1. 6 Traits and More: A Practical Approach to Teaching Writing Effectively
by Courtney Kistemann

2. You Will Learn…. What are the 6 traits
What does “Leaping the River” mean
How the 6 traits fits into the writing process
Fun activities to do at home
How to prep for AIMS writing

3. Types of Writing Formal and Informal Letters Personal Narrative
Expository Writing
Functional Text
Persuasive Text
Literary Response
Research Writing 3

4. The Six Traits of Writing
1. Ideas
2. Organization
3. Voice
4. Word Choice
5. Sentence Fluency
6. Conventions
This program was developed by creative teachers and modified for international use at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

5. Ideas and Content
Writing has a main idea that is clear and well thought out
Author includes “beyond-the-obvious” detail
Ideas demonstrate clarity, focus, sense of purpose
Ideas and supporting details paint a picture
Very often brainstorming, graphic organizers, story starters or narrative prompts can be used to help students get started.

6. The writer should: Show not tell
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass” Anton Chekhov
Be original and write from experience
Make sure that the piece being written is interesting so that the reader will want to read all the way to the end
First and last impression are key
Is your writing a tasty gourmet burger or is it from the dollar menu

7. Scoring Anchor Papers
Imagine that a pair of shoes has wings. Write about what happens when someone puts them on.

8. Organization… More than Just Paragraphs
Deals with how you organize the ideas
More than beginning, middle and end
Ideas flow from one paragraph to another (transitions)
Introductions hook reader and introduce theme, main idea and purpose
Conclusion is interesting and
leaves the reader satisfied

9. Writing a Personal Narrative Activity

10. Voice Writing portrays the author’s personality
Author uses voice appropriate to topic and audience
Expresses author’s feelings towards subject
Is there real passion?
Does the author care? 10

11. Developing Characters Voice… with Hats11

12. Word Choice Student uses creative language (similes and metaphors)
Stays away from said and other graveyard words
Uses action verbs
Descriptive language
Uses appropriate and interesting words
Stays away from slang and common jargon

13. Wanted Monster Poster 13

14. Fluency Students write complete sentences
Sentence style and length vary
Appropriate transitions are used that helps the flow and rhythm of the piece
No run-ons (wordy language)
Text begs to be read aloud

15. Writing Complete Sentences
Complete sentences must contain a subject and a predicate. Students must know the definitions of the parts of speech in order to write complete sentences.

16. Sentence Variation
Sentence variation means that sentences should not all start with the same word or phrase, and the vocabulary within a sentence should vary. The structure of sentences should also vary, so that the piece does not begin to sound sing-songy or immature. 16

17. Transitions
Transitional words are words that string together sentences or ideas. Transitions can use words such as and, but, nonetheless, however, in addition, for example, similarly, also and moreover. Students need to see examples of these words in use in order to put good transitions to work. 17

18. Conventions Grammar Punctuation Spelling
The best thing is to teach your child to read their work aloud. They will be able to hear the mistakes

19. 6 Traits and The Writing Process
Step 1 – Pre-write/Plan Generate, develop, & think about ideas, organization, voice Step 2 – Draft Develop ideas, organize ideas, use voice, sentence fluency and word choice Step 3 – Revise Add, delete, develop, adjust: ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice Step 4 – Edit Find problems and correct conventions Step 5 – Publish Share the completed writing
Revision vs.
Editing Activity 19

20. FAT-P
Prompt- “Your parents just got a tax return and want to use the money to redo the backyard. Write a letter to your parents describing what you think should be done to the backyard. F- What is the format? A- Who is the audience? T- Underline the topic. P- What is the purpose?
Help your child identify FAT-P often in preparation for AIMS

21. Ways to Assess
Students can evaluate their pieces using checklists and rubrics
Parents and Eagleridge teachers should guide, help evaluate and make suggestions
When evaluating give constructive comments
Formative assessment should always be done so that students can work toward improvement
Portfolios 21

22. Best Teaching Practices
I do…you do…we do
Model, model, model
Read and discuss great authors together
Use research-based methods such as square writing, writer’s workshop, teaching the quality of writing, 6 traits + 1 writing….and more
Become familiar with AZ state standards