The "Writing with Colors" system is an instructional protocol and close-reading/writing-revision strategy developed by two teachers, Patrick Daly and Allison Renna in Waltham, Massachusetts. Thomas O'Toole, Director of English Language Arts in Waltham, added components to this system and implemented in district-wide. Together they have developed they strategy to become the Writing with Colors 3.0 tool that is widely used today.
History of the "Writing with Colors" Strategy
Origins (Summer 2003): The strategy was first developed Allison Renna and Patrick Daly during a summer program for English as a Second Language (ESL) students in Waltham. The core idea was to match criteria of effective writing to specific colors, a process also known as "coding".
Initial Rollout (2003-2004 Academic Year): It was first implemented in a Grade 10 curriculum.
Expansion (2004-2005 Academic Year): The program was horizontally rolled out to Special Education English and general ESL programs, and vertically to grades 6, 7, and 8. The goal was to provide a common instructional framework across different levels and subject areas.
Purpose and Methodology: The method uses colors to help students, particularly English Language Learners (ELLs) and Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE), visualize the structure of good writing and identify different components (e.g., topic sentences, evidence, analysis). It serves as both a close-reading strategy (for analyzing texts) and a writing-revision strategy (for color-coding their own work and comparing it to exemplars).
Dissemination and Study: The strategy has been presented at educational conferences, such as MATSOL (Massachusetts Association for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) meetings, and is the subject of various articles and research studies exploring its effectiveness with diverse student populations. The creators have continued to present on the topic and train other educators, notably within the Lawrence Public Schools system and at Essex Tech and North Reading Public Schools.
Key Concept: The method provides an "iconic bridge language" that offers a clear, visual scaffold for student thinking and helps students internalize the components of academic writing.
Systemic Adoption: The system has been credited with improving writing scores and has been adopted systemically in several Massachusetts school districts, including Waltham, Watertown, North Reading, Haverhill, Georgetown, and North Shore Vocational.
Research and Recognition: The strategy has been the subject of academic research, including a dissertation by Patrick Daly (Northeastern University, 2012) and other studies, which suggest its effectiveness in helping SLIFE students identify and internalize the components of academic writing. In 2005 Patrick Daly and Allison Renna were recipients of the GOLDIN AWARD as the co-creators of the system.
Methodology
The "Writing with Colors" method is a color-coding strategy that helps students visualize the structure and components of good writing (e.g., claims, evidence, analysis). Students learn to:
Identify the "understructure" of effective writing.
Observe how the use of different components (colors) affects the strength of the writing.
Color-code their own writing to analyze and revise it, comparing their work to exemplary pieces.
In essence, the history of "Writing with Colors" is one of a teacher-created strategy that grew from a specific need in an ESL summer program to a widely used and studied instructional protocol in various school districts.