Writing Starts in the Brain, Not on the Page

Part One of my S5E24 ⁨@schoolutionspodcast⁩ ⁨conversation uncovers why underdeveloped executive functioning for kids can impact areas like working memory and response inhibition. Melanie Meehan and Maggie Beattie Roberts make foundational writing skills accessible by highlighting how understanding executive function deficits can completely change how we approach literacy education. We discuss how addressing these executive dysfunction challenges can support a child's development into a more confident writer.

Discover why writing instruction can't wait any longer in literacy conversations. In this powerful episode, Maggie and Melanie reveal the foundational skills we've been overlooking in writing instruction and how understanding executive functions transforms everything—from that first capital letter to complex compositions.

As a special education teacher turned writing coordinator and a national literacy consultant, Maggie and Melanie unpack their groundbreaking book Foundational Skills for Writing: A Brain-Based Guide to Strengthen Executive Functions, Language, and Other Cornerstones for Writing. Learn how eight regions of the brain coordinate when a child picks up a pencil, why handwriting is a gateway to literacy, and how the solar system writing model changes everything we thought we knew about teaching writing.

Some episode mentions:

• ➡️Young-Suk Grace Kim
• ➡️Steve Graham
• ➡️The Writing Clinic 
• ➡️Melanie's other books
• ➡️Two Writing Teachers 
• ➡️Maggie's books: DIY Literacy & Unboxing the Curriculum

Stay tuned for Part Two on Friday, where we dive into practical strategies you can use tomorrow!

Chapters
0:00 - Introduction: The Hidden Challenge in Writing Instruction
1:00 - Meet Maggie Roberts and Melanie Meehan
2:00 - Foundational Skills for Writing: The Book Overview
3:00 - Research That Changed Everything
5:00 - The Origin Story: A Conference Napkin Conversation
7:00 - The Solar System Writing Model Explained
10:00 - Brain at Work: Understanding the Writing Brain
13:00 - Executive Functions: The Stage Hands of Writing
16:00 - Handwriting as a Gateway to Literacy
19:00 - The Writing Clinic: Supporting All Writers
20:00 - Lightning Round: Myths, Truths, and Strategies
24:00 - Coming Up in Part Two

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Transcript

Olivia: [00:00:00] What if the reason your students freeze when they pick up a pencil has nothing to do with ideas and everything to do with the eight regions of their brain trying to coordinate in ways we've never taught them? Today Maggie Beattie Roberts and Melanie Meehan revealed the foundational skills we've overlooked why writing can't wait any longer in literacy conversations. And how understanding executive functions transforms everything from that first capital “E” to complex compositions. Alright, here is my conversation with the fabulous Melanie Meehan and Maggie Roberts.

This is Schoolutions Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers to ensure every [00:01:00] student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive. 

I am Olivia Wahl, and I am so happy to be in conversation with two of my favorite people that have been on the podcast before, but separately, Maggie Roberts and Melanie Meehan. Let me tell you a little bit about Melanie and Maggie. Melanie Meehan began her career as a special education teacher and spent 13 years as an elementary writing and social studies coordinator in Simsbury, Connecticut. Melanie's Passion for writing has led to publishing several books as well as founding the Two Writing Teachers blog and podcast.

Maggie Roberts is a national literacy consultant, author, and highly sought after professional learning facilitator. She's known for her ability to build strong relationships with teachers and school leaders, and is passionate about supporting teachers and creating inclusive classrooms that meet the needs of all children.[00:02:00] 

Our conversation today is going to focus on their brilliant collaboration. Both of you - the book is phenomenal and it's going to help so many children and their teachers and caregivers, but it's about the kids. The book is called Foundational Skills for Writing: A Brain-Based Guide to Strengthen Executive Functions, Language, and Other Cornerstones for Writing. Welcome, welcome, welcome, Maggie and Melanie. 

Melanie: Oh, thanks Olivia. I feel like you said the title better than I Can. Thanks for that. 

Olivia: Well, oh- 

Maggie: I appreciate that introduction. Thank you so much. 

Olivia: Yes, I am thrilled to jump into conversation and what we are going to do in part one as well as part two is really uncover what happens within a child's brain when they pick up a pencil to write this conversation. As [00:03:00] I said, it will help teachers, caregiver, caregivers, leaders, so many people. So let's jump in. Um. I start every conversation asking guests for a researcher or a piece of research that resonates with them. But I'm interested what research blew your minds when you began to write this book or during the process?

Melanie: So I, one of the things that we did in our book is we have a recurring feature of conversations with colleagues. It's kind of a favorite part, and we highlighted researchers we really admire young. Young-Suk Grace Kim is our opening researcher. She's the first one. And her work is really mind blowing me. She's doing, um, just very evidence-based, uh, it, it has to be about the research, what's the research that [00:04:00] supports it and in the conversation she was very, very clear about that. Um, just what is working for, uh, literacy development in children? 

Olivia: Hmm. Nice. Maggie, how about you? 

Maggie: I would say, I think my mind was blown by Steve Graham. I mean, on several different levels. One, the scope of his research and collaborations is outstanding in terms of the partnerships he's built with other researchers and practitioners in the field. And the second layer of my mind being blown is that he has been an avid researcher for decades. Decades upon decades. And if I think about someone who's made an unbelievable contribution to the field of teaching writing, um, it's Steve Graham. 

Melanie: Agreed. 

Olivia: Listeners too - what I want you to know is I will tuck links in the show [00:05:00] notes to the researchers, links to the book, um, links to Melanie and Maggie's contact information just so you know how to get in touch because this conversation, I know you'll offer a lot of different research and resources, um, that people will want to have access to. Let's go to the origin story. Because both of you have so much going on in your lives in the way you support children and teachers, what made you come together and say, this book has to be written right now?

Maggie: Ha. That’s a good story. 

Melanie: I was at a conference in Colorado and Maggie presented and I was sort of um, in the, uh, percolating stage of what's going on in writing instruction and why isn't writing being included in many of the conversations that are happening about reading instruction. And she said some things in the presentation and she's a friend.[00:06:00] I was like, Maggie, we need to talk. 

Maggie: Yes. And I remember she came right up after the presentation and I think the origin story is on a napkin somewhere 

Melanie: It’s on a napkin.

Maggie: You know, a conference napkin with like, grab a pen and let's start to brainstorm opportunities. And I, I do think that it was this moment of being at, you know, the two of us being at the right place at the right time together and also having a shared passion and, um accelerated sense of we have got to loop conversation in around writing and writing instruction and evidence-based work, uh, because there's a lot of great work out there that we wanted to bubble to the surface. And I think that's one of the things that this book does. 

Olivia: I couldn't agree more. And you know, I also, I think a lot about when you're writing [00:07:00] there's a way you structure the book so that readers can stay with you. They can sometimes jump around. But you know what is really in this book, and I'm going to be selfish because I think it would be so helpful for you to illuminate two different features, and then in part two we will go back and talk about how to use the book. But I would love for each of you to think about the writing model because I think it's fresh and brilliant. And then also, um, the Brain at Work feature. So I don't know who wants to attack those, but jump in. 

Maggie: I can talk about the writing model. 

Olivia: Okay.  

Maggie: Um, I think that, you know, when you look at um, uh, the writing model that we developed in concert with, uh, Melanie's unbelievably talented daughter, Larkin, uh, who was our visual designer, uh, for a large part of this project. Um, and so this model and visual took [00:08:00] lots of rounds of revision, but we knew that we wanted to center, um, the writing process as a process that everyone engages in when you are creating a piece of writing.

And so when you look at the model, what's centered is creating a successful composition of writing and the process that writers go through in order to do that. You know, brainstorming and planning and drafting and revising and editing. And then as you start to kind of spool out, think of it almost like a solar system is how I envision it. The planets that are orbiting that um, are groups of skills that are foundational to writers and foundational to being able to engage in the writing process. But that could vary from transcription skills like handwriting. It could move, um, to another kind of hub [00:09:00] of planets, uh, oral language, verbal expression, being able to construct sentences together. And then you'll see this outer ring that holds the whole thing together. Which are our executive functions. 

Olivia: Yes. 

Maggie: Which everybody has, right? It's the brain work. It's the skills we use to initiate a task. It's the skills we use to focus on a piece of writing or reimagine it going a bunch of different ways. And so this writing model tries to not only center successful writing compositions in a writing process, but really illuminate the foundational skills that undergird that and support writers to be able to pick up the pen and write. 

Olivia: Maggie, Mel, before you jump in - something that I think has been missing for so long, and sadly for me as a teacher, if I would've had this [00:10:00] knowledge when I was working with kindergartners, first graders, second graders, um, especially because most of the kids I was working with were also bilingual or multilingual, this would've unlocked so much for me and in turn my students. And so the way you just described, I can close my eyes, I can picture the visual, and then I'm so excited because this comes out before the book is released. But once people have it in their hands. The, the artwork, Mel, your daughter, come on. I mean, I've been privy to seeing it beforehand. It's just spectacular. So… 

Melanie: I paid a lot of money for that, lik. She’s a professional artist. In full disclosure, it is what she does. So… 

Olivia: She does it well.

Melanie: She did a good job at translating everything that Maggie just said. It was a lot of conversations and like almost not quite. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Melanie: Um, so yeah, we really….

Olivia: Just beautiful, beautiful. [00:11:00] So, Mel, help us understand, you know, that idea of the Brain at Work feature. It's amazing, and again, it doesn't exist anywhere. The way you've designed this book is just so helpful. So can you break that down for us?

Melanie: Yeah. So the other piece that Larkin created for us was a brain and the four lobes and a few other key parts of the brain that are all involved in writing. And in absolutely no way, shape or form do we wanna simplify it and say it, this is the only place or the only thing that's going on. Because I think if nothing else, we did a lot, we did enough research that every time we were like, I don't know how to make this simple.

Olivia: I know. 

Melanie: Um, our, our, you know, our constant push to each other was what is it that teachers will really appreciate knowing how can we make this, um, [00:12:00] useful..

Olivia: Yeah. 

Melanie: …for the people who are going to be reading it. So what we've done is we've highlighted the parts of the brain that are most at work, trying also to differentiate between, um, students who have mastered the process and students who are learning the process because it's different. And so it, it, we have a part each chapter that is called Brain Basics, where we highlight those parts and explain what's going on. And I think Larkin's drawing again, just does a great job at giving the visual representation that makes it a little more digestible. 

Olivia: I agree. I couldn't agree more. And I think, you know, it must have been a fascinating process to co-write a book. And you both, I am sure, have chapters that you feel are a little bit closer to your heart. So Maggie, what's a chapter that you feel like you could talk about with someone for hours? 

Maggie: I think [00:13:00] a chapter that I could talk to someone about. 

Melanie: Oh come on, Maggie, that's like (inaudible) 

Maggie: It is the executive function chapter. I am so excited by, um, uh, the conversation around how a person's executive functions really enable them to tackle complex problem solving, which is the act of writing. And, and so when we talk about executive functions, you know, there are these three big categories to know about. Their working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. So if I just take one of those, if I take cognitive flexibility, right? Again, we're teaching young writers and they write a sentence that launches the [00:14:00] start of a story and they're excited by it and it's a great sentence. And then you're also peering over their shoulder and you're saying, I wonder what's another way that could go, that could capture a reader's attention?

And the writer has to sit and kind of potentially for a moment, say goodbye to a sentence that they might really love and try on another way that their story could start. And if I don't have the flexibility in my cognition to like do that work. I could get really frustrated. I might get really sad, and then I need to control those emotions. That's where inhibitory control comes up, right? And so I kind of think executive functions are like the stage hands to an amazing production. 

Right. They are behind the scenes, but without them the production really falls flat or even falls apart. And so if we can support at [00:15:00] that level, it really can build up a child's experience with writing from the ground up and almost, uh, help them engage these, you know, cognitive motors that need to be running in order to tackle the work that, uh, writing curriculum asks kids to tackle.

Olivia: You also, that description you gave us the why that then we can articulate for our children, so if they feel that inflexibility of No, no,  I have fallen in love with this sentence, which I think adults do as writers too. There are so many sentences that my editor is like. No, no, you don't need that. I'm like, oh, no, but I love that sentence.

Maggie: Love that sentence…

Olivia: And so now I have words I can say to her, no, this, I, I need to work on my flexibility, but also for our children to explain why they're feeling that way and then how they can come to the other side of it. It's invaluable because we need, if, when we understand the why we [00:16:00] are reacting, we can pause and pivot. And if we don't have those words, it's so difficult. So thank you for that. Mel, same question for you. What, what chapter’s closest to your heart? 

Melanie: Yeah, I, I feel like I have a harder time with that one. I'm kind of in love with all of them. Um, and I like what Maggie didn't share and it's kind of a good little like back story to this book is the, the executive function chapter went through a lot of revisions, including encompassing what was originally work, just memory and changing positions in the book. So it, it's kind of like that was a, that was a cool one to work on. 

Maggie: It was a cool one to work on. 

Melanie: Um, I don't know that it's my favorite, but I could talk a lot about handwriting at this point. And it surprises me that that's the one that I'm choosing because [00:17:00] as the writing coordinator for many years. I sort of ignored handwriting and I'm like, I look back on it and I'm like, oh, you shouldn't have done that. Because what the research has been really clear about, as we've dug in and also read really recent research, is that handwriting is a gateway to literacy and orthographic mapping. So all of the conversations that we're having about spelling and about reading and decoding and encoding have almost, um. A starting point at letter formation and thinking about the power of that and how important it is for kids to think about how to make letters, how to make them legible, how to be fluent with their writing has been just really illuminating for me to the point where I, I just opened a new [00:18:00] business. Um…

Olivia: Yes you did.

Melanie: Yay. Um, where I really just focused on teaching kids writing and, um, I have some students who looking at them, I'm like, ooh, you really have some issues with the visual motor integration that it takes to make those letters. And I have built a lot of um, activities, strategies, minutes in our tutoring sessions into those from our book. And I've seen unbelievable growth in these kids because they're able to have automaticity with their letters and, and just have less trouble with that part of the whole process. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Melanie: So….

Olivia: Well, you're too humble because you won't mention the name of your business, I will. Um, the, The Writing Clinic, I am so excited about it. And it, with the word clinic, it may seem like it's, um, helping striving [00:19:00] writers only, and yet you're really seeking, 'cause we've talked about this a lot, you're also really wanting to nurture children's creativity and, um, help all writers, thriving writers as well be able to have a place, a space with an expert writing teacher, also known as you, Melanie, and Right. Have that nurturing to, um, be published in multiple sources and to get the writing out there in the world, which you cannot do if you're writing isn't legible and if you're not able to communicate clearly. Right?

Maggie: Right. 

Olivia: Um, so both of you have given just such a beautiful entry point into the book for us as listeners, we're gonna wrap part one with lightning round. What is the biggest myth about writing instruction right now? 

Melanie: I think what I'd land on with that one is that intentional practice leads to growth and not just practice. So when kids are really at work writing, [00:20:00] they ought to be working on something instead of just doing the assignment that's on the board or from the book or from the script. 

Olivia: Okay. Um, what do we need to know about the writing brain? 

Maggie: I think one thing that's really interesting and important for all of us to know about the writing brain is that it orchestrates when you're writing, you know, eight different regions of the brain, right? So if you think about this orchestra that the brain is conducting, it is tapping into all these different regions and networks. In order to write the letter “a” on a piece of paper and just feeling the awe of that, that our brains have found a way to, uh, network themselves. To allow us to express ourselves in written form is, [00:21:00] um, is awe inspiring To me? 

Olivia: It is. Wow. Okay. And then let's go to foundational skills. Because you wrote this book to enhance our understanding of foundational skills. Which get overlooked the most?

Melanie: Yeah. So I think that one relates to the handwriting for me and the visual motor integration of writing. So when we just think about, you know, again, to Maggie's point and the complexity of it all, what your brain has to do to make a capital “E”, right? It's. It's way more than I really thought about until I thought about it. So that visual motor integration piece, and if a kid can't connect dots and dot to dot, they're gonna have a tough time writing. 

Olivia: Okay. Um, what's one strategy that we should know and leave with for, uh, working with kids tomorrow? 

Maggie: I think just knowing [00:22:00] that, you know, whether it's foundational skill development or compositional skill development, that there is a progression for that development. And so…

Melanie: You’re so smart… 

Maggie: This book will hold a bunch of different developmental progressions, each foundational writing skill, so that it addresses the reality that when you're in a classroom of 24 kids, they're not all developing at the same pace and the same stage. And so, for example, I was just working with some teachers, uh, in the Chicago area and we were looking at, uh, the progressions of, um, how you might teach capital letters to kids and which one it makes sense to start with and which one would it evolve to. And so I think the progressions of development for each foundational skills is a real, [00:23:00] uh, a real resource, uh, for teachers to take and teach tomorrow. 

Olivia: All right. Uh, last question, and you cannot respond at the same time, but I will ask you each to respond. What is one word that captures writing instruction for you? Go 

Melanie: Complex.

Maggie: Uh, critical. 

Olivia: All right. Complex. Critical. And then that's a beautiful segue into part two because. You will make it more practical. We will give listeners the nitty gritty on how to use the book, uh, best for their needs. Um, we'll also acknowledge this sounds pretty dense. This is complex. It is critical that we have this knowledge base, but how is it able, how can we access it more easily? Um, and so listeners stay tuned for [00:24:00] part two with Mel and Maggie. And, uh, thank you both for giving us this background as to how the book came to be. 

Melanie: Thanks for having us. 

Olivia: Okay. I want to go back to that solar system model with executive functions, holding it all together. I think that can change how we see every writer in our classrooms. And this is just the beginning. Make sure you come back later this week for part two where Maggie and Melanie get practical. They describe how to actually use this research-dense book when you're already overwhelmed, why a seventh grader finally became a braver writer, and the minute moves that unlock possibilities in just a few minutes of your day. Stay with us.