6 Trait Writing Professional Development

1. 6 Trait WritingProfessional Development

2. The Need for Excellent Writing Instruction • Why is writing important? • To complete academic assignments • To develop communication skills for academic and professional success • To succeed in high-stakes assessments

3. Preparing for Common Core State StandardsWriting Performance Tasks Make inferences Be able to quote a resource Determine the main idea and details

4. Which is your situation? System B • Teachers assess student writing using a common framework. • Teachers frequently get together to evaluate student writing. • A schoolwide or districtwide system for assessing student writing yields useful data on instructional needs. System A • Teachers assess student work using their own systems. • Teachers seldom get together to evaluate student writing. • There is no schoolwide or districtwide system for assessing the quality of student work.

5. The 6-Traits • Is a model of assessment and instruction designed by teachers and based upon best practices. • Is best learned through intensive professional development since it is not a specific program • Does not require purchasing additional materials, but is dependent on teacher implementation

6. The 6-Traits Help students: • understand what is working well and what needs to be improved in their writing. • use a common language for discussing the quality of writing. Help teachers: • diagnose specific strengths and weaknesses of student writing • assess and use assessment for focus of instruction • improve overall writing in the classroom

7. Research Base for 6-Traits 1972- Bay Area Writing Project 1984- Beaverton School District, Oregon 1994- Arter, Spandel, Culham, and Pollard. Six classrooms of fifth grade students were studied and the treatment group showed substantial growth in the three traits that were explicitly taught. 1999 -Teams scored 930 pieces of student writing. The sum of the six trait scores as a predictor of success was accurate for 79% of students. 2000- Kent School District, WA (NWREL) The study tracked student growth in writing achievement in third grade over a period of three years. The study showed an increase in the number of students meeting benchmark standards in all traits, up to to 32.2%.

8. 6-Traits Writing Training for Teachers • Components • Ideas • Organization • Voice • Word Choice • Fluency • Conventions Builds Teacher Collaboration Guides Writing Instruction

9. How do you evaluate quality writing?

10. Student and Teacher Rubrics

11. 6-Traits: Ideas IDEAS = Content of the message • State, clarify main ideas • Be an observer • Show, don’t tell • Get rid of dead wood • Focus on the subject

12. 6-Traits: Organization ORGANIZATION = Internal structure • Logical and chronological order, transitions • Spend time on a good lead • Link ideas together in paragraphs • Beginning, middle, end

13. Title: Topic: Main Idea: Supporting Details 1. 2. 3. Topic: Main Idea: Supporting Details 1. 2. 3. Topic: Main Idea: Supporting Details 1. 2. 3. Topic: Source: Purpose: Organizational Maps

14. 6-Traits: Voice VOICE = connection between writer and reader • Express interest and personality • Make the reader feel and respond • Match voice to purpose • Understand the audience • Be yourself

15. 6-Traits: Word Choice WORD CHOICE = selection of words • Select specific and precise words • Collect quotations • Match word choice to purpose and audience • Think of a picture

16. Example of Stretching with Word Choice The lioness stalked. The famished, angry lioness stalked. The famished, eager lioness stalked through the tall grass. The famished, eager lioness stalked through the tall grass, looking for food. Looking for food, the famished, striped tiger stalked through the grass.

17. Word Choice Noxious Harmful Poisonous Unhealthy Corrupting Lethal

18. 6-Traits: Sentence Fluency SENTENCE FLUENCY = how words are connected Construct and combine sentences • Vary sentence structure and length • Edit incomplete or choppy sentences • Read other writing aloud

19. 6-Traits: Conventions CONVENTIONS = Punctuation, spelling, grammar, usage • Correct misspellings, fragments, run-on sentences • Correct usage issues or overuse of words • Edit for punctuation and grammar

20. Ninth & Tenth Grade: Text Types and Purposes Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. • Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. IDEAS • Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic. IDEAS, VOICE • Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. ORGANIZATION • Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic. WORD CHOICE • Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. CONVENTIONS • Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic). ORGANIZATION

21. Pearson’s 6-Trait WritingDistrict Training This two-day onsite district institute will prepare teachers to: • Develop skills and strategies to incorporate 6 Traits into their writing curriculum to enhance learning of ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, and conventions. • Teach and assess writing using rubrics • Plan for differentiated instruction to meet student needs.

22. Pearson’s 6-Trait Writing District Training Activities • Compare examples of writing and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each • Explore components of good writing instruction and assessment • Define the 6 traits integration to the core standards • Model instruction and provide examples of what it looks like in literature. • Assess own writing • Review methods for teaching each trait • Present and discuss lesson ideas for each trait. • Use rubrics and score examples of student writing. • Review methods for converting rubric scores to grades

23. Pearson’s 6-Trait Writing Resources

24. Benefits of 6-Trait Writing Training • Provides a common language and framework for writing instruction • Not dependent on a specific curriculum • Can be used within the writing process • Gives teachers autonomy to choose literature and writing prompts • Aligned tools for assessment and instruction • The research shows instruction in 6 Traits can improve students’ writing.

25. Why Professional Development from Pearson? • Content aligned to Common Core State Standards to help students improve writing and meet standards • Ongoing support provided (coaching and modeling options) to improve classroom instruction • Author-approved, expert trainers, mentored by Vikki Spandel • Access to Vikki Spandel’s textbooks and resources • A wealth of resources and solutions in available to the district

26. Questions?