The Six Traits of Writing

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The Six Traits of Writing
Andrew Wheelock awheelock_at_e1b.org Cell
[phone] Office [phone]
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Writing in your classroom

• What are the challenges facing students writers?
• What are some of the challenges you face teaching
  writing in your classes?
• How do you define writing success for your
  students?
• How do students define writing success?

Calvin and Hobbes
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Project STARFISH

• As the old man walked the beach at dawn, he
  noticed a young man ahead of him picking up
  starfish and flinging them into the sea.
• Finally catching up with the youth, he asked him
  why he was doing this. The answer was that the
  stranded starfish would die if left until morning
  sun.
• "But the beach goes on for miles and there are
  millions of starfish," countered the other. "How
  can your effort make any difference?"
• The young man looked at the starfish in his hand
  and then threw it to safety in the waves.
• "It makes a difference to this one," he said.

http//www.nashville.k12.tn.us/Partnership/starfis
h2.htm
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Relate STARFISH story to your classroom

• Using Word, create a document relating the
  starfish story to your classroom!
• It can be visual or just a simple paragraph!
• Be ready to share some of your responses!

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Goals and Outcomes

• Goal Utilize technology in the classroom to
  facilitate student writing in the 6 1 Traits
  framework.
• Outcome Teachers will develop and implement a 6
  1 Traits writing framework lesson while using
  technology to enhance and supplement.

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Six Traits 1

• Idea
• Organization
• Voice

• Word choice
• Sentence fluency
• Conventions

• Presentation

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A Hot Dog Party

• The hot dog represents ideas. The students'
  ideas must be plump, juicy and full of spices.
  The bun represents organization. The tip of the
  bun is the beginning, the crease of the bun is
  the middle and the bottom of the bun is the
  ending. Without the bun, the story and the hot
  dog would roll around aimlessly. The condiments
  represent voice. As our hot dogs are dressed in
  an unique way, each child has a unique voice that
  they bring to their writing. The chips represent
  sentence fluency. No two chips are alike as are
  no two sentences alike. The soda represents word
  choice. Students' stories must have energetic
  verbs and descriptive words to create the visual
  images the reader needs. Like the soda, the story
  must be alive with fizz! The hot dog party itself
  represents conventions. Students realize they
  must edit their work for spelling, punctuation,
  paragraphing and grammar mistakes. Students
  really understand the qualities of good writing
  when presented in this fun party fashion."

• Submitted by Ursula White,a third grade teacher
  at Hartly Elementary School in Dover, Delaware.

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Ideas
We dont want the writer to describe every ride
at Disneyland, or tells us that the Grand Canyon
is awesome.If one of the rides at Disneyland got
stuck. Or if someone fell into the Grand Canyon,
that would be worth hearing about! --William
Zinsser, On Writing Well

• Ideas are the of writing

Heart
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Ideas

• Select an idea (topic)
• Narrow the idea (focus)
• Elaborate on the idea (development)
• Discover the best information to display
  (details)
• It's the little details that are vital. Little
  things make big things happen. John Wooden
• Culham, 2003

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TECHNOLOGY TOOLSThe Secret Knowledge of
Grown-ups(topic)Magnetic Poetry (adults)
(Kids Only) (topic)Writing Fix(all)One Word
(topic) (caution)
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• Keep a Writing Journal
• Word processor
• PIZZAZ (all) (careful)
• Inspiration/Kidspiration (all)

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Ideas

• My paper has a message or makes a point.
• Each paragraph is related to the main idea.
• My paragraphs have clear details that support the
  main idea.
• My paper sticks to the main idea and I left out
  details that do not matter.
• My paper has enough information.

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Organization

• Organization is like a skeletonthe bare bones
  hold the whole thing together

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Organization

• Introduction a lead that hooks the reader
• MM Grabber Intro Worksheet
• MS/HS Intro
• 1984
• Others The Lord of the Flies, The Chocolate War,
  The Lords of Discipline
• Middle of the paper logically organized,
  clearly linked details
• Conclusion leave the reader satisfied

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Technology Tools

• Inspiration/Kidspiration lots of possibilities
  here (examples at the Inspiration website
  www.inspiration.com)
• The more children map their ideas, the more aware
  they are of their own thinking process
• Easily move from graphic representation to
  writing

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Organizing with Technology

• Word
• Drawing Tool Bar
• Drag and Drop/Cut and Paste
• Graphic Organizer sites
• http//www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/torganiz.
  htm
• http//www.everythingesl.net/inservices/graphic_or
  ganizers.php
• http//www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/graphic/
• http//region15.org/curriculum

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Graphic organizers w/MS Word

• Some tables work great for visual
  learning/graphic organization
• compare and contrast matrixes
• story board
• chain of events
• continuum
• KWHL technique

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Organization

• My beginning grabs the readers attention.
• It gives the main idea.
• I told things in order.
• There are no gaps where something seems to be
  missing. Each paragraph talks about only one
  idea.
• The ideas are linked together with smooth
  transitions.
• The conclusion ties everything together with a
  final point.

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Voice

• Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what
  you are, what you believe shine through every
  sentence you write, every piece you finish.
• --John Jakes

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Voice

• Voice emerges when the writer
• Speaks directly to the reader on an emotional
  level
• Experiments with style to match the purpose and
  audience
• Takes risks by revealing the person behind the
  words

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Technology Tool

• Robert Munschtalk about voice!
• Favorite Poem
• Music and art
• Royalty free music by Kevin MacLeod

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Voice

• My paper sounds like me.
• My paper is different from everyone elses. It is
  unique.
• My paper shows how I feel.
• My paper is lively and exciting.
• My paper is fun to read.

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Word Choice

• A touch of class, a flash of elegance can mark
  the difference between unremarkable clarity and a
  thought so elegantly shaped that it not only
  fixes itself in the mind of our readers forever,
  but gives them a moment of pleasure when they
  recall it.
• --Joseph M. Williams

The beauty of the campus, an acquired taste,
certainly, lay in its stalwart understatement,
its unapologetic capitulation to the supremacy of
line over color, to the artistry of repetition,
and the lyrics of a scrupulous unsentimental
vision. The four barracks and all the main
academic buildings on campus faced inward toward
the parade ground, a vast luxurious greensward
trimmed like the fairway of an exclusive golf
course. The perfume of freshly mown grass hung
over the campus throughout much of the year.
Instruments of war decorated the four corners of
the parade ground a Sherman tank, a Marine
landing craft, a Jupiter missile, and an Air
Force Sabre jet. Significantly, all of these
pretty decorations were obsolete and
anachronistic when placed in reverent perpetuity
on campus. The campus looked as though a squad of
thin, humorless colonels had designed it. At the
Institute, there was no ostentation of curve, no
vagueness of definition, no blurring of order.
There was a perfect, almost heartbreaking,
congruence to its furious orthodoxy. To an
unromantic eye, the Institute had the look of a
Spanish prison or a fortress beleaguered not by
an invading force but by the more threatening
anarchy of the twentieth century buzzing
insensately outside the Gates of Legrand. Pat
Conroy The Lords of Discipline
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Word Choice

• Striking language Sharpening students
  descriptive powers
• Exact language Using lively verbs, precise
  nouns, and accurate modifiers
• Natural language Making it sound authentic
• Beautiful Language Choosing colorful words and
  phrases

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Technology Tools

• Monster Exchange
• Word Art using KidPix or Paint
• Reference
• Visual Thesaurus Picture Dictionary
• Dictionary MS Office-Thesaurus

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Word Choice

• My words paint a picture in the readers mind.
• There arent any words that are repeated
  too often.
• I have used strong action words (verbs).
• I have used specific nouns to identify
  people, places and things.
• I have used descriptive adjectives.
• I havent used boring and overused words.

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Sentence Fluency

• When you and your students read your writing
  aloud, you often hear things in it that you do
  not experience any other way.
• --Peter Elbow

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Sentence Fluency

• Establishing flow, rhythm, and cadence
• Varying sentence length and structure
• Constructing sentences that enhance meaning

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Technology Tools

• Downloading/streaming audio to hear authors read
  their work
• Shel Silverstein
• Fablevision Radio
• Online Stories
• Online Stories
• Nick Jr.
• Recording a read-aloud book on tape

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Sentence Fluency

• Each sentence is a complete thought and makes
  sense.
• No words have been left out.
• I used some long sentences and some short
  sentences.
• I did not start all the sentences in the same
  way.
• My paper is smooth and easy to read.

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Conventions

• Editing is easy. All you have to do is cross
  out the wrong words.
• -- Mark Twain

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Conventions
Woman without her man has no reason for living.
Woman without her, man has no reason for living.
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Conventions

• Conventions are simply those rules of grammar and
  punctuation that make one's reading readable.
• There is evidence of editing and proofing in a
  finished piece of writing such that the spelling,
  paragraphing and punctuation are mostly correct,
  even on harder words and longer sentences.
• Spell Chequer
• Writing Fix

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Conventions

• My paper isnt one huge paragraph.
• Each new idea has its own paragraph and is
  indented.
• There are no spelling errors.
• Capitalization is used correctly.
• Sentences are punctuated correctly.
• I left spaces between words.
• I left margins on the sides.

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Technology Tools

• Word
• Grammar Checking/Spell Checking
• Revising Toolbar/Track Changes (Editing)
• Peer Conferencing with Technology
• Highlight errors with highlighting tool
• Using different Fonts/Pens for questions and
  summary of conference
• Printout Hard copies for revision
• Wacky Web Tales -Grammar Guide
• Grammar Station English Plus

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READ READ READ

• http//www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/cyberguide.html -
  - Cyberguides are nifty web-based supplementary
  units to accompany children's literature in the
  classroom.  Children need to see us learn with
  them, and then have opportunities for real-world
  writing on the basis of these experiences. 
  Cyberguides are a neat solution.  Standards
  referenced on this site are for California, but
  the NYS standards fit just as nicely.

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Presentation

• Presentation combines both the visual and verbal
  elements of the writing.

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Presentation

• Presentation is the way we "exhibit" our message
  on paper. It combines both visual and verbal
  elements. Even if all of the other traits are
  well constructed, the paper will not be inviting
  to read unless the guidelines of presentation are
  observed.
• Think about examples of text that you view as
  inviting (signs, book covers, billboards).
• All great writers are aware of the necessity of a
  good presentation.

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• Becoming a better writer is not too hard youll
  find, if you will remember to keep the six traits
  in mind
• Show the speakers personality
• when you choose your VOICE.
• Then strengthen every sentence
• with the trait we call WORD CHOICE.
• ORGANIZATION will give structure
• to the story you are telling.
• CONVENTIONS make you an editor.
• Be sure to check your spelling!
• Sentence Fluency is sentences that are short and
  long
• Use clear IDEAS and lots of details.
• You really cant go wrong.

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WRITE WRITE WRITE

• Kid Authors
• KidsWWwrite
• Publishing Student Work Online

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More Resources

• NYS ELA Test Prep Center
• NYlearns.org (PDF ELA Assessments)
• Susan Nixons 6 Traits Page
• Northwest Regional Information's Lab Site
• Rubistar
• Read, Write, Think
• Web English Teacher

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61 Traits Resource Websites

• http//www.webenglishteacher.com/6traits.html
• http//www.wiredinstructor.net/TraitsLinks.html
• http//www.slinger.k12.wi.us/Middle_School/staff2
  0web20pages/goneaud/62020120Traits/THtraitwri
  ting.htm (Internet Hunt)
• http//www.webenglishteacher.com/6traits.html

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Lesson Plan Activity

• Now that you have successfully looked into the
  61 Traits with technology, it is time for you to
  put it into motion!
• Begin planning or brainstorming a lesson using
  one or more of the technological aspects you just
  learned in the workshop

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61 Traits Overview scoring rubric Scoring
Practice
Back
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