6 + 1 Trait writing

1. 6 + 1 Trait writing

2. History • 1960s—NCTE and “Research in Written Composition” • 1970s—National Writing Project • 1980s—Donald Murray, Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, Ralph Fletcher • 1980s—Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (Portland, OR) built on work of Paul Diederich and others. • 1990s—IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts, Benchmarks • 2010—Common Core State Standards for the English Language Arts

3. Goals • Uses criteria to set the standard of what good writing looks like • Provides a common vocabulary for talking about writing • Allows students to become self-evaluators

4. “Scales, criteria, and specific questions that students apply to their own or others’ writing also have a powerful effect on enhancing quality. Through using the criteria systematically, students appear to internalize them and bring them to bear in generating new material even when they do not have the criteria in front of them.” George Hillocks, Jr. • “The only way to raise the quality of writing in a school is to create, share, and celebrate the specific criteria for that quality with everybody on a regular basis.” Barry Lane

5. 1. Ideas • Ideas make up the content of the piece of writing—the heart of the message.

6. R.A.F.T.S. • R—Role of the writer • A—Audience for the piece of writing • F—Format of the material • T—Topic or subject of the piece of writing • S—Strong verb • You are a natural-born cowboy songwriter sitting around the campfire after a long day’s ride with your buddies Tim and Jake. Write the lyrics to a familiar song (like “Home, Home on the Range”) describing the events of the day.

7. 2. Organization • Organization is the internal structure of the piece, the thread of meaning, the logical pattern of the ideas.

8. 3. Voice • Voice is the soul of the piece. It’s what makes the writer’s style singular, as his or her feelings and convictions come out through the words.

9. “Too often young artists paint before they think. I have disciplined myself to think before I paint . . . I personalize the scene, make it my own so that you and I, viewer and artist, can communicate. My goal is to create paintings that are a voice, not an echo.” Charles Wysocki • “The truth of your experience can only come through in your own voice. If it is wrapped up in someone else’s voice, we readers will feel suspicious, as if you are dressed up in someone else’s clothes.” Anne Lamott

10. 4. Word Choice • Word choice is at its best when it includes the use of rich, colorful, precise language that moves and enlightens the reader.

11. 5. Sentence fluency • Sentence fluency is the flow of the language, the sound of word patterns—the way the writing plays to the ear, not just to the eye.

12. 6. conventions • Conventions represent the piece’s level of correctness—the extent to which the writer uses grammar and mechanics with precision.

13. +1 Presentation • Presentation zeros in on the form and layout—how pleasing the piece is to the eye.

14. Two Groups of Traits • Revision Traits • Ideas • Organization • Voice • Word Choice • Sentence Fluency • Editing/ Publishing Traits • Conventions • Presentation

15. “Re-vision is re-seeing the topic so the writer can discover meaning. Editing is making the meaning clear so a reader can understand meaning.” Donald Murray

16. Bibliography • Buckner, A. Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writer’s Notebook • Calkins, L. Units of Study for Grades K-2, 3-5 • Culham, R. 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades • Culham, R. 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide Grades 3 and Up • Portalupi, J. & Fletcher, R. Teaching the Qualities of Writing