Writing Revolution 2.0 Review

As educators, we are always looking for tools that can effectively support our students’ writing development. Enter The Writing Revolution 2.0—a structured, research-based writing curriculum designed to help students master sentence formation, expository writing, and analytical thinking. But does it live up to its promise? In this post, we’ll review the curriculum, explore its benefits and drawbacks, and determine whether it’s the right fit for your classroom.

What Is The Writing Revolution 2.0?

The Writing Revolution is a method that teaches writing through explicit instruction, scaffolding, and structured literacy techniques. It is widely recognized for its evidence-based approach to improving student writing across all subjects, not just English Language Arts. The newest edition, Writing Revolution 2.0, refines its approach and expands on key instructional strategies.

Key Features of The Writing Revolution 2.0

1. 
   Explicit Instruction – Writing is taught systematically, starting from sentences and progressing to paragraphs and essays.
2. Cross-Disciplinary Application – This method can be used in various subjects, from science to social studies.
3. Integrated Grammar Instruction – Instead of isolated grammar lessons, students learn grammar in the context of their writing.
4. Assessment and Progress Monitoring – Built-in formative assessments allow teachers to track student progress.
5. Professional Development – Extensive training and resources are available for teachers to implement the method effectively.

Pros and Cons
✅ Pros:

• Research-backed and evidence-based
• Works across multiple grade levels
• Effective scaffolding for struggling learners
• Encourages structured, clear writing

❌ Cons:

• No creative writing component
• Requires teacher training for full implementation
• Some activities may feel repetitive for advanced students
• Best suited for structured writing rather than exploratory writing

Who Should Use This Curriculum?

• Teachers looking to improve students' structured writing skills
• School administrators seeking a school-wide writing approach
• Occupational therapists collaborating with teachers on sentence-building strategies

Final Thoughts

Overall, The Writing Revolution 2.0 is an excellent tool for educators who want a structured, systematic approach to writing instruction. While it lacks creative writing elements, its explicit focus on sentence and paragraph construction makes it invaluable for developing students' foundational writing skills. If you work in an environment that emphasizes expository writing, this curriculum could be a game-changer.

Would you like more curriculum reviews like this? Let me know in the comments!

Resources Mentioned

📘 The Writing Revolution 2.0 – The updated book outlines the Hochman Method

📂 FREE Downloadable Writing Templates & Classroom Resources – Available at thewritingrevolution.org.

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TIME STAMPS

00:31 Overview of The Writing Revolution 2.0

01:00 The Six Core Principles of The Writing Revolution

02:15 Breaking down writing concepts into manageable segments

03:07 A 5-star curriculum? Key strengths of The Writing Revolution 2.0

04:26 Sentence-level scaffolding and writing clarity

05:00 Assessment, professional development, and accessibility

Episode Transcript

Speaker (00:00):
Welcome to the writing glitch.

(00:01):
Hey, I'm Cheri Dotterer,your classroom coach.
Today, we're going to bereviewing the writing revolution.
If you listen to last week'spodcast, I had Christine Teahan.
. She is one of the coaches over atwriting revolution and they just
came out with Writing Revolution 2.

(00:22):
0. leT me share my screen here and Iwill share a little bit about what 2.
0 has in it.
Alright, the Writing Revolution 2.
0. Let's take a look atthe table of contents.
Section one is talking about sentences,section two, writing length, section

(00:47):
three, how to assess writing and adaptthe Huckman method in your classroom.
And then there's all kinds of appendicesthat are outlining different activities
that you can do with your students.
So let's just glance through here.

(01:09):
What your teacher needs for theroadmap for writing instruction.
The six principles.
What are the six principles?
Students need explicit instruction.
Sentences are building blocks.
When embedded in context of thecurriculum, writing instruction
is a powerful teaching tool.

(01:31):
The context of the curriculum drivesthe rigor of the writing activities.
Grammar is best taught in thecontext of student writing.
And two most important phrases in writingprocess are planning and revising.
Very cool.
So this is not something that wewould use as occupational therapists.

(01:51):
This is something that teacher isgoing to use to help build sentences.
Oh, there's they have some sentenceswith the answers filled in.
Here we have, they have call out boxes,sentence expansion and note taking.
So they're going to talk a little bitabout note taking in chapter three,

(02:14):
technical tip.
So they break some of theideas down and the concepts
of writing down into segments.
So we, here we have transitions, anothername for a noun and each at the end of
each chapter, we have discussion questionsand And notes resources, expository

(02:37):
writing, example one, it has it filled in.
So I didn't want to go through the bookpage by page, but I wanted to, you to see
some of the chunks that are inside here.
Putting the method into practice,leave no strategy behind,

(03:02):
transition, and then it hasa very in depth glossary.
As I review the Writing Revolutioncurriculum, I want to give it
an overall rating of 5 out of 5.
The Writing Revolution is exceptionalresearch based writing curriculum
that systematically teachesstudents how to write clear,

(03:25):
structured, and cohesive pieces.
It is particularly effective becauseit integrates writing across context
areas, making it Power, a powerfultool for educators in all subjects.
And then let's go through some details.
When we talk about research basedfoundations, we talk about evidence
based cognitive science aligned,strong emphasis on structured literacy

(03:50):
and integrated grammar instruction.
It has all of those pieces.
As far as the curriculum goes,it's systematic, it's sequential.
It's cross disciplinary, itemphasizes expository and analytical
writing, and it is really easyto adapt it for your struggling
learners and your gifted students.

(04:13):
Sentence level focus.
It focuses on building sentences,so it builds in scaffolding to help
you with building those sentences.
It focuses on syntax and clarity.
Oh, did I say that word funny?
Syntax and clarity.
Also, it really is looking at helpingstudents master creating sentences

(04:36):
and paragraphs and technical writingand expository writing skills.
With professional development support,as you heard last week on Christine's
episode, they have an extensiveprofessional development program

(04:58):
assessment of progress monitoringevery step along the way we have a
formative assessments that are built in.
It is data driven, so those assessmentsare effectively communicated in an IEP.

(05:20):
It's accessible for diverselearners, for English language
learners, for cultural relevance.
The one thing that this curriculumdoes not have is creative writing.
So if you're working on creativewriting with a student, it
is not going to have it.

(05:42):
So when I took a review of it, I tooka look at some of the pros and cons.
We talked about it, it's research based,it works across all grade levels, it's
easily integrated with all studentsin all curriculums, it's explicit
instruction, it has strong scaffolding.
What it doesn't have, likeI just mentioned, it doesn't

(06:02):
have creative writing.
It requires the teacher to betrained to fully implement it.
Just reading the book is not goingto be enough for you to get a really
broad understanding of what thewriting revolution has to offer.
Some of the activities may feelrepetitive or for advanced students.
It is focused on meaning proficiency.

(06:24):
It is not focused on, it's not agifted program that's going to touch
on something and move on very quickly.
It is there to help the learnerswho are struggling a little bit
more than the gifted student.
It requires teacher buy in forschool wide implementation.
It, yeah, this is a very structured

(06:47):
curriculum.
There's not much wiggleroom on how to implement it.
Take that for what it's worth.
You saw a little bit of some ofthe pages in inside the book.
So you have an idea whatthe book looks like.
I read through the table of contents.
So you have an idea there.
But all in all, it's afantastic curriculum if you are

(07:12):
teaching expository writing.
For you as an OT, I would see if yourteachers have a copy of that book and
take out some of the sentences thatthey're using and maybe glance through
it and learn some of the scaffoldingand how they are scaffolding or teaching

(07:33):
scaffolding for sentence structure.
It may benefit you to go through the book.
I don't know as an OT that I wouldtake the time to get fully trained
in it, but there might be somethingthat would be beneficial for you.
in their professional development.
There's a bunch of stufffor free on their website.

(07:55):
So go check that out as well.
This has been Cheri Dotterer,your classroom coach.
See you next week.
Oh yeah.
By the way, before I hang up,
make sure you subscribeand send me a comment.
Tell me if you like these productreviews or if I should stop doing them.

(08:20):
Let me know.