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**// __6+1 Trait Writing__ //** 6 Traits:  **__ 6 __** **__ +1 Trait Writing and How it can Help in Your Classroom __**
 * ideas
 * organization
 * voice
 * word choice
 * sentence fluency
 * conventions
 * presentation

We have all learned the importance of the 11 key elements of writing: Strategies, Summarization, Collaborative Writing, Specific Product Goals, Word Processing, Sentence-Combining, Prewriting, Inquiry Activities, Process Writing Approach, Study of Models, and Writing for Content Learning, and how these are all important for students to be successful in their writing (Graham, & Perin, 2007). When working through the strategies of writing and the revision step in process writing, teaching students the 6+1 traits assessment tool is very useful. As Rebecca Simmons states, “Assessment is not something we tack onto learning; it is an essential ongoing component of instruction that guides the process of learning” (R. Culham 2003). The importance of teaching students assessment and how to properly edit and revise their work is best modeled through the 6+1 traits. The 6 +1 traits include ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. The importance of using the 6+1 traits for assessment is that it breaks the grading in the whole writing piece into parts. Students are evaluated on each specific trait to show where they are doing great, and where their writing needs some improvement. (see sample rubrics below)
 * Ideas are identified as the content of the piece.
 * Organization is the internal structure of the piece.
 * Voice is the “soul”, or what makes the writers style singular.
 * Word choice is the use of colorful, rich, and precise language.
 * Sentence fluency is the flow of the language.
 * Conventions are the grammar and mechanics.
 *  Presentation is the layout and eye appeal of the writing piece. (R. Culham 2003).

[|6+1 Rubric.pdf]

Rubric taken from __6+1Traits of Writing__ by Ruth Culham

The 6+1 traits of writing have been proven to work to improve students writing in both their everyday writing and on state testing as well. In Shelia Gaquin’s classroom in Point Hope, Alaska, the students were truly struggling with their writing. In a pre-test assessment, many students’ papers were so low that they did not even receive a score on the 6+1 rubric. Also, every student in her classroom hated writing to some degree and attempted to get out of the assignment by either tearing their paper, saying their hand hurt, or refusing to write (S. Gaquin 2006). To get over these obstacles Gaquin started incorporating the 6+1 rubric for assessment in her class, and assessed one writing piece daily. From this constant exposure, students writing attitudes changed as they began to enjoy writing, and by December the students who were unscorable in the pre-test according to the rubric, were now averaging a score of 3.5 (S. Gaquin 2006).

The advantages of using the traits based writing is that it truly captures the qualities of what good writing looks like for students, it provides a common vocabulary for talking about writing in the classroom, and it helps students to become better self-evaluators of their own work (R. Culham 2003). This fact proved to be true in a 2nd- 4th grade cross tutoring program in Delaware. Students needed to improve their test scores in writing, so in order to do that, teachers taught the students the 6+1 rubric to assess and revise their work. The 4th grade students then began to “tutor” the 2nd grade students, and both groups saw a significant academic difference compared to students who did not participate in the program (K. Paquette, 2009). The ability to use this common language helped the 2nd graders and the 4th graders because it was language they understood the meaning of and were comfortable using. The true benefit was for the 4th graders, because not only were they taught the strategies, but they had to teach it to the 2nd graders. They were able to become better evaluators of their own work, through evaluating other writing pieces (K. Paquette, 2009).

<span style="color: #33cccc; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Below this link to an online writing lab is a fun way for students to independently practice their 6+1 Traits writing. []]]


 * __Activities to introduce 6+1 Writing into your classroom__**

· Have students pick a picture from a pile. Have them write a very detailed and descriptive paragraph on it. Then display all of the pictures. Have students read their paragraphs to see if the class can find their picture.
 * 1) **** Ideas: Pick a magazine picture or postcard **

· Students have ten minutes to draft a story that only happens in 10 minute time frame. Every two minutes remind them to move on to the next event, stressing the importance of transition words. This segmenting will help students pace their writing.
 * 2) **** Organization: Ten Minutes Only **

· Pick a specific topic that the whole class can write about (recycling, global warming, etc.) Have the students write the first two sentences of a letter to 5 different audiences: grandmother, local newspaper, friend, anti-environmentalist, president, etc. Discuss how the voice in the paper would change with each audience.
 * 3) **** Voice: ** **New voice, new choice**

· As students are writing, ask is this a “rice cake word” or a “salsa word”? Encourage students to use “salsa” words by giving them resources such as a thesaurus.
 * 4) **** Word Choice: Rice cakes or salsa? **

· Play a familiar melody for your students. Listen the first time, and then the second time have students pick a section to write a description about what they think is happening. “Challenge them to capture the fluidity of the music in their writing” (R. Culham, 2003).
 * 5) **** Sentence Fluency: Music to our Ears **

· To ensure all capitalization and punctuation is correct play the red light, green light game with colored pencils (or markers, but colored pencils do not smear as easily!) All capitalization (at the beginning of the sentence and in the sentence) should be outlined in green for GO! All punctuation should be outlined in red, because that is where we STOP! After outlining, students should go back and check that they have their “stop” and “go” at the right spots.
 * 6) **** Conventions: Red light, Green light **

· Students should learn that to be “Hollywood worthy”, their paper should be neat, not crumpled, with minimal eraser marks and clearly numbered.
 * +1) Presentation: Appearances are everything… in writing!!!! **

__**<span style="color: #002bff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 9.6pt;">

Parents--here is how you can help at home too!!!Below are some sample ideas -click on the link! **__

[|**Walk two moons.pdf**] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 8pt;">taken from __6+1Traits of Writing__ by Ruth Culham

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Vicki Spandel has also done work on 6+1 Traits in the classroom to help teachers. The link below is to her English homepage/blog where she answers any questions you may have on 6 +1 (or other related English questions). http://englishcompanion.ning.com/profile/VickiSpandel

<span style="color: #33cccc; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">__**Annotated Bibliography**__ 1) Culham, R. (2003). 6+1 Traits for Revision. //Instructor,// 113(3), 14-15. This article teaches students how to revise using the 6 +1 Traits; idea, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. With each trait is an activity that you can try in your class to help students learn how to revise, rather than just stare at unknown marks on their “final” drafts. 2) Culham, R. (2003). //6+1 Traits of Writing// (pp.5-7). New York: Scholastic Inc. In the introduction of this book, we are introduced to facts and statistical studies about the effectiveness of using a 6+1 writing traits program in the classroom. Examples of rubrics, scoring, and assessments are given to help guide the teacher into implementation in the classroom. 3) Gaquin, S. (2006). The Year of Writing. //Educational Leadership//, 63(5), 80-81. Shelia Gaquin was a reading teacher in a small town of Alaska. Writing scores were discouraging in her district, so she, along with a few colleagues, went to a 6+1 Writing traits workshop. There she learned skills to encourage her writers to write by introducing things such as a laminated paper with markers, sentence strips, and correcting and editing 1 or 2 errors for each paper. They then began scoring pieces once a day using the 6+1 rubric, and eventually the skills from the rubric helped the students to incorporate the assessments into their own writing. 4) Graham, S. & Perin, D. (2007). //Writing Next: Effective Strategies to improve writing of adolescent in middle and high schools//. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York. In this article, readers are presented with various strategies to help improve students writing. There are 11 effective elements presented, that when combined, make up the ideal “writer’s workshop”. Through meta-analysis, we are able to the see the effect size which helps to determine the positive or negative impact that the element had on the writing. 5) MacArthur, C. (2006). Best Practices in Teaching Evaluation and Revision, //Best Practices in Writing Instruction// (pp.141-162). New York: Guilford Press. <span style="color: #33cccc; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 90%;">In this article students look at revision and the craft of writing, as well as the limited conceptions of revision that struggling writers have. 6) Paquette, K. (2009). Integrating the 6+1 Writing Traits Model with Cross-Age Tutoring: An Investigation of Elementary Student’s Writing Development. __ . __ In this study, students at the 2nd grade and 4th grade level were observed and tested in a cross-age tutoring setting. The 4th grade students taught the 2nd grade students how to revise and improve upon their papers using the 6+1 rubric. Those that participated in the program showed a significant rise in test scores compared to peers who did not.