An approach for the development of accomplished writers

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Write Traits

• An approach for the development of accomplished
  writers

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Write Traits is a philosophy or approach to
thinking about writing. Its not a
particular method.
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Where did the Traits come from?

• A group of educators read hundreds of student
  essays. Then they
• Divided them into three categories
• Poor
• Average
• Good
• Brainstormed what traits made the good papers
  so effective
• Thats how the six traits of effective writing
  were identified

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The Six Traits

• Ideas
• Organization
• Voice
• Word Choice
• Sentence Fluency
• Conventions

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IDEAS

• The heart of any writing
• Details make them come alive
• Clarity is also essential
• Goal to grab the reader bring the piece of
  writing alive

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Evaluating the Writing

• A checklist is used to rate how well you do with
  each of the six traits
• The checklist is called a rubric
• It uses 1-4 points
• A similar rubric is used to grade the TAKS essays
• How are the TAKS essays graded?
• Why is the TAKS essay so important?

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TAKS Writing Rubric Ideas

• Message is vague/unclear
• Writing mainly to fill space
• Details/support are limited
• Writer either did not know topic or chose to say
  very little
• Too many ideas with little development

• Message is clear fairly well-focused. It can be
  summarized
• Writer seems comfortable with the topic
• Writing includes SOME interesting or unusual
  details.
• On the whole, the writing covers key issues

• Message is easy to summarize, clear, and concise
• Writer supports and expands main idea with many
  carefully selected, beyond-the-obvious details
• Writing includes MANY interesting or unusual
  details

• Details/support are vague, sketchy, or
  questionable
• More details than a 1, but the reader is left
  with questions

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Using a Rubric
One of the first steps in using the rubric, is
to ask yourself this question Is the paper
stronger than weak, or weaker than strong? This
immediately tells you whether the writing is
likely to fall into the 3-4 or the 1-2 range.
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Is it stronger than weak, OR weaker than
strong? Stronger than Weak Begin at 3 and move
up Weaker than Strong Begin at 2 and move
down Not Sure Start at 2 and decide where to
go
from there
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Judging (By an 11th Grader)

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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"The Stranger"

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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My Lesson

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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Computer Blues

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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Speaking Your Mind

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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Writing is Important

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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A Great Book

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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The Redwoods

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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Haircut from Hell

• What is this essay about?
• What is the main idea? (WhoWhatMain Idea)
• Score the essay for ideas (1, 2, 3, or 4)
• Explain why you scored it as you did. USE WORDS
  FROM THE RUBRIC IN YOUR EXPLANATION

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What's in a Name?

• My Name from House on Mango Street by Sandra
  Cisneros
• Chapter 2 from Because of Winn Dixie
• Write about YOUR name
• Focus on the IDEAS of your writing
• These will be published for and graded by the
  entire class

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All the Places to Love

• Listen as I read All the Places to Love by
  Patricia MacLachan
• List several special places you remember in your
  life
• Choose one from your list
• Make a list of sensory memories of this place
  (how did it look, smell, sound, feel, taste?)
• Write a paragraph or more about the place using
  the sensory list to guide you
• Focus on the IDEAS of your writing
• These will be published for and graded by the
  entire class

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A Good Movie  
We went to see a movie. It was good. In fact,
it was great! It had lots of action in it. It
had some good people in it, too. My favorite
part was really, really good. It was so cool.
It was over too fast. I am telling all my
friends to see this movie. If you miss it, you
will be so, so sorry.