Practical Writing Strategies

About the Book

Practical Writing Strategies is a resource designed for secondary English teachers who want to move beyond formulaic writing instruction. Written by Leon Furze and Benjamin White, the book provides 24 ready-to-use classroom activities built around a six-stage writing cycle: Purpose, Exploration, Ideas, Skills, Collaboration, and Publication.

Rather than shortcutting the complex processes involved in writing, this book encourages teachers to slow down, focus on skills, and guide students through each stage of the writing process. Every activity includes teacher instructions, step-by-step guides, and reproducible student handouts.

Part Two of the book extends beyond individual activities to address whole-school approaches: constructing units of work, giving effective feedback, writing across the curriculum, fostering a culture of writing, and navigating the future of writing in the age of AI.

The Writing Cycle

At the heart of the book is a six-stage writing cycle that students move through — not always linearly, but with intention:

1. Purpose — Understanding why we write and who we write for
2. Exploration — Reading and analysing model texts to understand how they work
3. Ideas — Generating, capturing, and developing ideas for writing
4. Skills — Building word-level, paragraph-level, and text-level writing skills
5. Collaboration — Working with peers to improve writing through feedback and co-creation
6. Publication — Sharing finished writing with authentic audiences

Published by Amba Press

Published in 2023 by Amba Press, Melbourne, Australia.

ISBN: 9781922607508 (paperback) / 9781922607515 (ebook)