Pillar 5: The 5 Pillars of Effective Writing Instruction – The Writing Cycle

In the fifth and final episode of their series, hosts Phil and Sharon are joined once again by De and Danielle, two Year 6 teachers whose approach to writing instruction has quietly transformed what their students believe they are capable of. The conversation centres on the writing cycle — the fifth of De and Danielle's five pillars — and the teachers are quick to challenge the assumption that writing is a neat, linear process. In their classrooms, writing moves forwards and backwards. Students draft, revisit, revise, and return to earlier stages whenever the work demands it. The "one-and-done" habit, deply ingrained across many schools, is something De and Danielle have worked deliberately and persistently to dismantle. The episode moves through the practical architecture that makes this possible. De and Danielle explain their school-wide editing code, which gives students a shared visual language for feedback, and walk through the self-edit, peer-edit, teacher-edit sequence that distributes responsibility across the classroom. Flexible conferencing — conversations that happen before school, between lessons, and in any available gap — is described as a cornerstone of the approach, always beginning with specific, genuine praise before moving to areas for growth. Two powerful student-centred practices take centre stage. "Pinking your win" asks students to highlight, in pink, the moment in their writing where they can see their personal goal being met — making individual progress concrete and owned. The hot task, completed independently at the end of each unit, gives students the chance to perform without scaffolding, while the cold task completed at the start of the unit sits alongside it as a record of how far they have travelled. Two students, Seb and Spenny, share their experience of the cycle from the inside — and what they describe is a process that has changed not just their writing, but how they think about improvement itself. JOIN TEACHIFIC NOW AND SAVE! Join Teachific  today. Access thousands of resources and a growing number of 'anytime' courses within your membership. FURTHER INFORMATION Tune in to "Teacher's Tool Kit For Literacy," a free podcast where accomplished literacy educator Sharon Callen and her team share valuable insights and tips. With over 30 years of experience, they provide strategic learning solutions to empower teachers and leaders worldwide.  Subscribe on your favourite platform for exclusive literacy learning content.  Apple, Spotify,  Google, YouTube Read our insightful blogs, which make valuable connections between resources, podcasts and courses. Visit our Cue Learning website and sign up for the Teacher's Toolkit Weekly newsletter to stay updated on resources, events and discover how Cue can support you and your school. Explore Teachific, our vast collection of PDF resources, to enhance your teaching toolkit. And get even more support from our growing number of 'anytime' online courses. Connect with the latest news and other educators by joining our Teacher's Toolkit Facebook group Explore upcoming live or online webinar  events Have questions or feedback? Reach out to us directly at [email protected]