6 + 1 Traits of Writing Analytical Model

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“Young children are writers as soon as they draw or put a symbol on paper and tell us what it says. We should call them writers and treat them as writers from that moment on.”

-Marcia S. Freeman

Teaching the Youngest Writers

, p. ix 2

“My beliefs about children and writing are based on three assumptions: 1. Young children can write 2. Young children want to write 3. Young children possess the knowledge, interests, and experiences to write about.”

-Carol Avery

And With a Light Touch

, p. 65 3

HLo! IUS TLVNSTL WEMVDNDNW IHV A DGNMDBN I HLPMYMOMCK

Hello! I used to live in Seattle. We moved, and now I have a dog named Ben. I help my mom cook.

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Helping very young [any] writers  Find what is

right

and

strong

 Give supporting

detail

 Suggest

one

kind of

addition

 Title, punctuation, words, picture, etc.



Honor

the writing  Link writing and reading 5

Helping very young writers  Read, read, read  Model, model, model  Assess together  Revise together 6

Helping very young writers  Having time to write  Keeping portfolios  Celebrate the writing!

 Writer, editor, reviser  Not merely task completer 7

The Traits in Your School • Will it help the students?

• Will it help test scores?

• Will it help teaching?

• What about parents’ perceptions?

• What if

ALL

teachers don’t agree?

– Looking at Student Work • Support 22

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