The 6 Traits of Writing

What We Know The Writing Process Brainstorming First Draft – double-spaced Sharing with a peer Editing and Revising Final Draft – edit/revise again Publish

The 6 Traits of Writing Ideas Organization Voice Word Choice Sentence Fluency Conventions

We will…….. Be looking at each trait during writing workshops Be using student examples Be using rubrics to assess our writing

Ideas “The ideas are the heart of the message, the content of the piece…all the details that enrich and develop the theme.”

Ideas If you don’t care about what you write about, your reader will be bored!

Ideas Narrowed down topic Clear focused main idea Intriguing, important details No filler or unnecessary ideas Puts reader ‘at the scene’

Ideas Don ’ t choose too broad a topic. Trunk – main topic Branches – smaller ideas of same topic Leaves – branch topics made smaller

Ideas Pick a leaf sized topic

Ideas – A Narrowed Down Example Trunk topic – Advertising Branch Topics – television advertising, children’s advertising, newspaper advertising Leaf topic – (from children’s advertising branch) Effects of television Advertising on children

Ideas Look at your writing territories list Choose what you believe is a trunk sized idea Record it on the work sheet provided by the teacher Now, think of a branch sized topic and a leaf sized topic for your trunk ‘huge’ idea Let’s share

Ideas Provide all necessary detail so the reader understands what has happened and has no unanswered questions Read the next passage written by a grade three student. What questions do you have after you have read the piece?

How Tanner Lost His Tooth They were playing soccer because they had a game. Tanner’s team was winning one to nothing. Tanner blocked a shot and kicked the ball far away from the goal. Tanner looked like he had two black eyes but he said he just didn’t get enough sleep. Then Ryan stole the ball and then he passed to Tanner. He wasn’t paying attention and the ball hit him in the mouth. Tanner lost his tooth. The End.

Some questions you might have are…. How old are Tanner and Ryan? Why did the author include the part about the two black eyes? What happened after Tanner lost his tooth? Any others?

Ideas There is not enough detail so the reader can understand the full story The story is not focused on one idea

Ideas Use your details effectively so the reader can feel like he has had your experience Don’t add unnecessary detail just to fill space Read the following example. What is unnecessary?

Ideas – Unnecessary filler This is an excerpt from a young boy’s journal while he was working on board ship years ago Cross out what you think is filler – unnecessary detail which adds nothing to the writing

Ideas - Filler Just before first watch the Bosun staggered to the side and shook his fist at the sea, cursing it for stealing his skiff. The Bosun had a red hat that he pulled down over his ears. It looked like it would keep him warm. But ship’s cook, Mr. Thompson, was angrier still. A dozen of his hens drowned in the storm. There were white, brown and black chickens. I had an uncle once who had chickens and he even gave them names. Mr. Thompson kept muttering how he was never to feed the entire Company if the sea kept killing his livestock. I bet he’s a good cook. I’d never seen a ship’s cook so close before. He has but one hand! He didn’t have a wooden leg or anything, though!

Ideas Just before first watch the Bosun staggered to the side and shook his fist at the sea, cursing it for stealing his skiff. The Bosun had a red hat that he pulled down over his ears. It looked like it would keep him warm. But ship’s cook, Mr. Thompson, was angrier still. A dozen of his hens drowned in the storm. There were white, brown and black chickens. I had an uncle once who had chickens and he even gave them names. Mr. Thompson kept muttering how he was never to feed the entire Company if the sea kept killing his livestock. I bet he’s a good cook. I’d never seen a ship’s cook so close before. He has but one hand! He didn’t have a wooden leg or anything, though!

Student Rubric Let’s look at the student rubric

Student Rubric – 6 © WriteTraits My paper is crystal clear from the first sentence to the last. It is very easy to tell what my main idea is. Every detail relates plainly to my main idea. My paper is focused. I know this topic well, and the reader can tell that by reading my paper. I was careful to choose interesting, unusual details that would keep readers reading.

Student Rubric – 5 © WriteTraits This paper makes sense. It is not confusing or vague. I think this topic is well defined and manageable; it’s not too big. Almost everything I write relates to my main idea. I know quite a bit about this topi. Most of my details go beyond the obvious. The reader may gain some insight or learn one or two interesting things by reading.

Student Rubric – 4 © WriteTraits The reader can tell what my main idea is. The topic still needs to be smaller. Most of what I write relates to my main idea. I know some of the things about this topic. If I knew more, or I’d thought about it more, the paper would be stronger. Some interesting or unusual details stand out. At the moment I let my writing get too general, or I repeat things.

Student Rubric – 3 © WriteTraits The reader probably can guess what my main idea is. Some parts are not clear, though. I think it would help to make the topic smaller. Some of this information isn’t really related to my main idea I need to know more about this topic to do a really good job I have a few interesting details, but the reader must hunt for them. A lot of this writing is general information everyone knows.

Student Rubric – 2 © WriteTraits My main idea is hard to figure out. I think the reader will wonder what I am trying to say. Maybe my topic is too big – or it’s just unclear. A lot of this information does not relate to my main idea. I do not know much about my topic. Mostly I wrote to fill space. I need a lot more detail. This does not say much.

Student Rubric – 1 © WriteTraits I do not even have a main idea. I wrote whatever came to my head This is just a list of facts or events This is unclear and confusing. Most readers will not keep reading I really don’t include any details

Assignment Use the rubric to assess your first draft for ideas Make any idea changes when you write your second draft Staple all 3 sheets together The idea is that you have now created a better piece of writing based on ideas