Professional development in Combinations & Writing is Thinking.
Writing Is Thinking through strategic inquiry (WITsi) is an approach to closing literacy skill gaps through direct instruction in writing strategies across the curriculum, and embedding them in the work of inquiry teams who analyze student work to see how the strategies have performed, make adjustments, and select and design appropriate instructional responses. WITsi incorporates and utilizes proven methods of school improvement, methods documented in The Atlantic’s “The Writing Revolution” (Oct, 2012) and in Strategic Inquiry: Getting Small for Big Results in Education (Harvard Education Press, 2013). WITsi was a prime turnaround strategy in NYC Renewal High Schools, as chronicled in Mind/Shift’s “Is it Time to Go Back to Basics with Writing Instruction?” (Feb 2017). Watch first hand testimonials about Strategic Inquiry in New York City’s Renewal High Schools. Read more about how the underlying approach to teaching writing works.
Currently we offer in-person and online workshops in Writing is Thinking (WIT). WIT improves student writing, content knowledge, academic vocabulary, oral language, reading comprehension, standardized exam performance, and student thinking. It is a particularly powerful strategy for English Learners, because it provides a concrete way to teach language embedded in content while also teaching students how the English language works. The first workshop in our series is also called Combinations (WIT 101), as described in our new book, Sentence Strategies for Multilingual Learners: Advancing Academic Literacy through Combinations.
Click on the videos below to learn about COMBINATIONS and WIT with newcomers at John Adams High School.

Upcoming Workshops
Workshop | Date(s) | Location | Credits | More Info |
---|---|---|---|---|
Combinations: WIT 101 | Oct 7 & 21, Nov 4 & 18, 2024 | Online | CTLE hours: 12 | Details |
Combinations: WIT 101 | March 3, 10, 18 & 24, 2025 | Online | CTLE hours: 12 | Details |
Combinations: WIT 101 | July 8, 9, 15 & 16, 2025 | Online | CTLE hours: 12 | Details |
Sign up to participate on a virtual SI + Combinations team. More Info »
Here’s a list of the workshops/professional learning series we offer in-person or remotely:
- Combinations: WIT 101 for Multilingual Learners
- Combinations: WIT 101 for ALL
- Combinations for STEM
- Combinations for the Humanities
- Combinations for Science
- Combinations for Math
- Combinations for the Arts
- Combinations for Early Childhood
- Combinations for Newcomers
- Combinations for Long Term English Learners (LTEL)
- WIT 102 – The Paragraph
- WIT 103 – The Essay
- WIT 104 – Train the facilitator Series
Plus we can design professional learning for your specific setting – email us!
Recognized by New York State Education Department (NYSED) as an approved sponsor of CTLE for Professional Classroom Teachers, School Leaders and Level III Teaching Assistants in New York State.
