Writing – Talk 4 Writing

Writing 

The Talk for Writing (T4W) approach is used in all year levels at WLPS. It is a unique, evidence-based program developed by Pie Corbett and advocated for by The Dyslexia Speld Foundation (DSF).

T4W reflects the school’s pedagogical choice of The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model. The program moves students from imitating a text, to innovating on a text, to independent application. A key feature of the program is the way in which children ‘talk the texts’ to internalise the required language structures.

The T4W approach relies heavily on formative assessment, which is another priority of WLPS. Through the implementation of ‘cold-tasks’, teachers are able to target their teaching on a whole-class, small-group or individual level, and adapt the model texts to suit. The relevant language structures become clear learning intentions and are taught explicitly through the use of writing ‘toolkits’. Teachers provide regular feedback on these, making learning visible and answering the fundamental questions of “where am I going?”, “how am I going?” and “where to next?”.

Overall, the T4W approach closely matches the pedagogical approaches and strategies of the school. The staff at WLPS has seen a significant improvement in the writing abilities of students since the implementation of the program.

The T4W approach has many commonalities with First Steps Writing.