Talk for Writing: 2-Day Workshop

• Suitable for Educators in Years 1-6
• This is an introductory workshop; no prior Talk for Writing attendance is required
• Delivered in person over 2-Days at the Easts Leagues Club, 40 Main Ave, Coorparoo QLD
• 8 & 9 September 2025, 9.00am – 3.30pm
• We will be providing morning tea, lunch, tea and coffee so please specify any dietary requirements when making a booking

This two-day workshop offers teachers an overview and provides opportunities for hands-on participation in the steps of this exceptionally effective instructional approach. Talk for Writing has the potential to dramatically improve students’ writing. The approach also offers students with learning and language difficulties an opportunity to develop stronger writing skills. Feedback from students indicates that they find Talk for Writing ‘fun, engaging and motivating.’

This comprehensive workshop addresses the use of Talk for Writing in fiction and covers:

• The three-stage pedagogy – Imitation, Innovation and Independent Application/Invention – which are the basis of the Talk for Writing approach, and allows students to move from dependence to independence in a systematic, scaffolded way;
• Development of sentence and grammatical skills, with a focus on functional application of grammar in context, through explicit scaffolds selected to meet specific instructional needs of students;
• Providing effective feedback to students in order to promote skill development;
• Formative assessment of writing, in order to track student progress and guide teaching goals; and
• Planning a unit of work, based on the instructional needs of students and the curriculum/ progression guide.

Participants will leave this introductory 2-Day workshop having planned for a unit to implement immediately.

Participants will be guided through and/or provided with:

• An entire Talk for Writing unit (Day 1);
• An example of a term and unit planner (Day 2);
• The implementation of a vocabulary routine in your classroom;
• Utilising the Australian Reading Spine to support writers, by becoming avid readers;
• An instructional model for teaching language features (‘the writers’ tools’);
• Three toolkits featuring Character, Setting and Suspense tools; and
• A year-by-year progression guide to assist with the teaching of grammar within your Talk for Writing unit.

Upon completion, participants will have free access to the Australian Talk for Writing Forum. Participants can then download model texts, templates, share resources with other teachers, view guides to writing/reading, and can directly connect and ask questions with qualified Talk for Writing trainers.

“Knowledgeable presenter, lots of useful resources, the ability to ask questions. I look forward to trialling this approach.”
“This was a very engaging session. I liked how we understood the planning and activities giving us a unit ready to teach”
“A very interactive, informative PD which was very well presented with clear representations and explanations.”