Six Traits Writing

The stages a writer progresses through to create a piece of writing are called the “writing process”. These are flexible in that it they allow the writer to try out ideas, play with them, reshape and reorder them, start over, cut and paste, as well as add and delete details. Embedded in this process are two significant stages – revision and editing.

The “6 Traits” of good writing are presently being integrated into the District 203 writing curriculum: idea, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. The “6 Traits” are more than an approach to teaching and assessing writing. They provide a common vocabulary for teachers and students to use with in grades K-12. The traits describe what good writing looks like to all readers, whether it is a story about a quirky art teacher, an essay on the effects of global warming, or a persuasive piece on why Harry Potter books should be in every school library. Certain text features make the writing work and these characteristics are the “6 Traits”: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation.

The 6 Traits

Stage 1 of the writing process is the creative development and the revision (the re-visioning of the initial ideas again and again until they come into focus). The traits that contribute to this stage are:

IDEAS: Ideas make up the content of the piece of writing – the heart of the message. Ideas are all about information. That information can come from a writer’s own experience or imagination. When ideas are strong, the writer has a clear message and sticks with the topic. In addition, the writer uses vivid details to paint colorful, interesting pictures in the reader’s mind.

The focus of instruction is on:

• Writing to achieve clarity
• Understanding the concept of “main idea”
• Using drawing (when appropriate)or an organizer as a prewriting technique
• Sticking to one topic without wandering
• Understanding the concept of “detail”
• Using details to make a main idea more interesting and to create picture in the reader's mind

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ORGANIZATION: Organization is the internal structure of the piece, the thread of meaning, the logical pattern of the ideas. Like the skeleton of an animal, it holds everything together. Strong organization gives ideas direction, purpose, and momentum, guiding the reader skillfully from point to point.

The focus of instruction is on:

• Developing an organizational sequence that makes ideas easy to follow
• Creating a lead that gets the writing off to a strong start
• Developing a clear and sustained focus on the main idea
• Writing an appropriate conclusion that makes the writing feel finished

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VOICE: Voice is the soul of the piece; it is how you say it. Some elements of voice – such as personality or honesty – need to be nurtured (through modeling and positive comments). Other elements can be taught through use of detail or lively language and choice of personally important topics. Young writers should also know that even tiny changes, such as adding one descriptive word or making an honest comment, can do wonders to infuse writing with voice.

The focus of instruction is on:

• Helping students listen for the presence of voice in writing read aloud
• Giving students practice in coming up with their own words to describe voice
• Choosing personal topics to help students let their own voices “roar”
• Using very simple revision techniques to build voice into flat writing

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WORD CHOICE: Word choice depends on choosing the “just right” words to fit audience, topic and purpose. Secrets to successful word choice include simplicity, use of powerful verbs, sensitivity to nuances of meaning, use of sensory words that put a writer right at the scene, and an expanded vocabulary. For this reason, it is vital that young writers also be readers and listeners, constantly adding to their cache of powerful words and phrases.

The focus of instruction is on:

• Noticing repetition
• Revising to eliminate repetition in writing
• Understanding what a verb is
• Using verbs to give writing life and sparkle
• Using contextual clues to discover meanings of new words
• Using drawing as a way of clarifying word meanings
• Noticing sensory words in writing
• Using sensory words to create vivid, appealing writing

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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. It is the rhythm and flow of writing. It is marked by variety in both structure and length and invites expressive, interpretive reading. While fluency is not the same as grammar, the two are connected. Natural, expressive dialogue is also a component of fluency.

The focus of instruction is on:

• Listening for fluency as text is read aloud
• Understanding what a sentence is
• Varying sentence beginnings to increase fluency
• Combining sentences to make one longer sentence
• Creating personal text to help develop skill in fluency

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Stage 2: The editing/publishing traits which make the piece ready for an audience are:

Conventions: The trait of conventions includes the textual conventions a copy editor would deal with such as spelling, punctuation, usage and grammar, capitalization, and indentation.

The focus of the instruction is on:

• Punctuating statements and questions correctly
• Editing to insert spaces between words that run together
• Understanding when to use capital letters
• Editing to correct faulty spelling of eight common sight words
• Recognizing and applying two editor's symbols

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ADVANTAGES OF TRAIT-BASED WRITING

Provides an “analytical” assessment of a piece of writing versus a “holistic” assessment.
Captures the qualities of what good writing looks like.
Provides a common vocabulary for talking about writing.
Allows students to become self-evaluators.

Culham, Ruth. 6+1 Traits of Writing, (Scholastic Professional Books: 2003).
Spandel, Vicki. Write Traits Teacher’s Guide (Great Source Education Group: 2004).