Six Trait WritingSix Trait WritingSix Trait WritingSix Trait Writing

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Six Traits is:• Common language to talk about writing

• Shared vision of what “good” looks like in all forms of writing

• Assessment tool for teachers and students

• Model for use in a writing process classroom

Ruth Culham

Six Traits is not:• A writing curriculum

• A quick fix, silver bullet, magic potion, or an easy answer

• Successful in classrooms where worksheets matter more than critical thinking

by Ruth Culham

Six Traits• Ideas• Organization• Voice • Word Choice• Sentence Fluency• Conventions

How To Teach the Traits

• Introduce 1 trait at a time.• Read a short book as an example of the

trait.• Have students participate in a whole

group activity about the trait.• Share rubric for the trait.• Teach the trait across the curriculum and

use the terms and elements in all areas.

Getting Started

• Teach writing process: graphic organizer, rough draft, share, revise, edit, publish

• Teach students proofreading marks• Post proofreading marks in the room• Online practice

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/proofread/proof.htm

Idea

is the main idea, the heart of the story. • Discuss choosing a topic• Model topics too big/good, narrow

topics• Model using graphic organizer for

details of topic• Make details be something the

reader does not already know

IDEAS • Read a book that is a good

example of the Idea trait• Review rubric and use to score the

book

IDEAS• Give the students a simple topic and have them write a

paragraph concentrating only on the IDEA. • Share examples you have collected. • Review what a single, double, triple, and home run

looks like.• Have them score their own paper and peer edit using

proofreading marks.• Do not score them on anything but IDEA.• If you have another class available, trade and score the

other classes papers.• Continue daily, in many subject areas, practicing and

focusing on IDEA.

ORGANIZATIONis the pattern of the writing. Does it make

sense?

• Teach beginning, middle, end• Share good beginnings and

endings of stories• Story Strips• Transition words

Organization• Share a book with good

organization• Have students score the book with

scoring guide

Organization• Give the students a simple topic (directions for making a peanut

butter and jelly sandwich) and have them write a paragraph concentrating only on the ORGANIZATION.

• Share examples you have collected. • Review what a single, double, triple, and home run looks like.• Have them score their own paper and peer edit using proofreading

marks.• Do not score them on anything but ORGANIZATION.• If you have another class available, trade and score the other classes

papers. Give the kids a number to keep them anonymous. • Continue daily, in many subject areas, practicing writing and focusing

on ORGANIZATION. You can point out steps for a math problem using transition words.

• When they are understanding ideas and organization have them write and score a story on both IDEAS and ORGANIZATION.

VOICEmakes the writing come to life and have

personality.

• Discuss purpose of writing. Who is your audience?

• Share types of music, art work, or books. Each has a different voice and purpose.

• Work in groups with samples of voice. Place on T-chart as voice or no voice.

• Read samples out loud to listen for voice.

VOICE• Share a book with good VOICE• Have students score the book with

scoring guide

VOICE• Give the students a simple topic and have them write a

paragraph concentrating only on the VOICE. • Share examples you have collected. • Review what a single, double, triple, and home run looks like.• Have them score their own paper and peer edit using

proofreading marks.• Do not score them on anything but VOICE.• If you have another class available, trade and score the other

classes papers.• Continue daily, in many subject areas, practicing writing that

focuses on VOICE.• Have them score a story on IDEA, ORGANIZATION, and

VOICE.

WORD CHOICEDo the words create a picture and capture

your attention?

• Model by reading aloud selections with good word choice

• Make “Tired Word Wall”• Words that describe senses: sound, feel,

smell, see, and taste• Make menu using adjectives• Ten sentences on topic, no word repeats• Verb Play• Climb Inside an Adjective

WORD CHOICE• Read a book with good WORD

CHOICE. Suggestions are: Donovan’s Word Jar, Miss Alaineus, and Sir Cumference and the First Round Table.

• Have students score the book with scoring guide for WORD CHOICE

WORD CHOICE• Give the students a simple topic and have them write a

paragraph concentrating only on the WORD CHOICE. • Share examples you have collected. • Use the baseball rubric and review what a single, double,

triple, and home run looks like.• Have them score their own paper and peer edit using

proofreading marks.• Do not score them on anything but WORD CHOICE.• If you have another class available, trade and score the other

classes papers.• Continue daily, in many subject areas, practicing writing and

focusing on WORD CHOICE.• Have them score a story on IDEA, ORGANIZATION, VOICE, and

WORD CHOICE.

SENTENCE FLUENCYIs the writing smooth and easy to follow,

shows variety, and fun to read aloud?

• Vary sentence length• Review 4 kinds of sentences• Vary types of sentences when writing• Read writing aloud with good fluency

and compare to poor fluency example• Sentence Stretching• Vary first words• Sentence combining

SENTENCE FLUENCY• Read My Sister Ate One Hare, or

any other book suggested for good fluency.

• Have students score with the sentence fluency rubric

SENTENCE FLUENCY• Give the students a simple topic and have them write a

paragraph concentrating only on the SENTENCE FLUENCY. • Share examples you have collected. • Review what a single, double, triple, and home run looks like.• Have them score their own paper and peer edit using

proofreading marks.• Do not score them on anything but SENTENCE FLUENCY.• If you have another class available, trade and score the other

classes papers.• Continue daily, in many subject areas, practicing focusing on

SENTENCE FLUENCY.• Combine all they have learned and have them score a story

on IDEA, ORGANIZATION, VOICE, WORD CHOICE, and SENTENCE FLUENCY.

CONVENTIONS

• Capitalization• Punctuation• Spelling• Grammar and usage• Paragraphing

CONVENTIONS• Read Punctuation Takes a

Vacation• Discuss problems they had without

punctuation.• Go over rubric for conventions.

CONVENTIONS

• Have them score a story on IDEA, ORGANIZATION, VOICE, WORD CHOICE, and CONVENTIONS!

Letter Grades from Rubrics

• If you use the 4 point rubric you can total the scores at the end of the grading period and get a percentage.

• When you use the 5 point rubric assign your score to a letter grade and percentage.

• 5=A 95% 4=B 85% 3=C 75% 2=D 65% 1=F 55%

Grading• Don’t grade every trait every time• Only score on traits you have

taught• Use words not numbers when

commenting on papers• Assess and provide feedback

Conclusion• Continue to teach 6 Trait in all

subjects• Never consider they are finished

reviewing any of the traits