PARAGRAPHOLOGY: Jemicy Shares the "Bright Way to Write"

For many students, the complex process of expository writing can be difficult, but for students with language-based learning differences, the challenge is often overwhelming. In 2007, while teaching middle school English, the current director of the middle school, Bridget Barley, felt that our students needed a more explicit approach. Thus, Paragraphology™ was born! The result…remarkable success with our middle school population.

Fast forward to 2023, and the entire Jemicy faculty receives training on this transformative approach to building confident writers. From our youngest learners writing their first topic sentences to our seniors crafting their college essays, the color coding system is used across the grade levels and throughout our courses. Our belief in the program is validated when alumni visit and share how they still use the techniques in college. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing their notebooks with the now-familiar rainbow of colored text! 

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Paragraphology™ is the study of writing through color-coding. The program is a multisensory, comprehensive, scaffolded approach to writing and note-taking that can be easily utilized by children, teens, college students, and adults. Students are systematically taught a formula that guides them through the process of writing a basic paragraph to a comprehensive understanding of the five-paragraph essay. Through scaffolding, repetition, and practice of reading quality examples, producing work of their own, coding and unlocking writing prompts, and dissecting expository text, students learn the writing process inside and out–and actually enjoy the process!

The positive results inspired us, and in true Jemicy “Outreach” fashion, we wanted to help even more students develop their writing skills. How do we reach more students? We train their teachers! Consequently, we launched our 10-hour Paragraphology™  training course which has been delivered through in-person classes, virtual sessions, and most recently a prerecorded self- paced option.  In addition, our Paragraphology experts have presented online webinars and at numerous conferences around the country. While developed to teach our student population, we have quickly learned that this approach benefits all learners. Aligning with a structured literacy approach, Paragraphology™ applies what the research tells us…structured, explicit instruction leads to student success!

And we are not finished yet! In 2022, we partnered with UCNLearn to create a digital writing companion to supplement this amazing program. Our Paragraphology™ Writing App is a web-based application that provides the often-needed scaffolding to allow every student to become a confident, independent writer. We were able to pilot the app with our students in early 2023, created additional features (teacher dashboard), and have just launched a full-scale initiative to get the app in the hands of students and teachers nationwide.  

Technological advances such as AI can be wonderful tools, but nothing can replace the empowering experience of sharing your own unique ideas as a confident writer! Paragraphology is opening up that opportunity for thousands of students as they learn the bright way to write!