Six Traits Of Writing Handout

The Six Traits of Writing are: Ideas Organization Voice Word Choice Sentence Fluency Conventions Ideas: Students should have a list of interesting topics to write about in their writers‟ notebooks, and the teacher should have a chart of ideas posted somewhere in his/her classroom. Be sure to add to this list continually throughout the year as it‟s a work in progress. If students say, “I don‟t know what to write about,” you can refer them to this list. I prefer to reply, “That‟s too bad. I guess you won‟t be talking today because writing is simply talking on paper.”  How well do your students stick to the topic at hand and develop their ideas? If they‟re struggling here, be sure to model mini-lessons in your write aloud time during writer‟s workshop.

Organization: The number one organizational rule for the M.A.P. test is for the paper to have a beginning, middle and end. Many teachers use the hamburger method to teach this and expand from there. See document at the end of this page for another example of a prewriting graphic organizer.

Remember that this is minimal; it’s just a graphic organizer.

Voice: Consider using magazine pictures or greeting cards and have students pretend to be a person/object in the photo. What would that person look like/sound like? Be sure to model a strong example of this before asking students to write. The voice is like the student‟s thumbprint on the page.

What would the dog sound like? Where’s he planning to go? What will he do when he gets there? What would the toothbrush sound like? 

Word Choice: Are you tired of words like said, nice, pretty …? Put them to bed … or in jail … or …

Conventions: Do you have your editing checklist posted in your classroom? The list should start small and gradually expand as the year progresses. Consolidate items where you can so the list doesn‟t become overwhelming.

Prescription Pad Editing Dr. Rich Allen modeled a fun way for students to peer-edit or self-edit papers at the Brain Expo in Newport Beach, California last week.

Materials needed: Clipboard, Editing Prescription Pad, White Lab Coat (if you have one), Large Manila Envelope

Students look for: Severed Spelling Capitalization Cold Run-on Runny Nose Indent-itus Punctured Punctuation Tense tension Once diagnosis is finished, the results go into a large manila envelope labeled “Official XRay Results.” It‟s fun, but this only diagnoses the „editing mistakes.‟ It doesn‟t check for staying on topic, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, etc. Before students submit a paper for editing, consider having them complete a checklist to ensure they have met all requirements for a solid piece of writing. Source: Allen, R. (2008). Green Light Classrooms: Teaching Techniques That Accelerate Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press (pages 151-153)

My Writing Ideas A:

B:

C:

D:

E:

F:

G:

H:

I:

J:

K:

L:

M:

N:

O:

P:

Q:

R:

S:

T:

U:

V:

W:

XYZ:

~Remember that writing is simply talking on paper.

Finally,

Then,

Remember to use juicy words!

First,

Restate Prompt Here:

Consider a simile here: like a …

Use details, details, details!

Closing Sentences:

Pre-S.C.R.I.P.T.-ion for Writing Dr.________________ Edit Name of Writing:_____________________________ By:______________________ Type of Illness:

Source: Allen, R. (2008). Green Light

Classrooms: Teaching Techniques That Accelerate Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA:

Severed spelling

Corwin Press (pages 151-153)

Capitalization cold Run-on runny nose Indent-itus Punctured punctuation Tense tension Serious of Illness:

1

2

3

4

5

Recommended Treatment:_________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

Pre-S.C.R.I.P.T.-ion for Writing Dr.________________ Edit Name of Writing:_____________________________ By:______________________ Type of Illness:

Source: Allen, R. (2008). Green Light

Classrooms: Teaching Techniques That Accelerate Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA:

Severed spelling

Corwin Press (pages 151-153)

Capitalization cold Run-on runny nose Indent-itus Punctured punctuation Tense tension Serious of Illness:

1

2

3

4

5

Recommended Treatment:_________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

IDEAS

ORGANIZATION LEAD SENTENCE

BODY

CLOSING SENTENCE

VOICE I left my „thumbprint‟ on the page.

WORD CHOICE What word can I use INSTEAD of nice?

SYNONYMS

SENTENCE FLUENCY My writing flows when read aloud. Some sentences are long, some are short and some are somewhere in the middle.

CONVENTIONS LOOK OUT! I HAVE A CHECKING PENCIL, AND I’M READY TO USE IT!