The Writing Revolution 2.0: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades

by Judith C. Hochman, Natalie Wexler, Doug Lemov (foreword)

Lead a writing revolution in your classroom with the proven Hochman Method

Building on the success of the original best-seller, this new edition of The Writing Revolution adds valuable guidance for teachers seeking a way to bring their students' writing ability up to rigorous state standards. As thousands of educators have already discovered, The Writing Revolution provides the road map they need, clearly explaining how to incorporate the Hochman Method into their instruction, no matter what subject or grade they're teaching and regardless of the ability level of their students. The new edition provides a reorganized sequence of activities and even more student-facing examples, making it easier than ever to bring the method to your classroom.

The Writing Revolution isn't a separate curriculum or program teachers need to juggle. Rather, it is a method providing strategies and activities that teachers can adapt to their preexisting curriculum and weave into their content instruction. By focusing on specific techniques that match their students' needs and providing them with targeted feedback, The Writing Revolution can turn weak writers into strong and confident communicators. In addition, the method

Identify misconceptions and gaps in knowledge Boost reading comprehension and learning Improve organizational skills Enrich oral language Develop analytical abilities The Writing Revolution takes the mystery out of teaching students to write well.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Writing

366 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2024

Reviews

[Natalie Shear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think there is a lot of great information here. I like to summarize what I read.

1. Start at the sentence level.

2. Use the sentence level to build comprehension about reading.
a. Using 3 facts about the story to make or finish a sentence.
b. rewriting a sentence about a story to either expand it or correct the grammar.
c. Have students say what they want to write before writing it. (sentence level).

3. Use comprehension questions to help build a paragraph.
- main idea/summarizing
- It includes some great formats to do this.

There's a lot more to it but I'm gonna need to reread it and reference it as I teach to get it.

Overall, I felt the book gave me a system to start teaching my students to write. I will reference and use a lot of the organizers this year. Or at least that is my plan.

[Tanoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think every educator K through 12 should read this. I can't stand how fast curriculum is turned over for the "newest, greatest thing," but this will be what revolutionizes everything without a fancy price tag. I have yet to meet a teacher who has read this and didn't completely rethink how to teach from then on out.

[George Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know where to begin… Literally… As an ML teacher, this book provided so many good strategies. Districts, elementary districts AND all grade level districts should be reading this.

It’s very much reminding me of, passing the buck… we assume something is happening or know, but most likely, it is not. Therefore, true writing never gets taught because things get passed from one grade to another.

[Colleen Rein · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is fine as the bones of a writing program, but definitely don’t look here if you are looking to be inspired about teaching writing. It is a decent reference book for formula based writing, and would make a good tool to help kids with particular issues.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and learning about new writing strategies! It was not a boring PD book, which always makes a teacher happy 🙂

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource for improving writing instruction.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the original version just before starting as a 5/6 ELA teacher and noted that I must incorporate these ideas into my teaching. I mostly didn't - maybe some appositive work here and a because/but/so there... but when I saw the lower school reading specialist with a copy of the new version, we started talking about the philosophy and how awesome it seemed, and how our kids could really benefit from its use.

That led to a 5-person summer book club spanning grades 1-8 and including MS math & science teachers, which led to pre-service PD sessions... which hopefully will lead to widespread adopting of this pedagogy!

[Tandava Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really great. “Thinking through writing” is exactly what I’ve been wanting to focus on more, and this gives a lot of good options to do that while at the same time building up general writing skills. The suggested integration across subjects feels like it will be more work for me, because of coordinating with other teachers, but also makes complete sense and should benefit everybody all around. I’m planning on using this a lot next year, and recommending it to the other teachers at my school.

[Adayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read along with an online book club and enjoyed the community as we went through this.

There are a few activites that I can see would be beneficial to incorporate, yet not essential. Overall, the strategies do not align with my goals in our homeschool and I will not be using this very much.

I would summarize much of this book to be just a different way of presenting comprehension questions. If you have decided not to incorporate those in your teaching, I don't see this manual as being extremely helpful to you.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as part of a professional book study at work. This text, which is aligned with the Science of Writing, is an excellent piece for educators of all grades as we reconsider what we know about how to teach reading and writing. It is a challenge to revise our thinking about the patterns and processes we used to use to teach writing, but it is necessary in order to create stronger thinkers, readers, and writers.

[James Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished The Writing Revolution 2.0 and wow… this book makes so much sense. I love how the Hochman Method centers everything on strong sentences, explicit instruction, and writing that is deeply connected to content. It’s been so encouraging to see so many of these practices already showing up in our CKLA planning. Even the small daily mini-lessons are making a real difference for students. This is one of those books that immediately changes how you look at teaching writing. 📚✏️

[Lindsay Bembenek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book presents a method of writing instruction for Grades K-12 that begins with sentence level activities and advances all the way to multiple paragraph compositions. A constant reminder throughout the book is that it is the content that drives the rigor of writing instruction regardless of a student’s age, grade or ability level.

[Brit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m giving it 5 stars because it’s the most comprehensive writing guide I’ve ever read. There are lots of great strategies for primarily 3-12, but K-2 are mentioned as well. I would have liked more explicit examples by grade level and more rubrics. Overall, this was a beneficial read! (And I feel like I should’ve used an appositive and SPO to write this.)

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the best resource my district has provided ELA teachers hands down. Good teaching strategies should always trump packaged curriculum. Public school teachers have had so much agency taken away, it feels refreshing to not only be granted permission, but encouraged to do what's best for students. I've actually been reinvigorated and excited to teach again.

[Maddi Spletter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In terms of a book I had to read for PD it is pretty good. There are examples for every subject along with worksheets that outline each activity plus examples for every level of student. It is great to help you figure out how to teach writing, especially for those of us in other subjects.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for those asking where to begin explicit writing instruction. The provided examples for each stage and strategy of writing are very helpful. This will continue to be a go-to resource in my elementary classroom.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using this as our writing curriculum for this school year and I know I will use it for years to come! It is solid writing curriculum that teaches how to explicitly teach children how to write, no matter what grade they are in!

[Dominique Neumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I followed a book study with it. It gives so many strategies- not just for writing but also for reading comprehension, content, the list goes on. I have loved all the templates offered and am excited to implement this into my classroom.

[Jean Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid stuff here that will help kids write and think well. For those of us who use IEW, this is like IEW-lite. I will be using this books “because-but-so” strategy together with IEWs KWO strategy.

[Melynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

📖 A practical approach to interweaving writing instruction across all content areas.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic resource! I highly recommend for all educators!

[Ellen Riggenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Game changer! Learning so much and can’t wait to put it into practice.

[Liz Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. This will be a game changer when it comes to teaching writing instruction.

[Alisa June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here’s one of my yearly reads that has to do with teaching. This one is pretty good. I’m gonna follow this structure this year to teach my kids how to write.

[Sky Pelham · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many great tools in here! Already working some with my kids and they make a huge difference

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful and practical. I have some ideas I can use right away!

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for grad school. Has a lot of good ideas but wish there was more "meat" to what was in the book, especially for the higher grades.

[Sami Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for teachers of any content area! Tons of practical applications to help students become stronger writers

[Maggie Chou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I homeschool my second graders, and as English is not my first language, writing formal essays in English can often feel daunting. To help us get started, I sought effective writing strategies, and this book has proven to be an invaluable resource. It is suitable for students as young as kindergarten, with the book recommending the introduction of sentence writing as early as elementary school. The teaching methods are clear, easy to follow, and supported by numerous examples and downloadable templates from the publisher’s website. We now practice writing daily, and my children thoroughly enjoy the activities, as they are both engaging and easily achievable for them.