6 Traits of Writing Secondary November 6, 2006 September 2012 Janet Foss ESU 3

Writing matters – Preparation for Success in the Workplace 80 percent of companies (FIRE) – with greatest growth hiring potential – assess writing during hiring Half of all companies take writing into account when promoting Report of the National Commission on Writing -July 2005

Survey Findings Writing is a “threshold skill” for employment and promotions, particularly for salaried employees Two-thirds of salaried employees in large companies have some writing responsibility Report of the National Commission on Writing -July 2005

What Kind of Writing is Expected on the Job Today? Technical/Formal Reports Correspondence Whatever the form of communication these skills are expected –Accuracy –Clarity –Correctness Report of the National Commission on Writing -July 2005

What’s in it for Students:  Solidifies learning  Helps students make connections  Encourages critical thinking  Encourages higher-level thinking  Reliable means of assessing what students actually know  Real life implications

Does this mean…  Lengthy research papers and essays are required for “writing across the curriculum”  Every lesson must have a writing assignment that is collected and graded  Teaching and scoring all of the traits NO

What it DOES mean:  Determining which is appropriate: Writing for learning, writing for evaluation  Including quality writing for learning opportunities in instructional planning  Talking to students about their writing using the language of the traits  Modeling and assigning writing modes, genres, formats, etc. that are appropriate to content

Ideas and Development  Clear picture of where the writing is going to go  Focused with supporting details  Specific, intriguing, details  Reader’s questions are anticipated and answered  Informational writing provides validity through experience, research, observation

What is an Effective Leader? Grade 10 What is an effective leader? An effective leader must be strong and caring. An effective leader must also be an all-around good person. An effective leader must be a wise one. A leader who is wise knows what to do in a situation. A wise leader knows when how much his people can handle without forcing more on them.

Organization Enticing lead Easy to follow design or internal structure Important connections to the central theme of the paper Strong, clear enticing transitions Good pacing Thoughtful, satisfying conclusion

Learning to Organize To Learn… Go backwards

Voice  Appealing, enticing, engaging  Hard to put down  A read-aloud piece  Matches topic, purpose, audience  Confidence

Voice Score for Voice

Sticky Note it

Word Choice In a word, how strong is your students’ vocabulary?

Word Choice Everyday language used in original ways You want to read it more than once—to savor it Every word carries its own weight Powerful, stunning verbs, unique phrasing Words capture what is hard to express

Precise and Imprecise Words

Sentence Fluency Smooth, natural Varied sentence beginnings Varied sentence length Easy to read Dialogue is natural and authentic

Teaching/Learning Activity Sentence Fluency WRITE-AROUND EACH PERSON writes a one-sentence lead that fits the genre & focus of the writing. The lead should be strong enough to get readers interested, and it should set the direction for the rest of the piece. Pass papers to the left. The second writer must continue the piece by adding one sentence that creates continuity in terms of subject, style, and fluency.

Writing for Learning Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know – and what we don’t know – about whatever we’re trying to learn. William Zinsser Writing To Learn