In this episode, Whitney and Travis continue their planning conversation around a grammar lesson for elementary grades. Using a model from the text J.D. and the Great Barber Battle by J. Dillard, the hosts create the invitations to imitate, apply, and edit. They also include a discussion around setting your grade-level team up for success when planning out novel ways to share and celebrate student writing within the invitational process. For more about the planning of this lesson, check out the previous episode for details on setting up the focus phrase, finding the model sentence, and deciding on a second model for comparing and contrasting.

Episode transcript

FREE Support Resources & Text Shout Outs

⁠PoP Lesson Planning Doc⁠

⁠PoP Lesson Slideshow⁠

⁠J.D. and the Great Barber Battle by J. Dillard⁠

Travis and Whitney dive into planning effective Patterns of Power (PoP) lessons for elementary grades. They focus on the essential concept of compound sentences using coordinating conjunctions, particularly the FANBOYS (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So). Listeners learn how to choose appropriate mentor texts and sentences to illustrate these grammar concepts effectively. This episode serves as a mini professional development session, guiding teachers through the initial stages of planning their PoP lessons, with practical tips and examples to make the grammar instruction relevant and engaging for students.

Episode transcript

FREE Support Resources & Text Shout Outs

PoP Lesson Planning Doc

PoP Lesson Slideshow

J.D. and the Great Barber Battle by J. Dillard

In this episode of Podcast Reboot, hosts Whitney and Travis outline upcoming episodes where they'll guide listeners through lesson planning that highlights the various levels of PoP, from elementary to high school levels. This episode shares with listeners an overview of the upcoming planning lessons, which can be used as mini professional learning sessions for teachers!

episode transcript

In this episode, Travis and Whitney provide concrete examples from published literature to demonstrate how infinitives, participles, and active voice make writing more concise and dynamic. Resources including the Form New Verbs chart are available to support both teachers and students in mastering this powerful revision option.

episode transcript

episode shout-outs:

Forming New Verbs chart

What's Inside a Flower and Other Questions About Science and Nature by Rachel Ignotofsky

Notes Toward a New Rhetoric by Francis Christensen

Flip the Script by Lila Lee

A Seed in the Sun by Ida Salazar

Shine On, Luz Véliz! by Rebecca Bell Carswell

In this episode, Whitney and Travis continue their conversation about their process of facilitating sentence combining in the elementary and middle school classroom. They share examples of lessons and talk through their teaching process.

episode transcript

Episode shout outs:

Reviser's DRAFT Board

⁠The Ogress and the Orphans ⁠

In this episode, Travis and Whitney explore sentence combining as a powerful revision strategy. They discuss how teaching students to combine basic sentences into more sophisticated ones significantly improves writing quality. This episode highlights the research base for this classroom practice, as well as sharing the authors' behind-the-scenes preparation for classroom implementation.

Episode shout outs:

Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools

The Ogress and the Orphans

Travis and Whitney explore the revision strategy of adding content to writing. They dive into how to teach students to add information purposefully - not just to make writing longer, but to clarify ideas and create meaningful connections between thoughts. Specific lesson examples from both elementary and middle school levels are shared, demonstrating how to help students understand when and why to add content to strengthen their writing.

episode transcript

Texts we shout out in this episode:

Wow in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body by Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz

Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest by Heahter Lang

Travis and Whitney explore the "R" in their DRAFT mnemonic for teaching revision: Rearrange. Using examples from both elementary and middle school texts, they demonstrate practical strategies for helping students understand why sentence and paragraph order matters in writing. The hosts share specific classroom techniques, like using note cards to physically move sentences around, and discuss how teaching students to justify their ordering choices builds critical thinking skills that extend beyond the writing classroom.

Music by Jeff Kaale

Literature shout outs in this episode:

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Body Snatchers by Joan Axelrod Contrada

The Big Book of Soccer by Mundial

In this episode, Whitney and Travis dive into the "Delete" component of the Patterns of Revision teaching framework. They explain how to teach students to effectively delete repetitive or unnecessary information from their writing to make it clearer and more impactful. Using mentor text examples from both elementary and middle school levels, they demonstrate their lesson structure.

Music by Jeff Kaale

Literature shout outs in this episode:

Daryl's Dream by Darryl "DMC" McDaniels

Living Simply: A Teen Guide to Minimalism by Sally McGraw

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

In this episode, Whitney talks with three educators from Northwest ISD in Texas about their journey with Patterns of Revision. Kelli Palmer (Language Arts Coordinator), Caitlin Sherwood (3rd grade), and Katrina Lawyer (4th grade) share how this resource transformed their teaching of revision, fostered meaningful student discussions about writing choices, and helped both teachers and students understand the power of purposeful revision. Through their stories and experiences, they offer insights into implementing the program and celebrating student growth in writing.

View transcript here