OUR EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAM
We built a structured writing program that teaches grammar, handwriting, and spelling in the context of authentic writing pieces.
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Free On-Demand Writing Training
K-8 Teachers
Strengthen your writing instruction with our free 60-90 minute online training sessions.
The Science of Writing: How Writing Fits Into SoR
Learn what the research says and how to implement it in your classroom.
Engage Every Student During Writing
Learn how to differentiate for the varying needs of your students while teaching your grade level whole-group lesson.
Administrators
Learn how to evaluate for quality writing instruction and make small changes with a big impact.
Support Your Teachers and Raise Writing Scores
Receive a blueprint for quality writing instruction that will help you support your students and staff.
The Science of Writing: What Leaders Need to Know
Receive a summary of literacy research pertaining to writing and learn how to evaluate curriculum for alignment.
Home Educators
Learn how to build confident writers in a homeschool setting.
Building Strong Writing Foundations in the Homeschool Setting
Learn how to build a solid foundation by meeting your child where they're at. This training includes information on spelling, grammar, handwriting, and structure.
SIMPLIFY WRITING® CLASSROOM CURRICULUM
The Core Components
Professional Development
Learn how to implement the latest evidence-based instructional strategies for writing instruction.
Daily Lesson Plans
Access fully editable lesson plans and student pages for explicit, systematic writing instruction.
Intervention Lessons
Individualize writing instruction and see meaningful growth by making simple modifications to whole and small group lessons.
Grammar In Context
Teach grammar in the context of our core lessons, with our unique system that allows for teachers to differentiate for the skills their students need the most.
CORE LESSONS
Each Lesson Includes:
- Standards, learning goals, and success criteria
- Simple, step-by-step teacher directions
- Mentor text and teacher models
- Blank graphic organizers for students
- Digital copies of all student organizers (Grades 3-8)
- Exemplars and rubrics
SIMPLIFY WRITING® CLASSROOM CURRICULUM
Supporting English Language Learners
Modifying and adapting our grade-level lessons for your ELLs through the use of research-based instructional practices is an effective way to make the grade-level content more accessible and to create a more equitable, accessible learning environment for all students.
Our ELL library of resources includes: Color-Coded Essay Templates, Essay Sort Templates, Sentence Frames, Bilingual Glossary, Pre-teach Vocabulary Strategy, Language Proficiency Rubrics, Reduced Text, Unpacking Sentences, and Word Banks.
Text Read-Alouds: Every mentor text and reference text inside of the Simplify Writing® program comes with a read-aloud option. This can help your students access the text, hear academic vocabulary spoken aloud, and provide opportunities for students to refer to the text without the teacher being there to read it to them.
All passages and core lessons are editable, so they can be translated to any language using AI.
Available resources vary by grade level program.
SIMPLIFY WRITING® CLASSROOM CURRICULUM
Filling in Skill Gaps With Intervention
Our intervention resource library offers extension lessons tailored to common skills that students frequently find challenging. These resources can be utilized to differentiate instruction in whole group settings or to provide targeted learning opportunities in small groups.
The Success With Simplify Writing® course shows teachers how to use our extensive intervention library to customize the program to fit their unique classroom needs.
Resources inside the intervention library include: letter formation, handwriting, organization, elaboration, idea generation, stamina, and much more.
Available resources vary by grade level program.
NEW RELEASE
A Secular Homeschool Program That Takes the Guesswork Out of Teaching Kids to Write
We're working on a version of Simplify Writing® that utilizes systematic, direct instruction through video modules to walk you and your child through the fundamental skills of writing. Leveled by the child's particular skills, you'll get exactly what you need to support your budding writer.
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Used With Over 500,000 Students
"...everything we need to be successful."
"I love this program so much because it is so comprehensive and provides both me and my students with everything we need to be successful. It helps me become a better writing teacher through the trainings that are provided, the lesson plans, and the organized standards. The past two years I have seen more student growth than I thought possible. Students who enter the year dreading writing, leave with so much confidence, skill, and a new appreciation for writing. It is amazing to see the growth, and to see how writing is a skill that everyone can master, not just the kids who enter the year already loving to write." ~ Morgan Hazel
"...freed up valuable time in our homeschool classroom."
"When transitioning to Simplify Writing®, my writing block underwent a significant transformation. Gone were the days of grappling with extensive lesson planning and preparation. Instead, the structured approach and abundant resources provided by Simplify Writing® streamlined the writing process, allowing for a more focused and efficient instructional session. The clear instructions and engaging materials immediately captured my kids' interest, empowering them to take ownership of their learning and dive into writing with enthusiasm. While there was a brief adjustment period as they acclimated to the new setup, the results were evident almost immediately. Within a short time, my kids demonstrated improved writing skills, increased confidence, and a newfound enjoyment of the writing process." - Karin Goldmann
"...a comprehensive program that truly simplifies writing!"
"As the name states, it's a comprehensive program that truly simplifies writing! It chunks the daunting task of genre of writing and has activities that break down the stages of writing in a manageable way for students.
As a middle school special education teacher that has students with varying ability levels when it comes to writing, I love how the program breaks down everything into manageable pieces for my students. My students do not groan when it's time for writing instruction. We are currently finishing up our Explanatory writing pieces and I have been so impressed with the ideas my students have come up with. I can already tell they're proud of their published pieces and it goes without saying that I am so proud of them too." - Megan Brown
Bite-Sized Instruction
Students learn best when the writing standards are broken down into short, clear lessons that they can then apply in their own writing. Each of our lessons takes about 10-15 minutes and keeps students engaged and active in the learning experience.
Fluid Grammar
Grammar instruction should naturally flow into student writing. We show teachers how to use our library of grammar tools in the context of student writing to better develop the written language skills of their students.
Differentiation
We know firsthand that each classroom is made up of a diverse group of students. Our resources provide the flexibility teachers need to reach students with varying experiences, background knowledge, and ability levels. In addition to our core program, we have an extensive intervention library and tools for English Language Learners.
Support
Teachers are more successful when they receive adequate training on a new curriculum. We walk teachers through using the Simplify Writing® materials in every step of their writing instruction, and we provide ongoing email support to address any questions or issues they have in their writing block.
Research-Based Strategies
The Simplify Writing® Program was built using research-based strategies and tested in real classrooms.
STRATEGY #1
Dedicated Writing Time
Although applying writing skills naturally happens in other subject areas, studies support having a dedicated writing time where students can receive adequate practice and instruction in writing.
(Graham, 2019). Graham, S. (2019). Changing How Writing Is Taught. Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 277–303.
STRATEGY #2
Strategy-Focused Direct Instruction
Strategy-focused instruction is one of the most effective approaches to improve writing skills. It aims to teach developing writers strategies that give them executive control over their writing processes. Programs under this kind of instruction tend to have multiple components that include direct instruction, modeling, and scaffolded practice. Study findings suggest that both components, direct teaching and modeling, are equally effective in improving writing skills in upper primary students.
(Lopez, 2017). Lopez, P. (2017). Effects of Direct Instruction and Strategy Modeling on Upper-Primary Students’ Writing Development. Frontiers Psychology.
Marzano, R. (2017). Conducting Direct Instruction Lessons. In The new art and science of teaching (pp. 29–34). Solution Tree.
Raquel Fidalgo, Mark Torrance, Gert Rijlaarsdam, Huub van den Bergh, M Lourdes Álvarez, Strategy-focused writing instruction: Just observing and reflecting on a model benefits 6th grade students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, Volume 41, 2015, Pages 37-50.
STRATEGY #3
Teacher Clarity
Teacher clarity goes beyond simply writing the standards on the board. We support both teachers and students by providing clear purpose, success criteria, and learning goals for every lesson. We must have appropriately challenging goals in order to maximize feedback (Hattie, 2010). The way that we sequence our lessons provides a logical pathway from where the students are at to where we want them to be.
Hattie, J. (2010). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.
Freibrun, M. (2021). Getting started with teacher clarity: Ready-to-use research based strategies to develop learning intentions, Foster student autonomy, and engage students. Ulysses Press.
STRATEGY #4
Teacher Modeling & Exemplar Usage
We provide age-appropriate model texts for every unit. These texts reflect the elements of the writing genre that we want students to replicate in their own writing. In one study, the organization scale revealed significant overall differences between the Models Group and No-Models group. Students in the Models group received higher scores than students without models [Models = 4.1, Control = 3.7, F(l, 80) = 6.4, p < .01]. This result may reflect better organization of sentences within sections as well as inclusion of information in the appropriate section (Charney, D).
Charney, D., & Carlson, R. (1995). Learning to write in a genre: What student writers take from model texts. Research in the Teaching of English, 29, 88-125. .
STRATEGY #5
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers provide a necessary visual element for our English Language Learners and visual learners. Several studies (e.g. Kansızoğlu, 2017) show that students using a concept-mapping learning strategy do better and retain what they have learned longer than students who limit themselves to text-only strategies. We use consistent graphic organizers throughout our units to further increase retention.
Kansızoğlu, H. (2017). The Effect of Graphic Organizers on Language Teaching and Learning Areas: A Meta-Analysis Study. TED EĞİTİM VE BİLİM. 42. 10.15390/EB.2017.6777.
Corrigan, K. (2017). The Use Of Graphic Organizers When Writing With Dual Identified EL And LD Students. Hamline University.
STRATEGY #6
Consistent & Timely Feedback
Feedback is the cornerstone of revision during the writing process. In addition to strategies to incorporate peer and teacher feedback, we include many self-assessment opportunities. We base our feedback materials around the core principle that a “where to next” or “how to improve this work” comment is necessary for student improvement (Hattie, 2019).
Hattie, J. A., & Clarke, S. (2019). Visible learning: Feedback. Routledge.
THE DATA SPEAKS FOR ITSELF
Here's How We're Measuring Up
98.2% of teachers have seen student growth while using the Simplify Writing® program.*
94.3% of teachers report that their students find the Simplify Writing® materials very engaging.*
95.9% of Simplify Writing® teachers feel confident in planning effective writing lessons.*
*Survey data provided was self-reported by a portion of Simplify Writing® adopters in our annual survey.
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For Schools
Thousands of teachers and administrators trust the Simplify Writing® Program. We make the purchase order process simple so that your teachers can get the curriculum they need faster.
For Personal Use
Get instant access to our full writing curriculum with a personal teacher license that you can take with you to any school or district. Please contact us for help getting school funds for the program.
For Homeschool
With simple directions and instructional videos for children and their home educator, our new secular homeschool program is the easiest way to grow writers at home. Get instant access to everything you need.
Looking For Your Next Book Study?
Through her popular writing curriculum, author April Smith has helped thousands of educators develop bite-sized, differentiated writing lessons that can generate opportunities for feedback and support. In Simplify Your Writing Instruction, April shares her trusted system and offers concrete strategies for overcoming the most common struggles that teachers face as they bring writing front and center in the classroom. Even with the limited time you have available to plan, you’ll be able to implement this framework with students of varying ability levels. This book is a quick and actionable guide for grade 3-12 teachers who want to help learners meet and exceed grade-level writing standards.
This book aligns with the 15 credit hour course included in the program. It includes tools to use with a writing curriculum, but does not include the Simplify Writing® curriculum.
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