The Pobble blog

Engaging students in writing can be a challenge, but two powerful resources are here to turn their groans into glee: Seven Steps to Writing Success and Pobble.

While Seven Steps provides a fun and effective approach to developing writing skills, Pobble inspires young writers and simplifies the teaching process. Together, they build confidence, spark creativity, and keep students engaged.

Seven Steps to Writing Success

Seven Steps breaks writing down into seven key techniques that professional authors use:

• Step 1: Plan for Success – Every great text starts with a solid plan.
• Step 2: Sizzling Starts – Grabbing the reader’s attention from the very first line.
• Step 3: Tightening Tension – Keeping the reader hooked by building momentum.
• Step 4: Dynamic Dialogue – Using vibrant dialogue to bring writing to life.
• Step 5: Show, Don’t Tell – Making writing more powerful by showing, not telling.
• Step 6: Ban the Boring – Eliminating unnecessary details and making writing punchy.
• Step 7: Exciting Endings/Endings with Impact – Wrapping up the text in a way that leaves readers satisfied.

By focusing on one step at a time, students practise and master each writing technique before attempting a full text. Breaking writing down into small, manageable parts builds confidence and makes it achievable for all ability levels. Plus, Seven Steps is easy to implement using Teacher Hub, the online home of the Seven Steps.

The Five Secrets ✋

Seven Steps is underpinned by five key principles – The Five Secrets, which are supported by years of educational research:

• Chunk large tasks – Break tasks into small, manageable parts to reduce cognitive load.
• Repetition builds muscle memory – Practice helps skills become second nature.
• Think first, write second – Brainstorming ideas first sets students up for success.
• Verbal is vital – Oral language development is the foundation for strong writing skills.
• Consistency creates change – A consistent approach leads to lasting improvements.

Find out more about Seven Steps to Writing Success here.

Pobble

Pobble offers teachers daily, engaging writing prompts and ready-made activities designed to spark creativity and improve writing skills. It helps teachers save time on lesson planning while making writing enjoyable and motivating for all students—especially reluctant writers.

How Pobble motivates students: 🤩

• Daily inspiration: Fresh, exciting writing prompts every day to spark imagination.
• Variety of activities: Creative exercises, such as sentence challenges and story starters, to keep students engaged.
• Student choice: Pobble offers a range of themes and prompts, allowing students to write about topics they’re passionate about.
• Increased confidence: Short, focused writing bursts help build writing stamina and boost confidence.
• Visual and structured prompts: Pobble’s clear, visual prompts eliminate the fear of the blank page, making it easier for students to get started.

Pobble encourages creativity, builds writing fluency, and helps students take ownership of their writing.

How they complement each other 🤝

When used together, Seven Steps and Pobble create a seamless and powerful writing experience. Here’s how they enhance each other:

• Step-by-step instruction + daily inspiration: Seven Steps provides a structured approach to writing instruction, while Pobble’s daily prompts offer constant inspiration, encouraging students to practise what they’ve learned in fun and engaging ways.
• Skill-building + fun, versatile activities: Seven Steps helps students develop essential writing skills and Pobble keeps them motivated with its wide range of creative activities, from sentence challenges to quick write prompts.
• Confidence + writing stamina: Seven Steps builds confidence by breaking writing into achievable parts. Pobble boosts this by encouraging regular writing, helping students build stamina and overcome the fear of the blank page.
• Teacher support + student engagement: Seven Steps builds teacher confidence with on-demand training, while Pobble provides flexible, time-saving resources, empowering both teachers and students to make the most of their writing time.

A recipe for success 👩🏽‍🍳

Pairing Seven Steps with Pobble creates a powerful synergy in the classroom. By combining a structured approach to writing with endless inspiration, this dynamic duo not only improves students’ writing skills but also makes the process enjoyable. With Pobble’s daily prompts and Seven Steps’ clear techniques, students gain confidence, creative freedom, and a love for writing.

For teachers looking to boost engagement, confidence, and writing outcomes, integrating these two tools offers a richer and more inspiring experience. Try them together and watch your students' writing skills flourish!

About the author
Sarah has worked in educational publishing for over 20 years, creating resources for students and teachers in the UK and Australia. After retraining as a teacher, she had the opportunity to put her knowledge of educational resources into practice and experienced first-hand what works (and what doesn’t) in the classroom. At Seven Steps, she has used these invaluable insights to inform and enhance the print and digital resources that support the program.