Engaging writing lessons, planned and ready to teach.
No more downloading random lessons or rummaging through binders. Get daily standard-aligned writing lesson plans and student materials in digital and print.
Join the waitlist to be notified when membership opens in July, 2019.
To ensure timely delivery, do not use a school email address.
Does any of this sound familiar?
"I wish we had resources to teach writing that my students enjoyed."
"I feel unprepared to teach writing properly."
"I hate having to search out writing lessons that never really fit together."
"I never have time to really plan writing the way I'd like."
If so, wouldn't it be amazing to have daily, engaging writing lesson plans at your fingertips?
Membership Features
Standard-Alignment
Each grade level includes standard-aligned lessons and activities. We don't group grades together because we want them perfectly aligned to the grade level!
Rubrics & Grading, Simplified
Get access to rubrics and grading checklists that will make assessment a breeze!
Engaging Topics
All of our lessons are student-approved. We choose high-interest topics to spark student thinking.
Authentic Tools for Revision & Editing
We go way beyond editing marks, with organizers for authentic revision & editing. We also help with forms for conferences that are tailored to each type of writing!
Fully Editable Lesson Plans
All daily lesson plans are fully editable PowerPoint files! You can simply print them (or assign on devices) and teach, or you can make any changes you need to accommodate your students.
Digital Materials
Every student activity and organizer is also available on Google Slides to easily assign in Google Classroom.
Included Training
This membership is all inclusive. When you join, you get access to the daily lesson plans and materials you need to engage your students in high quality writing tasks. In addition, you get all current and future training. Our goal is to keep you current on new writing strategies, so that you have all of the tools to help your students succeed!
01
Master the Mini-Lesson Learn how to use the writing lesson plans to deliver the perfect 15 minute mini-lesson in a way that engages your students and prepares them to complete their writing assignment.
02
The Digital Classroom This training will teach you exactly how to use the digital lessons included in this membership in a way that sets you and your students up for writing success! If your students have devices, you won't want to miss this training!
03
Organizing Student Writing It can be a challenge to organize all of the paper that comes with the writing process. If your students don't have 1:1 devices, or you prefer to teach writing primarily on paper, this is a great training on how to keep it all organized. We also discuss the importance of organization when students need to return to their notes to complete future writing assignments.
Our training library is constantly growing! We choose the future training topics based on member suggestions, so make sure to send us your ideas after you join!
Who We Are
April Smith | Content Creator
April taught upper elementary grades for ten years before leaving the classroom to train teachers and write her first book, Project Based Learning Made Simple. Before she left the classroom, she had the honor of training new teachers on the craft of writing instruction. She was also honored with Intermediate Teacher of the Year in 2015 for her work integrating 21st century learning into her 4th, 5th, and 6th grade ELA classroom. Now April primarily focuses on creating engaging lessons for students that all teachers can easily implement. Her main focus is to create self-directed learners who enjoy coming to school each day. It was her experience working with writing teachers that inspired her to create this membership program.
Contributing Teachers
Emily Dixon
Jessica Robinson
Ashley Fawl
Jill Connor
Brittney Harris
The Story Behind Simplify Writing
I took over my district's writing trainings several years ago. As a teacher who loves teaching writing, it was a bit of a shock to find out that most teachers did not feel the same way. Our teachers were completely lost with writing planning. They had mismatched resources from the last 15 years of multiple writing curriculums and advisors. They were pulling from binders, filing cabinets, and Teachers Pay Teachers, and trying to put it all together. They were frustrated because writing had become tedious to plan and teach, and their students were definitely not "getting it" or enjoying the process. The focus on multiple choice test skills had left writing in the dust.
As I tried to assist my first group of teachers in nailing down the writing process, I realized that an 8 hour training was not nearly long enough to give them what they needed to teach all types of writing. They just wanted lesson plans that worked, so that they could focus on everything else they had to do. They were not the only ones with this problem. After years working with teachers around the country, I realized that writing has been left behind almost everywhere. This membership was born from this need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I find these lessons on Teachers Pay Teachers?
Do you accept purchase orders?
Are these lessons Common Core Aligned?
What if our school calendar doesn't line up with the membership calendars?
Is this membership helpful for homeschoolers?
Do the resources change each month?
How much time do I need each day for these writing lessons?
Do I lose access to past lesson plans?
©2019 Simplify Writing™
Performing in Education, LLC