Ideas Organization Conventions

1. Ideas • Organization • Conventions www.nwrel.org • Word Choice • Sentence Fluency • Voice Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

2. MEET THE TRAIT MATES Meet the Trait Mates Donna Details Willie Word Choice Charlie Conventions Ollie Order Sammy Sounds Good Vicki Voice Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

3. TRAIT: Ideas Donna Details is a detective who is always searching for clues. Like a detective searching for clues to a mystery, writers include lots of rich details that stick to a topic. Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

4. TRAIT: Ideas • Think of a topic that you know about and care about. • Add lots of interesting details. • Stick to your topic. • Elaborate on the most important details. Donna Details uses words like: ideas, details, topic, elaborate, focus, explain Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

5. TRAIT: Organization Ollie Order is a police officer who keeps traffic moving in an orderly way. Like the green, amber and red lights in a traffic signal, writing must have a beginning, middle and end. As well, the details must flow in an order that makes sense to the reader. Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

6. TRAIT: Organization • Plan your writing. • Grab your reader’s attention. • Put your details in an order that makes sense. • Wrap the piece up neatly. Ollie uses words like: organization, lead, conclusion, plan, pre-writing, transition Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

7. TRAIT: Word Choice Willy Word Choice is an artist. Artists create pictures with paint, but a writer creates pictures with words. Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

8. TRAIT: Word Choice • Think about the words you use. • Choose some WOW words. • Try to paint pictures in the reader’s mind. • Use some writers’ techniques Willy uses words like: verbs, describing, techniques, vocabulary, language Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

9. TRAIT: Sentence Fluency Sammy Sounds Good is a musician. Just as Sammy works hard to make his instrument sound good, writers work hard to create writing that sounds good to the ear. Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

10. TRAIT: Sentence Fluency • Use some long sentences and some short sentences. • Put words together in ways that sound good. • Read your writing out loud to see if it sounds smooth and flowing. Sammy uses words like: fluency, rhythm, sentences, variety, structure Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

11. TRAIT: Voice Vicki Voice is a singer who makes her voice carry the message of the music. Writers use words, sentences and details to put voice into their writing. Like a singer’s voice, a writer’s voice can be funny or angry or gentle, depending on the mood and message he or she wants to send. Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

12. TRAIT: Voice • Speak to a reader with your writing. • Try to keep your reader interested. • Show your feelings. • Make your writing sound like a real person. Vicki uses words like: style, personality, emotions, audience, reader, mood, point of view Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

13. TRAIT: Conventions Charlie Conventions is a construction worker. He uses many different tools to build houses and other structures. Capital letters, punctuation marks, and spelling patterns are some of the tools writers use to build writing that others can read. Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com

14. TRAIT: Conventions • Put capital letters on names and at the beginning of sentences. • Use the right words. • Put punctuation at the end of sentences • Spell words as well as you can. • Put spaghetti spaces between the letters and meatball spaces between the words. • Make sure your writing looks neat on the page. Capitals Usage Punctuation Spelling Lori Jamison 2008 www.lorijamison.com