Transcript A Multiple Trait Approach to Teaching and Assessing Writing

“I always did well on essay tests. Just put
everything you know on there, maybe you’ll hit it.
And then you get the paper back from the
teacher and she’s written just one word across
the top of the page, “vague.” I thought “vague”
was kind of vague. I’d write underneath it
“unclear,” and send it back. She’d return it to me,
“ambiguous.” I’d send it back to her, “cloudy.”
We’re still corresponding to this day … “hazy” …
“muddy”…”
Jerry Seinfeld (SeinLanguageBantam Books: 1993)
Seinfeld’s teacher was surely the exception not
the rule. Studies show that most teachers
spend a superhuman number of hours
writing very specific comments on papers,
but it would help to have a common vocabulary
that everyone was familiar with: students,
teachers, parents, everyone.
A common vocabulary for:
Teaching
and
learning
how to write well
Grading
papers and
explaining the
grades
Explaining
revision
(how to improve
a paper)
The Six-trait Model for Writing Instruction
and Assessment has an easy-tounderstand, practical vocabulary that can
be adapted to fit Kindergarten through 12th
grade and a variety of modes/genres of
writing.
This model has potential to
improve assessment.
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Paul Diederich’s 1974 article
(Measuring Growth in English.
Urbana, IL: NCTE.) reported
English teachers averaged 130
papers and 8 minutes spent on
each for a total of 18 hours
per assignment.
Teachers have acknowledged
improvement in:
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Their own confidence in the
accuracy of their grading.
Their tools for explaining
grades to student writers.
Their ability to make revision
suggestions.
Two steps in the evolution of the Six-trait model
are easy to trace; one involves a study done by
Paul Diederich, John French and Sydell
Carlton in 1961 (also reported on in 1974).
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Their goal was “to find out what qualities in student writing
intelligent, educated people notice and emphasize when they are
free to grade as they like” (5).
Sixty reader/graders comprised of 10 college professors of
English, 10 professors of social science, 10 professors of natural
science, 10 professional writers and editors, 10 lawyers and 10
business executives were invited to read and evaluate 300 papers
from college students in their first month at three different
colleges. 53 finished the project.
The reader/graders were to rate the papers 1-9 (low to high) and
write a few comments about what they liked and/or disliked about
each paper.
Diederich and crew used a statistical test (factor analysis) to
cluster the readers’ evaluation into groups with significant
agreement within them and significant disagreement outside
them.
Research Bulletin 61-5 (Educational Testing Service, 1961).
Five very clear categories (which
have come be known as traits)
emerged:
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1. Ideas:
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2. Mechanics
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The third biggest: the internal structure, sequencing/pattern of ideas
4. Wording/ phrasing
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This was the second biggest: “usage, sentence structure, punctuation,
and spelling” (7).
3. Organization
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This was the biggest one with sub-points of “richness, soundness,
clarity, development and relevance to the writer’s purpose and topic”
(6).
The fourth biggest: rich, colorful precise language. Graceful flow of
language.
5. Flavor
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The smallest significant category: “style, individuality, originality,
interest, and sincerity” (8).
Teacher nationwide read Measuring Growth
in English and realized that it verified ideas
they already had about writing from
years of experience teaching it.
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Seventeen teachers (the Analytical
Assessment Model Committee) in Beaverton,
Oregon, in 1984, worked with, Vicki Spandel
(senior research associate at Northwest
Regional Educational Laboratory), to create
a rubric for grading students’ writing that
could be consistent from grade to grade.
Simultaneously, teachers in Montana, Florida
and other places were creating very similar
approaches to teaching writing.
Based on Diederich’s research
and the work of teachers across
the country, NWREL created the
rubric most often used today with
these six traits.
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Ideas and Content
Organization
Voice
Word Choice (part of
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Sentence Fluency
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Conventions
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wording and phrasing in
Diederich’s study)
wording and phrasing in
Diederich’s study)
(part of
In the Six-trait model, each trait has a number
of descriptors for good writing. These
descriptors came out of Diederich’s study
with modification from classroom teachers.
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Ideas and Content
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clear
controlling idea
focused/ narrowed
sufficient information
insightful
original
interesting details
complete
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Organization
 appealing opening
 obvious direction/
logical progression
 effective sequencing
 connected-ness
 smooth transitions
 good pacing
 builds to high point
 strong sense of
conclusion
Word Choice
Voice
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obvious person
behind the words
writer is committed/
involved with topic
reaches out/ connects
to audience
energetic, lively
consistent tone
definite point of view
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Natural
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active, energetic verbs
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precise, concrete nouns
& modifiers
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new twists on everyday words
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minimal redundancy
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accuracy of expression
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paints pictures
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creative, memorable word
combinations
Sentence Fluency
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Conventions
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graceful, easy to read aloud
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Natural, pleasant rhythm
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variety in length, type & structure
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Structure enhances meaning
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effective, smooth phrasing
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effective use of conjunctions &
transitions
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correct spelling
correct/effective
punctuation
appropriate
grammar/ usage
correct capitalization
designed to make
reading easy
This approach to teaching and
assessing student writing can
help the teacher:
1. Catch students’
interest
2. Help them improve
their writing skills
3. Encourage them to
assess and revise
4. Engage parents
5. Enhance writing
across the curriculum
6. Make grading
easier
7. Provide individual
student data
8. Provide group data
Seminars, books, videotapes, etc. are available
from a number of sources
http://www.nwrel.org/assessment/department.asp?d=1
plus many more
Seeing With New Eyes, Picture Books, Dear Parent, 8 part
Six Traits of Writing series (NWREL)
Vicki Spandel : Creating Writers
Ruth Culham: 6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide
The Writing Conf., Inc.: Adventures in Writing, Using the
Six-trait Analytic Scale, This Thing Called Voice
www.writingconference.com
Houghton Mifflin: Write Traits
Many states, school districts, and
individual schools have adopted the 6trait model to varying degrees.
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1. Individual teachers
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2. English departments
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3. Whole school districts
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4. State curriculum
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5. State-wide writing assessment
Students and teachers work with an easy-tounderstand rubric for rating and discussing the
strengths and weaknesses of a written piece.
 Rubrics have been
designed for a variety
of grade or ability
levels.
 Students each have
their own copy of the
rubric.
 Posters are often used
to reinforce the trait
descriptors & ratings.
Rubrics use number ratings, such as
1-6, 1-5 or 1-4. For example-
Ideas/ content
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Rating of 6: This paper is extremely clear or focused.
Relevant anecdotes and details enrich the central theme.
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The topic is narrow and manageable
Relevant, telling details give the reader important
information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable.
Accurate, precise details are present to support the main
ideas; appropriate use of resources provide strong, accurate,
credible support.
The writer seems to be writing from knowledge or
experience; the ideas are fresh and original.
The reader’s questions are anticipated and answered.
The writing makes connections, shares an understanding of
life, and a knack for picking out what is significant.
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Rating of 2: No one main idea stands out yet
although possibilities are emerging.
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The paper hints at topics but doesn’t settle on one yet.
Support is incidental or confusing.
Several possible ideas may be present which could become
central ideas or themes for different pieces of writing.
The writer makes statements without specifics to back them
up.
The reader has so many questions because of the lack of
specific information. It it hard to fill in the blanks.
Glimmers of the writer’s topic or main point show up
occasionally.
The model can be used for more
than just individual assessment.
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A means for writing instruction
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A tool for student revision
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A device for vertical curriculum alignment
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An instrument for school/ district
measurement
Teachers using the traits often use one, all
or any combination of the following steps:
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1. Introduce a trait through interesting
literature.
2. Do hands-on activities to help students
understand what it is and how to improve it
in their own writing.
3. Guide them through the analysis of
anonymous sample papers.
4. Follow with a writing assignment that
targets that trait.
5. Use the 6-trait rubric to provide useful
feedback.
6. Guide students through revising their
papers based on that feedback.
7. Use a pre-identified rubric to assign a
grade to the paper.
Teachers can choose examples of writing according to what trait
students are learning and what subject they are learning.
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IDEAS: English- Christopher
Paul Curtis, Bud, Not Buddy ;
Biology- Stephen Pinker, How
the Mind Works; Social
Studies- Stephen Ambrose, A
Band of Brothers; Math- David
Blatner, The Joy of Pi. Phys edA feature article from Sports
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Illustrated
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VOICE: English- Lucie
Tapahonso, Songs of Shiprock
Fair; Hunter Thompson, Fear
and Loathing
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SENTENCE FLUENCY: EnglishJames Hurst, “The Scarlet
Ibis;” Science- Carl Sagan,
Cosmos:
WORD CHOICE: English- N.
Scott Momaday, House
Made of Dawn; Social
Studies-Presidential
election year editorials
ORGANIZATION: English or
Business, A business letter,
Auto mechanics- Chilton’s
Manual
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CONVENTIONS: EnglishDaniel Keyes, Flowers for
Algernon;
A good example for talking about
IDEAS with students in fifth through
eighth might be Bud, Not Buddy by
Christopher Paul Curtis.
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Read chapter five
aloud with students
and ask them to find
descriptors from the
IDEAS rubric that fit
that reading.
Step 2.
Students work on a short, interesting
writing activities to develop IDEAS such
as Bud’s Rules and Things.
BUD’S “RULES AND THINGS”
From Bud, Not Buddy, Winner of the Newbery Medal and
Coretta Scott King Award, by Christopher Paul Curtis
Rules and Things Number 328
 “When you make up your mind to do something, hurry up
and do it. If you wait, you might talk yourself out of what
you wanted in the first place.”
Rules and Things Number 83
 “If a adult tells you not to worry, and you weren’t worried
before, you better hurry up and start because you’re
already running late.”
Rules and Things Number 3
 “If you got to tell a lie, make sure it’s simple and easy to
remember.”
Rules and Things Number 118
“You have to give adults something that they think they can use to hurt
you be taking away. That way they might not take something away that
you really want. Unless they’re crazy or real stupid, they won’t take
everything away because if they did they wouldn’t have anything to hold
over your head to hurt you with later.”
From your experience of life can you make up a rule of your own about
dealing with people or how to succeed in life? Here is an example:
My Rules and Things Number 28
When you hear someone say, “The fact of the matter is,” be ready for what
comes next to be their opinion of what you need to do, usually something
that is in their best interest rather than yours.
Try to come up with two “Rules and Things” of your own.
As students develop an understanding of the
traits and see them in the work of good
writers, they will move toward analyzing
these qualities in their own work and the work
 Step 3: Students work with
of their peers.
anonymous sample student
papers, as a class and in groups.
They rate papers using the 6trait rubric and discuss their
ratings. Teachers often choose
papers with a range of ratings to
show what is weak/strong. One
set that’s often used is a rough
draft and the revised draft on
the topic of frogs supplied by
NWREL. (the papers, not the
frongs)
Working in groups, students are asked to choose
one trait to use for rating and comparing the
rough and final drafts and follow these directions:
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Now look at the Six Plus One-Trait One Pager (pages
4 and 5 of your handout) and find the column for
your chosen trait.
Try to assign a rating number for that trait to the
rough draft and one to the final draft.
Can you pick any of the descriptors from the ratings
that would help to explain to students how the
writing has improved from the rough draft to the
final draft? Share one with the large group.
Step four: Teachers assign students to
write their own papers, giving them a
writing task or topic that lends itself
well to the target trait.
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To target word choice-students
might write descriptive papers
about their favorite place or person.
To target organization-students
might write how-to papers or
persuasive papers about a
controversial issue concerning
young people in their town.
To target ideas-students might
choose to write about an event
from an unusual participant’s point
of view.
Step five: Students receive feedback
based on the Six-trait model (peer,
parent, tutor, self or teacher
assessment.)
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Based on what they
learned from the focus
lessons and from
analyzing anonymous
sample papers, students
can attempt to revise
the areas that are
weak.
Positive feedback will
reinforce areas of their
writing that are strong.
Step seven: Help students with
strategies for revising weak areas
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For example: a paper that is weak in the
area of Word choice, specifically in
precise modifiers and verbs, could
benefit from words that appeal to the
senses and the substitution of more
exact verbs for generic ones.
Not
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“Todd quickly ate a good sandwich.”
but rather
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sausage sandwich stuffed with
Graziano’s sausage and thick slices of
mozzarella cheese.”
Step 7: At some point in the writing process the
teacher must assess the paper for a grade. The
6-trait model can be helpful at this point.
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Back to Diederich’s studyteachers averaged one fourth as
much time grading papers
If the focus lessons and analysis
of anonymous sample papers
have worked, teachers will spend
less time explaining and giving
examples for their comments
A common vocabulary about the
traits of good writing are already
established, written down, and
rated.
Students will have a range of levels of
understanding how to revise or what a grade
means when their papers are returned; they
might:
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have a clear understanding of
what a rating means and how
to revise for a specific trait.
need to refer to materials
previously used in class before
revising.
make use of help from peer
editors, tutors or family
members.
not completely understand
certain traits or how to revise
for them and need to ask the
teacher for help.
Vertical Alignment for
Sentence Fluency
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Spiral curriculum
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twelfth grade sentence fluency
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vary: adverbial clause, participial
phrase, infinitive phrase and
subject openers.
Choose sentence length for
specific purpose
seventh grade sentence fluency
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vary sentence length
some non-subject openers
fourth grade sentence fluency
 Some sentences are long and
stretchy
 Some sentences are short
and snappy
…and the 6-trait scale provides a common
vocabulary and springboard for discussions
about how an individual student is progressing
in writing skills **- or how a whole class, a
grade, a school, a district or a state is is doing.
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These conversations
might involve teachers,
parents, counselors.
administrators, school
boards or any other
stake holders in
education.
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** (especially if used
with writing portfolios)