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Title: 6-Trait Writing Instruction and Assessment


1
6-Trait Writing Instruction and Assessment
2
How Did You Learn to Write?
  • I always did well on essay tests. Just put
    everything you know on there, maybe youll hit
    it. And then you get the paper back from the
    teacher and shes written just one word across
    the top of the page, vague. I thought vague
    was kind of vague. Id write underneath it
    unclear, and send it back. Shed return it to
    me, ambiguous. Id send it back to her,
    cloudy. Were still corresponding to this day
    . . . hazy . . . muddy . . .
  • Jerry Seinfeld, SeinLanguage

3
  • Nothing frustrates a young writer or an older
    writer more than looking at a finished piece
    and knowing it isnt very good, but not knowing
    what to do about it.
  • Tommy Thomason

4
Questions to Consider
  • How do we teach studentsand how do students
    learnto write well?
  • What do we look for when grading students
    writing, and how do we explain those grades to
    students?
  • How do we teach students to revise their own
    writing? How do we show them specific ways to
    improve?

5
What do we value in writing?
  • Read Redwoods
  • What do you notice about this students writing?
  • Identify its major strengths and weaknesses.
  • Share your observations with a partner.
  • Discuss what advice you would give this writer.
  • What grade level is this writer? What was the
    prompt?
  • 11th grade
  • Write about a memorable place.

6
What do we value in writing?
  • Read Mouse Alert
  • What do you notice about this students writing?
  • Identify its major strengths and weaknesses.
  • Share your observations with a partner.
  • Discuss what advice you would give this writer.
  • What grade level is this writer? What was the
    prompt?
  • 7th grade
  • Write about your summer vacation.

7
Objectives In the next 60 minutes . . .
  • Learn the language of the six traits
  • Learn how focus lessons can be used to help
    students improve their writing trait by trait
  • Understand how the six traits relate to the
    writing process
  • Understand how the six traits create an important
    link between assessment and instruction

8
The Six Traits A Brief History
  • Originated in Oregon in the 1980s
  • Vicki Spandel, NWREL researchers, and 17 teachers
  • Purpose to develop a consistent vocabulary for
    defining good writing/writing instruction to
    create an assessment rubric to be used across all
    grade levels
  • Evaluated thousands of papers (all grade levels)
    and identified common characteristics of good
    writing
  • Those qualities became the six traits

9
The Six Traits of Good Writing
  • Ideas
  • Organization
  • Voice
  • Word Choice
  • Sentence Fluency
  • Conventions
  • (1) Presentation

10
Defining Ideas
  • Ideas make up the content of the piece of
    writingthe heart of the message. (Culham)
  • 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. (NWREL)

11
  • When I was in school I thought details were
    just extra words to add in a story to make it
    better. I thought detail was decoration or
    wallpaper . . . Details are not wallpaper they
    are walls.
  • Barry Lane

12
Teaching Ideas
  • For students to arrive at good content, we must
    help them
  • Select an idea (the topic)
  • Narrow the idea (focus)
  • Elaborate on the idea (development)
  • Discover the best information to convey the idea
    (details)

13
Narrowing the Idea R.A.F.T.
  • R.A.F.T. stands for . . .
  • Role of the writer
  • Audience for the piece of writing
  • Format of the material
  • Topic or subject of the piece of writing
  • Example You are Jerry Spinelli, author of the
    delightful novel, Stargirl. Design a three-part
    advertising campaign that will assist you and
    your publisher to convince one of the major movie
    studios to buy the movie rights and make a
    feature film based on the book.

14
Elaborating on Ideas
  • Ask Me a Question
  • In groups of three, students take turns reading
    their writing aloud to the group.
  • The listeners do not comment. Instead, they
    write down three questions they have (things they
    want to know more about) and give them to the
    writer.
  • This helps the writer become more aware of
    details he or she might want to add during
    revision.

15
Defining Organization
  • Organization is the internal structure of the
    piece, the thread of meaning, the logical pattern
    of the ideas. (Culham)
  • Organization is the internal structure of a piece
    of writing, the thread of central meaning, the
    logical and sometimes intriguing pattern of the
    ideas. (NWREL)

16
  • Good prose is architecture.
  • Ernest Hemingway

17
Teaching Organization
  • Strategies for effective organization include
  • Beginning with an inviting and focusing
    introduction
  • Providing thoughtful links between key points and
    ideas
  • Employing a logical, purposeful, and effective
    sequence
  • Controlling the pacing
  • Closing with a satisfying conclusion

18
Sequencing Mix It Up
  • Choose a short piece of texta poem, a magazine
    article, a short story, etc.
  • Cut the text into pieces so students can move
    them around like a puzzle.
  • Ask students, in groups, to put the parts in
    order. Which comes first, second, third, last?
    How do you know?
  • If students disagree, discuss the different ways
    students have organized the parts. Are they
    logical and effective?

19
Introductions Share Examples
  • Use mentor texts to show students a variety of
    ways to begin, and post a list on the wall.
  • A thought-provoking question
  • A hint of the conclusion
  • An anecdote
  • An indication of main points
  • A dramatic or eye-opening statement
  • A quotation
  • Encourage students to add to the list as they
    discover additional models in their independent
    reading.
  • Variations Sorting Leads, Matching Openers and
    Closers

20
Defining Voice
  • Voice is the soul of the piece. Its what makes
    the writers style singular, as his or her
    feelings and convictions come out through the
    words. (Culham)
  • The voice is the heart and soul, the magic, the
    wit, along with the feeling and conviction of the
    individual writer coming out through the words.
    (NWREL)

21
  • 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

22
Teaching Voice
  • Voice emerges when the writer
  • Allows the writing to sound like him/herself
  • Shows that he/she really cares about the idea
  • Writes with energy and enthusiasm
  • Writes with the reader in mind
  • Takes risks to make the writing memorable
  • Matches the writing to its audience and purpose

23
Learning to Hear Voice in Literature
  • Collect short passages that exemplify strong or
    distinctive voice, put them on overheads, and
    read them aloud.
  • Have students discuss what they think they know
    about the writer (or narrator)
  • Is the writer young or old? male or female?
  • What feeling does the writer want to communicate?
  • Does the writer care about this piece of writing?
  • What kind of audience is the writer addressing?
  • How do you know these things? What aspects of
    the text led you to these conclusions?

24
More Ideas for Teaching Voice
  • Greeting Cards Collect a variety of birthday
    cards, and have students sort them romantic,
    sarcastic, sincere, cute, sentimental, etc.
  • Voice In, Voice Out Give students a piece of
    text that lacks voice (instruction manual,
    textbook, memo, etc.) and invite them to add as
    much voice as possible. Read the two versions
    aloud and discuss the differences. Try it the
    other way, toohave students remove the voice
    from a strong piece of writing.
  • New Voices, New Choices Have students write the
    first sentence of a letter (on the same topic)
    for five different audiences.

25
Defining Word Choice
  • Word choice is at its best when it includes the
    use of rich, colorful, precise language that
    moves and enlightens the reader. (Culham)
  • Word choice is the use of rich, colorful, precise
    language that moves and enlightens the reader.
    (NWREL)

26
  • The difference between the almost-right word
    and the right word is really a large matterits
    the difference between the lightning bug and the
    lightning.
  • Dont say the old lady screamed. Bring her on
    and let her scream!
  • Mark Twain

27
Teaching Word Choice
  • Teaching word choice involves
  • Striking Language Sharpening students
    descriptive powers
  • Exact Language Using lively verbs, precise
    nouns, and accurate modifiers
  • Natural Language Making it sound authentic
  • Beautiful Language Choosing colorful words and
    phrases
  • Ruth Culham, 61 Traits of Writing

28
Descriptive Limits
  • Put this prompt on the board Write about a
    moment when you were unbelievably scared.
  • As a class, discuss possible ways to approach the
    topic.
  • When everyone seems ready to begin writing, tell
    them that the words scare, frighten, fright,
    fear, fearful, afraid, spook, startle, terror,
    terrorize, terrify, panic, cold sweat, shock,
    surprise, dread, turn pale, hair stand on end,
    blood run cold, and teeth chatter are all off
    limits.
  • After students have time to write, debrief the
    experience. What did they discover? How did
    this activity make them more (or less) creative
    in their word choice?

29
The Game of Connotations
  • I am selective.
  • You are choosy.
  • She is fussy.
  • I am energetic.
  • You are jumpy.
  • He is unable to sit still.
  • I am confident.
  • Your are self-assured.
  • He is conceited.
  • Challenge students to come up with their own
    examples.

30
Expanding Small Phrases into Bigger Ones
  • You cant support an elephant on a step ladder.
  • Notice the difference between these two
    sentences
  • The wind was strong.
  • The wind fumed and shrieked about the house,
    yanking at the loose shingles.
  • Have students use vivid verbs, colorful
    adjectives, and precise nouns to rewrite
    sentences such as
  • The dog was hungry.
  • The house was empty.
  • My sister got mad.
  • The rain came down.
  • My shoes were tight.

31
Words, Words, Words Everywhere
  • Use Word Walls and more to create a
    print-rich classroom environment
  • Keep strips of colored paper handy so students
    can record cool words they discover during
    reading and writing activities.
  • Color code them according to parts of speech
    precise nouns, descriptive adjectives, energetic
    verbs.
  • Post them on the walls, windows, ceiling, etc.

32
Defining Sentence Fluency
  • Sentence fluency is the flow of the language, the
    sound of word patternsthe way the writing plays
    to the ear, not just to the eye. (Culham)
  • Sentence fluency is the rhythm and flow of the
    language, the sound of word patterns, the way in
    which the writing plays to the earnot just to
    the eye. (NWREL)
  • Fluent writing is graceful, varied, rhythmic, and
    powerful.

33
  • Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no
    accident. Very few sentences come out right the
    first time, or even the third time.
  • William Zinsser, On Writing Well

34
Teaching Sentence Fluency
  • Helping students improve their sentence fluency
    means teaching them to
  • Use a variety of sentence lengths
  • Use a variety of sentence beginnings
  • Use a variety of sentence structures
  • Use repetition of sounds, words, and phrases to
    create patterns
  • Create writing that can be read aloud with ease

35
Sentence Stretching
  • Ask each student to write a simple sentence of
    4-5 words at the top of a sheet of paper.
  • (Example Matthew ate a pizza.)
  • Students pass the paper to the next student who
    must add or change one element to make the
    sentence more specific and interesting.
  • After the paper has been passed to 10-12 people,
    it is returned to the original owner.
  • Students write their revised sentences on the
    board for all to see.

36
End With a Noun
  • Experiment with one of your sentences.
  • Try ending it with different parts of speech.
  • Decide which is the most effective.
  • A rolling stone gathers no moss. (noun)
  • If a stone rolls, hardly any moss with be
    gathered. (verb)
  • If you are concerned about moss gathering on a
    stone, roll it. (pronoun)
  • When trying to rid yourself of moss, roll the
    stone quickly. (adverb)
  • If you roll the stone, the moss will become
    smooth. (adjective)

37
Defining Conventions
  • Conventions represent the pieces level of
    correctnessthe extent to which the writer uses
    grammar and mechanics with precision. (Culham)
  • Conventions are the mechanical correctness of the
    piecespelling, grammar and usage, paragraphing,
    use of capitals, and punctuation. (NWREL)
  • Conventions include anything a copy editor might
    deal with.
  • The whole purpose of this trait is to enhance
    readabilityto make the writing enticing and
    accessible to the reader.

38
  • Editing is easy, all you have to do is cross
    out the wrong words.
  • Mark Twain

39
Teaching Conventions
  • Teaching students the correct use of conventions
    includes lessons that focus on
  • Spelling correctly when publishing work
  • Applying basic capitalization rules with
    consistency
  • Using appropriate punctuation marks to guide the
    reader
  • Using appropriate grammatical structures to
    communicate ideas clearly and convincingly

40
Tips for Teaching Conventions
  • Get a good sense of what students know and what
    they still need to learn.
  • Teach the skills that are developmentally
    appropriate for students to add to their
    repertoire of conventions.
  • Allow for plenty of practice, time to experiment,
    and opportunities to apply the new skills in
    their writing.
  • Hold students accountable for the specific skills
    for which they have an understanding.
  • Use wall charts and mentor texts.

41
Presentation (the 1)
  • Presentation zeros in on the form and layouthow
    pleasing the piece is to the eye. (Culham)
  • Presentation makes the piece easy to read
  • Margins are even layout is effective.
  • Handwriting or font is legible and clear.
  • Illustrations are appropriate and well-placed.
  • Everything contributes to the effectiveness of
    the writing.

42
Why Use the Six Traits?
  • It provides a common language for teachers and
    students to use in teaching and learning about
    the craft of writing.
  • It provides consistency in writing assessment and
    a shared vocabulary for giving feedback to
    students.
  • It provides a guiding focus for writing
    instruction and the tools students need to revise
    their own writing.

43
Why is the 61Trait Model an Effective Teaching
Tool for Writing Instruction?
  • Defines good writing in a specific way for the
    teacher and the student
  • Provides a way to delineate areas of individual
    strengths and areas of challenge
  • Allows for greater consistency and accuracy in
    assessment
  • Provides a common vocabulary for vertical and
    horizontal alignment of instruction
  • Develops all of the traits evaluated in state
    assessment
  • Provides a clear link between reading and writing
  • Enables students to become self-assessors

44
  • The writing process is a means to an end and
    not an end in itself.
  • Ruth Culham

45
The Traits and the Writing Process
  • Prewriting Ideas, Organization, Voice
  • Drafting Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word
    Choice, Sentence Fluency
  • Revising All traits except conventions
  • Editing Conventions
  • Publishing Presentation

46
Two Groups of Traits
  • Revision Traits
  • Individual, creative, complex, and messy
  • Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence
    Fluency
  • Editing Traits
  • Predetermined, correct, and exacting
  • Conventions, Presentation
  • Coach students to keep conscious editing out of
    the prewriting and drafting process most editing
    should occur after revision of ideas occurs.

47
  • Good assessment always begins with a vision of
    success.
  • Richard Stiggins,
  • Student-Centered Classroom Assessment

48
  • We must constantly remind ourselves that the
    ultimate purpose of evaluation is to enable
    students to evaluate themselves.
  • Arthur Costa

49
The Traits and Assessment
  • The 6-Trait rubrics can be used by
  • Self, peer, teacher
  • To assess
  • A single trait, a group of traits, all the traits
  • The 6-Trait rubrics can also be used as
  • A tool for vertical and horizontal curriculum
    alignment
  • An instrument for grade-level, school, or
    district measurement
  • Assessment is not the end of the writing process.
  • It is the bridge to revision.
  • 6-Trait Writing is all about revision!

50
  • Assessment is not the private property of
    teachers. Kids can learn to evaluate their own
    writing. They must take part in this . . . it is
    central to the growth of writing. Even before
    they write, they need to know about what makes
    writing strong or effective. And they need to
    know the criteria by which their own writing will
    be judged.
  • Marjorie Frank

51
Where do I begin?
  • Establish a writing community in your classroom
    based on the whole writing process.
  • Focus your mini-lessons, assessment, and revision
    on the traits, preferably one at a time.
  • Use the vocabulary of the traits when reading and
    discussing texts.
  • Were teaching our students to write, not to
    trait. (Ruth Culham, 61 Traits of Writing)

52
The Traits and Instruction
  • Introduce the concept of the writing traits
  • Immerse students in writers language
  • Teach students to be assessors of their own and
    others work guide them through analysis of
    anonymous sample papers use self-assessment in
    revising and goal setting
  • Share strong and weak examples from many
    different sources (including literature and
    student writing) to illustrate each trait
  • Use focused lessons that target each trait
    include hands-on activities to help students
    develop skills and deepen their understanding
  • Provide numerous opportunities for students to
    practice focused revision and editing of their
    own work as well as the work of others model
    writing and let students coach you

53
  • Think of how many teachers you had who actually
    helped you with your writing. Most people can
    name one or two. I say to teachers, Be that one
    teacher for a child.
  • Donald Graves

54
Resources
  • Culham, Ruth. 61 Traits of Writing The
    Complete Guide. New York Scholastic, 2003.
  • Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
    http//www.nwrel.org/assessment/
  • Spandel, Vicki. Creating Writers Through 6-Trait
    Writing Assessment and Instruction. 3rd ed. New
    York Addison Wesley Longman, 2001.
  • Spandel, Vicki. Write Traits 6-Trait
    Instruction and Assessment. San Antonio. 24-26
    Oct. 2005.
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