Recent posts from Sharon Callen
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The 5 Pillars of Effective Writing Instruction - Part 5
Pillar 5: The Writing Cycle The Teacher's Toolkit for Literacy Podcast — 2026 Series When two experienced Year 6 teachers from Western Australia sat down to reflect on how their students approached writing, they noticed something uncomfortable: most children believed that writing was a one-way journey. Plan, draft, fix a...
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The 5 Pillars of Effective Writing Instruction - Part 4
Pillar 3: Mastery Through High-Impact Writing Instruction The Teacher's Toolkit for Literacy Podcast — 2026 Series When teachers De and Danielle sit down to plan their Year 5/6 writing programme, they are not simply thinking about what to teach. They are thinking about how to take every student further —...
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The 5 Pillars of Effective Writing Instruction - Part 3
Pillar 3: Independence in Learning The Teacher's Toolkit for Literacy Podcast — 2026 Series There is a widespread assumption in education that structure and creativity pull against each other — that the more you scaffold a student's writing, the less room there is for genuine expression. Episode 153 of Teacher's...
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The 5 Pillars of Effective Writing Instruction - Part 2
Pillar 2: Every Student Can Produce Quality Writing The Teacher's Toolkit for Literacy Podcast — 2026 Series What separates a classroom where children merely complete writing tasks from one where they genuinely see themselves as writers? In the second episode of their 2026 series, Phil and Sharon return to Fairview...
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The 5 Pillars of Effective Writing Instruction - Part 1
Pillar 1: Purposeful Planning The Teacher's Toolkit for Literacy Podcast — 2026 Series When two Year 6 teachers at a small regional school in Collie, Western Australia sat down to name what made their writing instruction work, they started where they always start: with planning. Danielle Monique and De Ludlum...