The Otters and the Fox”.
In every classroom, students were engaged in using the TWR strategies, which were used to support students’ writing, reading comprehension, and analytical thinking.
TWR continues to spread the revolution. In April, the team held Classroom Planning & Implementation Workshops sponsored by the Ohio Dean’s Compact at the University of Cincinnati. Courses starting in April were attended by educators from across the U.S., including Portsmouth School District in New Hampshire, Arlington County Public Schools in Virginia, Herscher and DeKalb Community Unit School Districts in Illinois, Fontana Unified School District in California, and Burlington-Edison School District in Washington.
