1. 6 + 1 Traits of Writing
presented by:
Tina Zecca

2. 6 + 1 Traits – the purpose
• The traits provide teachers with a shared vision and
vocabulary for describing the qualities of good
writing, these are: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word
Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions & Presentation
• They give a common language for writing assessment so
we can provide students with precise, complete feedback
on their writing performance and needs.

3. 6 + 1 Traits – the purpose
• The traits are not a curriculum, but a framework for
examining the curriculum.
• The traits are an assessment tool that works with the
curriculum to guide instruction so all students can achieve
their writing goals.
• The traits compliment Reader’s and Writer’s
Workshops, and writing in all content areas.

4. Role of the Teacher
• To teach and assess all the traits of
writing.
• To focus on individual needs of
students.
• To be objective evaluators of student
writing, using the 6 + 1 traits scoring
guides.

5. Role of the Student
• To skillfully integrate all of the traits in
their writing.
• To learn to see, hear, practice and
internalize the traits so they increase
their control and confidence when
writing.

6. Role of the Student
• To become problem solvers.
• To take responsibility for their learning.
• To grow in their ability to critically read
their own, and others writing.
• To evaluate their own writing
performance.

7. #1•Ideas make up the content of a writing
IDEAS
piece, they are the heart of the message.
•Strong ideas will create a clear
message.
•Students struggle with ideas because -
writing is complex, students think faster
than they can write, students often write
to please others.

8. IDEAS: Teachers must
help students to:
Select an idea (the topic)
Narrow the idea (the focus)
Develop the idea (elaboration)
Add information to convey the idea
(details)

9. Ideas
How can I teach students the ideas trait?
1. Free Ideas: Free writing, flashback, favorite places
(helping students look for experiences and ideas that
matter to them)
2. Picture This: Students analyze art out of context, in small
pieces, then finally analyze the entire piece at once
3. It Happened to Me: Teacher modeling of a detailed oral
telling, to a simple outline, to an embellished outline

10. # 2 ORGANIZATION of the
•Organization is the internal structure
writing, the thread of central meaning, the
pattern of logic.
•Organization and ideas go hand in hand.
Students need “meaty” ideas that can be
grouped logically to form a
beginning, middle and end.
•.No single program will solve our
organizational woes.
•Students struggle with organization
because rigid organization is often
overvalued.

11. ORGANIZATION:
Teachers must help students to:
Write an inviting introduction that gets
the reader started and gives clues
about what is to come.
Use transitions that link the ideas.
Develop sequencing and pacing.
Write a satisfying conclusion.

12. Organization 1 of 3
How can I teach students the organization
trait?
1. Start with the Introduction:
 Share some examples from literature: Tuck
Everlasting, Walk Two Moons, Indian in the Cupboard
 Share student leads, then chart the best ones.
 Use expert quotes or thought provoking questions.
 Break the Rules – play with the punctuation and
capitalization. (conventions)

13. Organization 2 of 3
How can I teach students the organization
trait?
2. Develop the Middle:
 Teach organizational options, organize by:
space, time, content, or perspective
 Teach transitions to: show location, compare or contrast, add
information, show time, or conclude
 Teach sequencing: Step by Step – write directions Mix It Up
– mix up stories, poems, and sentences, cut them apart like
puzzles and have students put them together again

14. Organization 3 of 3
How can I teach students the organization
trait?
1. Writing Conclusions: Use examples from literature –
 Share a profound thought - (Roald Dahl, Matilda)
 Tie-Up any loose ends for the reader - (Jean
Fritz, Homesick)
 Use a quote - (Louis Sachar, Holes)
 A Question or Open-Ended Statement – (Natalie
Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting)

15. #3 VOICE
•Voice is the writer’s music coming out
through the words.
•Voice is how the reader knows it is really
you speaking.
•Students struggle with voice because –
voice isn’t as concrete as other traits, there
is a perception that “boring” is good, it’s a
bit too personal.
•Some teachers think not all writing
requires voice, but voice finds its way into
even the simplest of communications.

16. VOICE: Teachers must help
students to find their voice:
Create writing that speaks directly to
the reader on an emotional level.
Craft writing to match the purpose and
the audience.
Take risks and reveal the person
behind the words.

17. Voice
How can I teach students the voice trait?
1. Introducing Voice with Song: Share different artists’
recordings of the same song over the years.
2. Introducing Voice with Art: Show four or five art prints
of the same subject, or illustrate the trait.
3. Learning to hear voice in literature: My personal
favorite - E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web
4. Compare and Contrast: Same story, different authors

18. “The difference between the right
word and the almost right word is
the difference between lightning and
a lightning bug.”
- Mark Twain
#4•Word choice isn’tCHOICE - or
WORD just about the use
misuse - of words. It’s using everyday
words well. It’s rich, colorful, precise
language that communicates, inspires
and enlightens the reader.
•Students struggle with word choice
because – the language used to explain
things isn’t always clear, often vocabulary
is taught in isolation, and students get
“word drunk” using words that just don’t
work.

19. WORD CHOICE:
Teachers must help students to use:
 Striking Language: Sharpening students’
descriptive powers
 Exact Language: Lively verbs, precise
nouns, accurate modifiers
 Natural Language: Making is sound authentic
 Beautiful Language: Selecting colorful words
and phrases

20. Word Choice
How can I teach students the word choice
trait?
1. Find key words and phrases in captivating texts
2. YourPersonal Top Ten: The students and you keep
an ongoing list of your top ten favorite words.
3. Exact Language: Activities for using lively verbs,
precise nouns and accurate modifiers –
Connotation Poems, Synonym Searches, Words,
Words Everywhere

21. #5 SENTENCE FLUENCY
•Fluent writing is graceful, varied and
rhythmic, it has a natural cadence.
•Fluent writing is free of awkward word
patterns.
•Fluent writing has well-built sentences
with varied beginnings, and lengths.
•Students struggle with sentence fluency
because –
there is an overemphasis on
correctness, writing classrooms can be
too quiet (we need to hear good
writing), and it’s harder than it looks!

22. SENTENCE FLUENCY:
Teachers must help students to:
Establish a flow, rhythm, and cadence
Vary sentence length and structure
Construct sentences that enhance the
meaning of the text

23. Sentence Fluency 1 of 2
How can I teach students the sentence fluency
trait?
1. Establishing Flow, Rhythm, Cadence: Students read their
own writing out loud (try “phones” to encourage this
behavior”, Choral Reading, Poetry, Classic Music
pieces, like Peter and the Wolf
2. Varying Sentence Length and Structure: Sentence stretching
(try this in teams, just pass the sentence along) Matthew
snarfed the pizza. Matthew snarfed the cheesy pizza.
Matthew snarfed the steamy, cheesy pizza.

24. Sentence Fluency 2 of 2
How can I teach students the sentence fluency
trait?
3. Constructing Sentences That Enhance Meaning: Using
punctuation for emphasis - remove the punctuation from a
piece of text and have pairs put it back in. Later show
them the piece correctly punctuated.

25. “My spelling is wobbly. It’s good
spelling, but it wobbles and the letters
get in the wrong places.”
- A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
#6•Conventions guide the reader through2
CONVENTIONS 1 of
the text making the ideas readable and
understandable.
•Conventions are a part of editing, the
other traits are revision traits.
•Conventions are: spelling, punctuation,
grammar and usage, capitalization, and
paragraphing.

26. “My spelling is wobbly. It’s good
spelling, but it wobbles and the letters
get in the wrong places.”
- A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
#6 CONVENTIONS 2 of 2
•Students struggle with conventions
because – they don’t see the power of
conventions as a way to make
meaning, it’s a constant struggle to for
teachers to find the best way to teach
conventions, and we don’t encourage
students to take risks.

27. CONVENTIONS:
Teachers must help students to:
 Be sure students understand that editing and
revising are different.
 Expect correctness, but keep the students
developmental level and age in mind.
 Value experimentation, but balance it with
correctness.
 Be patient. Learning to use conventions well takes
time!

28. Conventions 1 of 2
How can I teach students the conventions
trait?
1. Everyday Practices: One Error at a Time, Set Aside
Editing Time, Model, Keep Writing Tools Handy
(dictionaries, thesaurus, grammar handbooks), Ask Why
(ask students “why” they chose certain conventions, make
them think!)
2. General Editing: Conventions Game, Take It Out, Error
Hunt, Conventions Center (Students become the
experts, others go to an expert to get help)

29. Conventions 2 of 2
How can I teach students the conventions
trait?
3. Editing for Spelling: Reading Backwards (this helps students
focus on individual words), Practice Makes Perfect (high-
frequency words)
4. Editing for Capital Letters: Bouncing Ball (bounce a rubber
ball every time there should be a capital)
5. Editing Punctuation: Try Dialogue Posters for quotations.
6. Editing for Grammar: “Schoolhouse Rock”, Use Literature.

30. +1•How the writing looks to the reader.
PRESENTATION
•Does the writing have a finished look?
•Has the student created a polished
piece ready to be read and appreciated?
•Presentation is part of the traits because
teachers were assessing it as part of
conventions; however, it is not as meaty
as the other traits, so it is labeled +1.

31. PRESENTATION:
Teachers must help students to learn the
following guidelines:
 Uniform spacing
 Legible and consistent handwriting, or appropriate
fonts and sizes
 Appealing use of white space
 When necessary, use of bullets, side headings and
other markers
 Effective integration of text and
illustration, charts, graphs, maps, tables.

32. Presentation
How can I teach students the presentation
trait?
1. Sample texts: Menus, maps, handwriting samples, text
with and without illustrations, advertisements, home pages
2. Compare effective pieces with ineffective pieces
3. Teacher feedback

33. The Big Picture – connecting to the
writing process
By using the traits we show students what
is working well in their writing and what
needs improvement. The traits encourage
them to be active learners; it encourages
them to experiment, stumble and ultimately
to succeed - while becoming the best
writers they can be!

34. Additional Information
• Each trait includes Scoring Guides to help assess student
writing.
• Appendix A includes a Writing Assessment Continuum that
works with the Scoring Guides. This is used to help validate
the teacher’s score.
• Appendix B includes Student-Friendly Scoring Guides. These
are very important! The Scoring Guides or “rubrics” are too
difficult for most students to understand.
• Appendix C provides Tips on the Traits
• Appendix D includes anchor papers; however, there are anchor
papers throughout the text.
see pages 261 - 302 6 + 1 Traits of
Writing by Ruth Culham

35. Books
Culham, R. (2003). 6 + 1 Traits of
Writing. Portland, OR: Scholastic Inc.
Websites:
• http://www.educationnorthwest.org/trai
ts/resources/503
• http://writing.pppst.com/6traits.html
• http://www.svusd.org/hp/D26270-
The_6_1_Trait_Writing_Model