Strategies for implementing explicit writing skills

At Eumundi State School, Anthony asked his staff what makes good writing, whatever the subject.  Chasing illusive answers, Anthony introduced all Eumundi staff to the Writer’s Toolbox 12 Sentence Styles.  Then, he took six staff members to a Writer’s Toolbox 2-Day Teacher Writing Conference, led by Dr Ian Hunter.  Those six staff were the early adopters; they “built the capacity of all our staff on the skills we use to make writing enjoyable to read.”
 
“One of the best moments,” Anthony says, “is when you expose teachers to the Writer’s Toolbox programme and the ease of embedding it, and they get that aha moment.  That moment where they say: this just makes sense.” 

Anthony sees this as a real point of difference.  “It’s those simple, explicit, research-based skills that Writer’s Toolbox delivers,” he says.  “Unless the research actually lifts student writing outcomes, I wouldn’t implement it.  And that gives confidence to my teachers, to teach those skills.”