edWebinars
«Back to all edWebinars- This event has passed.
Sentence Writing: The Overlooked Element of the Science of Reading
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST
Presented by Shawn Datchuk, Ph.D., M.Ed., Director, Iowa Reading Research Center, University of Iowa; and Cheryl Lundy Swift, Ed.D., Director, Professional Learning, Learning Without Tears
Sponsored by Learning Without Tears
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
Many classrooms are making strides with evidence-based reading instruction—yet too often, students still struggle to write clear, complete sentences. Why? Sentence writing is an essential but overlooked piece of the Science of Reading. Strong sentence skills don’t just support writing; they reinforce decoding, fluency, syntax, and comprehension.
In this interactive edWebinar, we explore the latest research on how sentence writing develops alongside reading, why it matters for literacy achievement, and practical, evidence-based ways to teach and assess it. Kindergarten through third-grade educators leave with ready-to-use routines and assessment tools that can be embedded into daily instruction to accelerate student growth in both reading and writing.
By the end of this session, viewers are able to:
- Explain how sentence writing develops and why it is critical to both reading and writing success
- Apply instructional routines that integrate sentence writing into literacy instruction across grade levels
- Use brief, standardized assessments to evaluate sentence writing and related language skills
This recorded edWebinar is of interest to kindergarten through third-grade teachers, school leaders, and district leaders.
About the Presenters
Dr. Shawn Datchuk is Professor of Special Education at the University of Iowa and the Director of the Iowa Reading Research Center. He is a former K-12 special education teacher, elementary teacher, and academic director. He received his Ph.D. in special education from Pennsylvania State University. He researches evidence-based methods to improve the sentence writing and related literacy skills of K-12 students with and without disabilities. He has over 30 peer-reviewed publications, has delivered 70+ conference presentations, and has been awarded over $6 million in federal and state funding. He serves on the editorial boards of eight peer-reviewed journals and is the Chair of the Research Committee of the Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children.
Dr. Cheryl Lundy Swift has been a dedicated and innovative educator for over 25 years. Dr. Lundy Swift currently serves as Learning Without Tears’ Professional Learning Director where she leads the curation of professional learning experiences for teachers and school leaders worldwide. Dr. Lundy Swift also serves as the podcast host of Literacy Matters: Empowered Conversations where she interviews renown literacy researchers, authors, and practitioners to explore today’s early literacy landscape and to provide school leaders, teachers, and families with practical solutions. She has worked in leadership and executive roles for various educational organizations including public schools, post-secondary institutions, and education companies.
Dr. Lundy Swift is an award-winning educational leader, curriculum developer, motivational speaker, and facilitator. Her unique mix of wit, grit, and passion “edutains,” inspires, and equips school leaders, teachers, and families to help students reach their fullest potential. Dr. Lundy Swift has received a number of awards and commendations including Investor Bank’s Educator of the Year Award. Dr. Lundy Swift makes a difference in her community by serving on a variety of boards and is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
Join the Building Foundational Literacy Skills community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
Learning Without Tears’ mission in today’s changing learning landscape is to ensure that the path to student success remains simple and fun. We provide child-friendly, hands-on, innovative instruction for early learning, handwriting, keyboarding, and writing strategies, and our programs reach more than 31 million students in Pre-K through fifth grade.
