Podcast Summary: “How IEW Helps Students Enjoy Writing”

Podcast: Hillsdale College K-12 Classical Education Podcast
Host: Scott Bertram
Guests: Jennifer Jacket (Fifth Grade Teacher, Seven Oaks Classical School)
& Julia McNeely (Title 1 Director, Seven Oaks Classical School)
Date: December 22, 2025
Duration: 20 minutes

Episode Overview

This episode explores how the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) curriculum can help K-12 students enjoy writing and become more confident, capable writers. Host Scott Bertram leads a practical, detailed discussion with two experienced educators who share their firsthand experiences, strategies, and real classroom stories of implementing IEW. The episode highlights the curriculum’s structure, its impact on both struggling and advanced writers, and its broader benefits for student learning across subjects.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

What is IEW?

• Definition: “IEW stands for Institute for Excellence in Writing. It is a writing curriculum designed for all ages, all abilities, and it focuses on the structure, style, and in confidence building for our students.”
  — Jennifer Jacket [02:52]

Addressing the “Blank Page” Problem

• IEW breaks writing into a clear, repeatable process, reducing student anxiety and uncertainty.
• Quote: “Traditionally, when we ask students to write...we give them a blank sheet of paper and tell them, ‘write.’ And this is really intimidating.”
  — Jennifer Jacket [03:16]
• Students use checklists and draft as many times as needed; there is “no chance of failure” since they can always revise.

Keyword Outlines: Making Writing Manageable

• Process: Students outline texts by picking out important keywords, avoiding the pressure of full sentences at the start.
• Builds confidence for all abilities by dismantling overwhelming tasks into smaller, manageable steps.
• Quote: “It breaks writing down into smaller, more manageable steps so students of all abilities are able to get something on the page.”
  — Julia McNeely [04:13]
• Progression from outlines to rough drafts and then stylistic “dress-ups” (e.g., adverbs, adjectives).

Incremental Skill Building

• Students start with simple retelling and gradually advance to complex topics and research writing.
• The “easy plus one” rule: add only one new concept at a time, so mastery happens without overwhelm.
• Quote: “Through these simple incremental steps, we’re helping them become full-fledged writers...they feel like they could be successful.”
  — Jennifer Jacket [05:33]

The Role of Checklists

• Clear, personalized checklists anchor each assignment—if all items are met, students are assured of earning an “A.”
• Teachers can tailor checklists to individual progress (“easy plus one” rule applies here too).
• Checklists foster a sense of achievement and opportunity for revision.
• Quote: “Checklists allow you, the teacher, to teach to all the needs of your students as well.”
  — Julia McNeely [07:03]

Enjoyment Through Structure and Style

• Structured, focused assignments add confidence and make writing (even for struggling students) feel achievable and rewarding.
• For advanced students, style elements (“dress-ups,” sentence openers) provide challenge and depth.
• Quote: “We make it very easy for them to write a piece that seems a lot more complicated than...they feel they've had to put into it.”
  — Jennifer Jacket [08:48]

Engaging Source Material

• IEW uses a diverse range of nonfiction and fiction texts, including “fables, historical anecdotes, and even oddities like hagfish,” to spark curiosity.
• Topics align with history or other curriculum themes, deepening cross-subject engagement.
• Memorable Moment: Jennifer recounts reading a gross-out hagfish story to her class, much to their delight:
  “When I got in front of the classroom and started reading about it, it's just absolutely disgusting...The students thought it was the greatest thing in the world.”
  — Jennifer Jacket [11:17]

Cultivating Higher Order Thinking

• Students analyze, synthesize, and reinterpret information; they are not just retelling but organizing and expressing ideas for real audiences.
• Quote: “They need to determine, like, how do they want to present this information in their writing?”
  — Jennifer Jacket [12:10]

Supporting Reluctant Writers

• Scaffolded instruction means reluctant writers feel progressively more capable.
• Speaking practice and shared stories help shy or struggling students gain excitement and pride in their writing.
• Quote: “What I’ve appreciated about IEW is...its methodology provides scaffolding that builds confidence in these reluctant writers.”
  — Julia McNeely [13:23]

Video Lessons and the Teacher’s Role

• IEW provides professional development support, including high-energy demo videos by curriculum creator Andrew Pudewa.
• These resources help teachers model excitement and best practices for effective instruction.
• Quote: “His excitement is so catching for the program. He is very high energy. You could see that his students are engaged.”
  — Jennifer Jacket [15:13]

Challenging Advanced Writers

• IEW’s flexibility allows teachers to push advanced students with richer vocabulary choices, more complex sentence structures, and deeper analysis.
• Students naturally transfer skills to other subjects and independent writing.
• Quote: “These writers will challenge themselves...to find the perfect word. And in that way, we’re really teaching students to master command of their language, both in speech and in their written expression.”
  — Julia McNeely [16:35]

The Broader Impact: Writing Across the Curriculum

• Improved writing skills support confidence and achievement in every subject area, including history, science, and even math.
• IEW scaffolds students from basic composition toward senior thesis and beyond, fostering self-expression and discernment.
• Quotes:
  “IEW is the step-by-step program that is going to set them up for excellent writing...across any subject, they can feel confident in being able to discern the major ideas of a text, break it down into smaller parts, and then synthesize and rewrite it in their own words.”
  — Julia McNeely [18:17]
  “We're writing in history, we're writing in science, we're writing in math class. And these students truly are...incorporating it into their writing...their writing just across the board improves, not just in composition class.”
  — Jennifer Jacket [19:16]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Blank Page Problem:
  “This is really intimidating...Where are they supposed to start?”
  — Jennifer Jacket [03:16]

• On Building Up Reluctant Writers:
  “We take all of that anxiety away from the blank page by teaching students how to form the keyword outline.”
  — Julia McNeely [13:23]

• Source Text Fun:
  “I was just trying to keep it together, which just entertained them even more.”
  — Jennifer Jacket, describing teaching about hagfish [11:17]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:52] — IEW defined and described
• [03:16] — Solving the “blank page” problem
• [04:13] — Keyword outlines explained
• [05:33] — Incremental skill building and “easy plus one”
• [07:03] — Role of checklists in the writing process
• [08:48] — Structure, style, and enjoyment of writing
• [10:01] — Source material and student engagement (incl. hagfish story at [11:17])
• [12:10] — Higher order thinking: analysis and synthesis
• [13:23] — Supporting reluctant writers
• [15:13] — Helping teachers through video lessons
• [16:35] — Challenging advanced writers and transfer across subjects
• [18:17] — Impact across the curriculum and building lifelong skills

Conclusion

This episode provides a practical and vibrant look at how IEW’s methods not only demystify and scaffold writing but also help students at all levels find satisfaction, creativity, and confidence in written expression—building lifelong communicators and thinkers ready for success across all subjects.