1. 6 T RAITS OF W RITING Presented by: Susan Robertson Jan Niebergall GSSD Literacy Coaches CCS

2. C URRICULUM Take a look through the curriculum and highlight the forms of writing you find.

3. 1. Common language 2.Consistency in assessment 3.The “how to” students need to revise B ENEFITS OF T EACHING THE 6 T RAITS OF W RITING

4. H OW T O GET S TARTED  Teach the concept first  Surround students with writer’s language  Share strong and weak examples from written works  Write - and link writing activities to the traits  Practice revision and editing on the text of OTHERS

5. 6 T RAITS OF W RITING  Ideas and Content  Organization  Sentence Fluency  Word Choice  Voice  Conventions

6. I DEAS AND C ONTENT ( THE HEART OF ANY PIECE OF WRITING ) Ideas are all about information. Two things make ideas work well: clarity and detail

7. T EACH IDEAS BY :  Modeling the difference between generalities and good details  Reading aloud from books with striking detail or strong imagery  Showing students how to eliminate “filler” (unneeded information)  Showing students how to use questions to expand and clarify a main idea

8. O RGANIZATION Organization is the internal structure of writing(framework) Once the writer has his/her information, then it is time to put things together in a way that makes sense and holds the reader’s attention.

9. T EACH O RGANIZATION BY :  Working on strong leads  Brainstorming transition words  Practicing the art of sequencing effectively  Working on strong conclusions

10. S ENTENCE F LUENCY Sentence fluency is the rhythm and flow of the language, the sound of word patterns, the way in which the writing plays to the ear, not just the eye. How does it sound as it is read aloud?

11. T EACH S ENTENCE F LUENCY BY :  Varying sentence beginnings.  Varying sentence length, long and short.  Read good works of literature with good sentence fluency.

12. V OICE Voice is many things: individuality, perspective, expressiveness, sensitivity to audience, enthusiasm, confidence – and so much more.

13. T EACH V OICE BY :  Reading aloud from works that have strong voice.  Sharing numerous voices, from humorous to somber.  Helping students indentify an audience and write for an audience.  Giving students opportunities to practice different voices through different forms of writing

14. W ORD C HOICE Word choice is the use of rich, colourful, precise language that communicates not just in a functional way, but in a way that moves and enlightens the reader.

15. T EACH W ORD C HOICE B Y :  Making word walls of favourite words and phrases.  Teaching students to extract meaning from context as they read.  Asking students to listen for favourite words and phrases as you read aloud.  Brainstorm different ways to say one thing.

16. S ENTENCE F LUENCY Sentence fluency is the rhythm and flow of the language, the sound of word patterns, the way in which the writing plays to the ear, not just the eye. How does it sound as it is read aloud?

17. T EACH S ENTENCE F LUENCY BY :  Varying sentence beginnings.  Varying sentence length, long and short.  Read good works of literature with good sentence fluency.

18. C ONVENTIONS Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing, grammar and usage. The whole process of this trait is to enhance visual appeal and readability – to make information enticing and accessible.

19. T EACH C ONVENTIONS BY :  Having an editing system  Providing practice with editing.  Analyzing examples of good and poor writing conventions.