Transcript The Six + 1 Traits of Writing Lieschen Schoenert Tyler Livingston

The Six + 1 Traits of Writing
(Source: Northwest Regional Educational Library: http://www.nwrel.org)
Lieschen Schoenert
Tyler Livingston
Plymouth Middle School
“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 entire page, ‘vague.’ I thought vague was
kind of vague. I’d write underneath it ‘unclear’
and send it back. She’s return it to me,
‘ambiguous’. I’d send it back to her, ‘cloudy’.
We’re still corresponding to this day…. hazy….
muddy…” Jerry Seinfeld (SeinLanguage)
 What
do teachers look for when
grading students’ writing? How
do we grade papers? What do
teachers teach when we teach
writing?
“Students have been conditioned to
believe that great papers just
happen. That they are a guessing
game and that one finds out what to
do after it is too late.”
Margie Krest “Adapting the Portfolio to Meet
Student Needs” English Journal February 1990
The Six +1 Traits of Writing
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It’s not a program or curriculum.
The Six Traits is a scoring guide or a tool for
writing.
It is a shared vocabulary for teachers and
students.
The six traits is an instrument teachers can use
to provide “accurate, reliable feedback to
students and to help guide instruction.”
The six traits were developed in the 1980’s by
teachers from across the country.
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These teachers evaluated thousands of
papers at all grade level and identified
“common characteristics of good writing”.
These “qualities” became the six-traits.
The Six Traits + 1
 The
six traits are: Ideas,
Organization, Voice, Word Choice,
Sentence Fluency, Conventions
and Presentation (the +1).
Ideas
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The ideas are the heart of the message,
the content of the piece, the main theme,
together with the details that enrich and
develop that theme.
Sound Ideas..
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It all makes sense
I know this topic well
I have included the most interesting
details
My paper has a purpose
Once you start reading, you will not want
to stop.
Organization
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Organization is the internal structure of a
piece of writing, the tread of central
meaning, the logical and sometimes
intriguing pattern of the ideas.
Good Organization..
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My beginning will interest the reader!
Everything ties together.
It builds to the good parts.
You can follow it easily.
At the end it feels finished and makes you
think.
Voice
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The voice is the heart and soul , the
magic, the wit, along with the feeling and
conviction of the individual writing coming
out through the words.
Individual Voice..
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This really sounds like me!
I’ve been honest and written what I think and
feel.
Can you fell my commitment to this topic?
I want you to experience my writing with me.
I know why I’m writing and who my audience is.
I bet you’ll want to read this to someone.
“We must teach ourselves to recognize our own
voice. We want to write in a way that is natural
for us, that grows out of the way we think, the
way we see, the way we care. But to make that
voice effective we must develop it, extending
our natural voice through the experience of
writing on different subjects for different
audiences, of using our voice as we perform
many writing tasks.”
Donald Murray (Write to Learn)
Word Choice
 Word
choice is the use of rich,
colorful, precise language that
moves and enlightens the reader.
Powerful Words…
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This is the best way to say this.
My words create mind pictures!
I’ve tried new ways to say everyday
things.
Listen to the power in my verbs.
Some of the words and phrases linger in
my mind.
“Powerful writers and powerful speakers have
two wells they can draw on for that power: one
is the well of rhythm,; the other is the well of
vocabulary. But vocabulary and a sense of
rhythm are almost impossible to “teach” in the
narrow sense of the word. So how are children
expected to develop a sense of rhythm or a wide
vocabulary? By being read to, alive, a lot!”
Mem Fox (Radical Reflections, 1993)
Sentence Fluency
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Sentence fluency in the rhythm and
flow of the language, the sound of
word patterns, the way in which the
writing plays to the ear—not just to
the eye.
Sentence Fluency..
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My sentences begin in different ways.
Some sentences are short and some are
long.
It just sounds good as I read it aloud-it
flows.
My sentences have power and punch.
I have “sentence sense.”
Conventions
 Conventions
are the mechanical
correctness of the piece—spelling,
grammar and usage,
paragraphing, use of capitals and
punctuation.
Correct Conventions..
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I don’t’ have many mistakes in my paper.
I have used capitals correctly.
Periods, commas, exclamation marks and
quotation marks are in the right places.
Almost every words is spelled correctly.
I remembered to indent each paragraph.
It would not take long to get the ready to
share.
Presentation (the + 1)
 Presentation
zeros in on the form
and layout of the text and its
readability; the piece should be
pleasing to the eye.
Good Presentation…
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My paper looks neat and is legible.
Someone could easily read my paper.
“Editing is easy all you have to do is cross
out the wrong words.” Mark Twain
“I believe it is important not only to
share a common vision for
lifelong learning and literacy; but
a common vocabulary for how
we talk about such issues.”
Dr. Beverly Ann Chinn, NCTE President, 1995-1996
University of Montana Department of English
“In evaluating writing, I know my grading system
has to take into account all the abilities that
come into play when a writer writes. Writing
isn’t one ability but a combination of many—
experimenting, planning, choosing, questioning,
anticipating, organizing, reading, listening,
reviewing, editing, and on and on.”
Nancie Atwell (In the Middle)
“If people cannot write well, they
cannot think well, and if they
cannot think well, others will do
their thinking for them.”
George Orwell