-
The Progra m’s Core Philosophy
.................................................................................4
The Program’s Organization
.......................................................................................6
A Yearlong Plan Based on a Spiraled Sequence of �Traits
................................8
A Weeklong Plan Based on Best Practices
........................................................... 10
Program Components
..................................................................................................
18
Introduction
Unit 1 Getting Started ............................ 22The
Writing Process
.......................................................
23Prewriting
........................................................................
33Drafting
...........................................................................43Revising
...........................................................................
53Editing
.............................................................................
63
Unit 2 Informative/Explanatory ... 74Ideas Finding a B ig Idea
........................................... 75Organization Starting
With a Bold Beginning........85Voice Expressing a Feeling
........................................95Reality Check 1
...................................................... 105
Unit 3 Narrative .......................................110Word
Choice Choosing Zippy Verbs ............................111Sentence
Fluency Building Complete Sentences .... 121Ideas Focusing on the
Big Idea ...................................131Reality Check 2
..................................................... 141
Unit 4 Informative/Explanatory .146Organization Creating a
Mighty Middle ................. 147Voice Communicating With Sparkle
and Pizzazz ... 157Word Choice Picking “Just Right” Words
..................167Reality Check 3
......................................................177
Unit 5 Narrative ......................................
182Sentence Fluency Starting Sentences
in Different Ways
.......................................................183Ideas
Staying With the Big Idea
.................................193Organization Finishing With
an
Excellent Ending
.......................................................203Reality
Check 4
........................................................213
Unit 6 Informative/Explanatory .218Voice Reaching Out to the
Reader.............................219Word Choice Stretching
for
Never-Before-Tried Words
.....................................229Sentence Fluency Varying
Sentence Lengths ........239Reality Check 5
.......................................................249
Unit 7 Narrative
..........................................254Ideas Using Juicy
Details
..................................................255Organization
Adding a Terrifi c Title .............................265Voice
Saying Things in New Ways ...................................
275Reality Check 6
............................................................
285
Unit 8 Informative/Explanatory .....290Word Choice Using Words
to Create Meaning ...........291Sentence Fluency Making
Smooth-Sounding
Sentences
.........................................................................
301All Tr aits Putting the Traits Together
........................... 311
Unit 9 Wrapping Up the Year ................. 322Me as a Writer
................................................................
323NOW I Know!
..................................................................
326Celebrating Our Work
................................................... 329Cleaning Up
and Having Fun ....................................... 332
Beginning Writers Continua
......................................... 335Handwriting
...................................................................
343Record-Keeping Forms
.................................................348
Opinion Writing OptionsAnimals Should Defi nitely Not Wear
Clothing .................. 93What I learned
................................................................108If
You’re a Monster and You Know It .................................
119An Ad for a Great Classroom Pet
.................................144The Emperor’s Egg
........................................................... 165Just
Do It!
.........................................................................180Jeremy
Draws a Monster ...................................................
211Convince the Teacher
.................................................... 216Bigmama’s
.......................................................................227Healthy
Living Posters
....................................................252The Dot
............................................................................
283A Letter
...........................................................................288
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof
......................................... 319
Traits Writing2
Unit 1The Writing ProcessUnit 1
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A Message From Ruth Culham In two simple words, I can tell why
you are going to like the Traits Writing program: it works.
It works because it’s easy to implement and refl ects the
combined wisdom of hundreds of thousands of teachers from across
the country and around the world.
It works because it’s research-based. All of the materials are
inspired by twenty-fi ve years of studies, using control and
experimental groups, surveys, observations, and other methods of
data collection.
It works because it advocates using classroom assessment to
drive critical decisions about what to teach, how to teach, who to
teach, and when to teach.
It works because it supports teachers in improving student
writing by leaps and bounds, day after day. I’ve seen incredible
gains fi rsthand for years, in my work in schools.
My col leagues and I have taken what we have learned and turned
it into a program that makes the teaching of writing more
achievable and e ective than any previous program. Traits Writing
is designed for you, the twenty-fi rst-century writing teacher who
understands how critical it is for children to write well, no
matter where life ultimately takes them.
So, welcome to the writing revolution. At long last, I’ll show
you how to connect the dots of writing instruction. I’ll show you
how to carry out straightforward, sensible assessment. I’ll show
you how to use results to determine what you do with the whole
class, small groups, and individual children. I’ll show you how the
trait materials you may have known and loved for years, combined
with new materials, can be put to work every day, week, month, and
year. This program harnesses the energy of the traits, helping you
to work smarter and more e ciently. It gives you a systematic
way to implement a writing curriculum that refl ects best
practices, Common Core State Standards, Response to Intervention
(RTI), di erentiation, collaboration, new technologies,
reading/writing connec tions, and all the other frontline issues
that inform our professional lives these days.
Ruth Culham, EdD, a pioneering researcher of the Trait Model, is
president of Culham Writing Company, which offers practical,
engaging workshops designed to help beginning and experienced
teachers implement the model in K–12 classrooms. Prior to founding
her company, Ruth was assessment program unit manager at Education
Northwest (formerly Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory) and
a teacher in Missoula, Montana, and Beaverton, Oregon. She was also
English Teacher of the Year in Montana, a highlight of her 19-year
teaching career. Ruth is the author of many best-selling
professional books, articles, and videos on writing instruction and
assessment, including 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide,
Grades 3 and Up; 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for the
Primary Grades; and Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for
Middle School, all published by Scholastic Inc.
Introduction 3
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At every workshop in every school across the country, teachers
who are new to the Trait Model and teachers who have been applying
it for years ask m e similar questions:
As you work through the materials in this program, you’ll get
answers to these questions—and many more. Remember, the point is to
ma ke teaching writing successful for you and benefi cial to your
students. With the help of many teacher advisors, my colleagues and
I have been planning this program for years. We’ve listened. We’ve
learned. We hope you like the results.
Teacher Advisors Rhett BoudreauBeaverton, OregonLinda Brock Blue
Springs, Missouri Erin DonohueBlue Springs, MissouriRick Hanks
Chula Vista, CaliforniaLibby Jachles Rochester, New YorkMarcia
LynchBrookline, MassachusettsGloria MillerMooresville, North
CarolinaBridey MonterossiBeaverton, OregonJoy ReznichBeaufort,
South CarolinaCathy ShawBeaufort, South Carolina Debbie Stewart
Topeka, Kansas
What’s the best way to teach my students whose first language is
not English?
My students get their ideas down by drawing and
writing. Is that okay?
Should I give prompts?
Do the traits work in writing workshop?
In conferences, how can I be honest with struggling
students?
If I use the traits, will my students meet the Common
Core State Standards?
How do I get started with the traits? Where do I begin?!
How do I get children excited about writing?
The Program’s Core Philosophy
How much writing should my students
do every day?
Traits Writing4
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To quote one of these wise teacher advisors, “Everywhere you go,
there is a language to keep you out.” How right she was. Doctors,
athletes, car mechanics, and others use language that is often
incomprehensible to a layperson—it creates a wall, not a door.
Communication is blocked and no one benefi ts.
Traits Writing is built around the belief that language should
be an open door. It was written to inspire good teaching and
learning, plain and simple. What we—you, the teacher, and I, the
writer and sta developer—have learned together over the years
is that the traits provide a clear way into the writing process so
that we can guide our students more e ectively. Here is a
short list of what I know the traits can do for you if you embrace
them in your teaching:
• You’ll understand what children know and what they need to
learn because you’ll be assessing them regularly using clear,
accurate scoring guides that provide reliable information to
inform instruction.
• You’ll be able to manage the paper load because you won’t be
the only person in the class knowledgeable enough to provide good
feedback. Your students will be, too. The program gives them the
tools.
• You’ll be able to deliver instruction and measure progress on
an ongoing basis because of the carefully designed trait-based
units and the record-keeping and management tools built into
the program.
• You’ll fi nd children who enjoy writing—really!—because they
write about things that matter to them and, as a result,
realize success.
• You’ll learn how all the parts fi t together: writing process,
writing workshop, writing traits. The program gives you everything
you need to get these cornerstones of writing instruction to work
as a team.
The primary writing classroom is a living, breathing organism. I
can’t completely map out for you what to do every day of the year
because I don’t know you, yo ur students, and what is going on in
your lives. I can, however, give you lots of good suggestions,
based on years of experience teaching children and working with
teachers.
There is one promise I need from you, however. You must promise
to believe your students want to and can improve. I allow no room
in this program for “My students don’t write better because…”
Children are learners. Some learn more easily than others, but all
deserve the very best we can give them. If you don’t believe your
students really want to and can improve—even on days when all signs
seem to point a di erent direction—these materials will be no
help to you.
I believe in you. And in return, I expect you to respect the
learner, maintain high standards, and have some fun as your
adventure with Traits Writing begins.
Research Roundup Traits Writing is grounded in solid, reliable
research. For summaries of the following studies and others, see
the Traits Writing Implementation Guide.
Arter, J. A., Spandel, V., Culham, R., & Pollard, J. (1994).
The impact of training students to be self-assessors of writing.
Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association,
New Orleans, LA.
Kozlow, M., & Bellamy, P. (2004). Experimental study on the
impact of the 6+1 Trait Writing Model on student achievement in
writing. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational
Laboratory.
Seago, A. (2011). [District-wide six-trait writing assessment
results, K–2, Blue Springs, MO]. Unpublished raw data.
Introduction 5
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1Finding a Big Idea
2Focusing on the Big Idea
3Staying With the Big Idea
4Using Juicy
Details
1Expressing
a Feeling
2Communicating
With Sparkle and Pizzazz
3Reaching Out to the
Reader
4Saying Things in New Ways
1Starting
With a Bold Beginning
2Creating a
Mighty Middle
3Finishing With
an Excellent Ending
4Adding
a Terrifi c Title
1Choosing
Zippy Verbs
2Picking “Just Right” Words
3Stretching for Never-Before-Tried Words
4Using Words
to Create Meaning
1Building
Complete Sentences
2Starting
Sentences in Different Ways
3Varying
Sentence Lengths
4Making Smooth-
Sounding Sentences
1Spelling Well
2Capitalizing
Correctly
3Punctuating
Powerfully
4Applying
Basic Grammar
1Forming Letters
Correctly
2Printing Words Neatly
3Putting Spaces
Between Letters and Words
4Turning in
a Tidy Final Piece
The Key Qualities of the TraitsEach trait is broken down into
four key qualities—or core characteristics—that allow you to focus
instruction precisely. This program functions as well as it does in
large part because of the way the key qualities permeate it. Key
qualities not only help to defi ne the traits in detail and give
you concrete concepts to teach, they are also the structural system
of the program.
The Traits of WritingThe Trait Model is a highly reliable and
accurate assessment tool. It is also a simple, logical, and—most
important—effective tool for planning and carrying out writing
instruction. Let’s take a closer look at each trait.
Ideas the piece’s content—its central message and the details
that support that message
Organization the internal structure of the piece—the thread of
logic, the pattern of meaning
Voice the tone and tenor of the piece—the personal stamp of the
writer—which is achieved through a strong understanding of purpose
and audience
Word Choice the vocabulary the writer uses to convey meaning and
enlighten the reader
Sentence Fluency the way words and phrases fl ow through the
piece. Sentence fl uency is known as the auditory trait because
it’s “read” with the ear as much as the eye.
Conventions the mechanical correctness of the piece. Correct use
of conventions (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and basic
grammar) guides the reader through the text easily.
Presentation the physical appearance of the piece. A visually
appealing text provides a welcome mat. It invites the
reader in.
The Program’s Organization
Ideas
Word Choice
Organization
Sentence Fluency
Conventions
Presentation
Voice
Traits Writing6
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A Spiraled Sequence of TraitsThe program is structured in a way
that allows you to cover the “revision traits” (Ideas,
Organization, Voice, Word Choice, and Sentence Fluency)
systematically and intermittently throughout the year, rather than
simply covering one trait in its entirety at the start of the year,
followed by another trait, followed by another. In other words, the
program allows you to “spiral” the traits’ key qualities throughout
the year, which ensures children comprehensive, well-rounded
instruction in writing. The “editing traits” (Conventions and
Presentation) are taught on an ongoing basis, using direct and
indirect methods.
1 Finding
a Big Idea
1Starting With a Bold Beginning
1Expressing
a Feeling
Unit 22
Creating a Mighty Middle
2 Communicating
With Sparkle and Pizzazz
2 Picking “Just Right” Words
Unit 4
4 Using Juicy
Details
4 Adding a
Terrifi c Title
4 Saying Things in New Ways
Unit 7
1 Choosing
Zippy Verbs
1 Building Complete
Sentences
2 Focusing
on the Big Idea
Unit 3
3 Reaching Out to the Reader
3 Stretching for Never-Before-Tried Words
3 Varying Sentence
Lengths
Unit 6
2 Starting Sentences in Different Ways
3 Staying With the Big Idea
3 Finishing With an Excellent Ending
Unit 5
4 Using Words to Create Meaning
4 Making Smooth-
Sounding Sentences
All Traits: Putting the Traits Together
Unit 8
Core Units
Introduction 7
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A Yearlong Plan Based on a Spiraled Sequence of TraitsThe
program is made up of nine multi-week units.
• one Getting Started unit• seven core units that follow the
spiraled sequence described on page 7 • one Wrapping Up the Year
unit
A fi ve-da y “Reality Check” appears between core units,
allowing you to wrap up the current unit, prepare for the next
unit, and make up for lost time because of holidays, assemblies,
schedule changes, vacations, and the demands of other curriculum
areas. During this time, y ou explore the focus mode of the next
unit, informative/explanatory or narrative, by conducting a mentor
text lesson. You also engage children in print and technology
activities that extend learning in fun, creative ways.
Unit 2 approximately 3 weeksFocus Mode Informative/Explanatory •
Ideas Finding a Big Idea
(Convention: spelling) • Organization Starting With a Bold
Beginning (Convention: punctuating) • Voice Expressing a
Feeling
(Convention: spelling)Reality Check 1 (includes an opinion
writing activity)
Unit 1Getting Startedapproximately 5 weeksThe year kicks off
with a review of the writing process. The fi rst week is a general
overview and the four that follow each covers a step in the
process: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Students also
learn classroom routines and write a beginning-of-year benchmark
paper.
Unit 3approximately 3 weeksFocus Mode Narrative
• Word Choice Choosing Zippy Verbs (Convention:
capitalizing)
• Sentence Fluency Building Complete Sentences (Convention:
spelling)
• Ideas Focusing on the Big Idea(Convention: basic grammar)
Reality Check 2 (includes an opinion writing activity)
Unit 4approximately 3 weeksFocus Mode
Informative/Explanatory
• Organization Creating a Mighty Middle (Convention:
spelling)
• Voice Communicating With Sparkle and Pizzazz (Convention:
punctuating)
• Word Choice Picking “Just Right” Words (Convention:
spelling)
Reality Check 3 (includes an opinion writing activity)
Traits Writing8
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Unit 9Wrapping Up the Yearapproximately 4 weeksThe year ends
with opportunities for self-refl ecting, goal setting, and
celebrating. Children write an end-of-year benchmark paper and a
letter to next year’s teacher about themselves as writers—and have
some fun while they’re at it.
Unit 5approximately 3 weeksFocus Mode Narrative
• Sentence Fluency Starting Sentences in Di erent Ways
(Convention: capitalizing)
• Ideas Staying With the Big Idea (Convention: spelling)
• Organization Finishing With an Excellent Ending (Convention:
applying basic grammar)
Reality Check 4 (includes an opinion writing activity)
Unit 6approximately 3 weeksFocus Mode
Informative/Explanatory
• Voice Reaching Out to the Reader (Convention: spelling)
• Word Choice Stretching for Never-Before-Tried Words
(Convention: punctuating)
• Sentence Fluency Varying Sentence Lengths (Convention:
spelling)
Reality Check 5 (includes an opinion writing activity)
Unit 7approximately 3 weeksFocus Mode Narrative
• Ideas Using Juicy Details (Convention: capitalizing)
• Organization Adding a Terrifi c Title (Convention:
spelling)
• Voice Saying Things in New Ways (Convention: basic
grammar)
Reality Check 6 (includes an opinion writing activity)
Unit 8approximately 3 weeks Focus Mode
Informative/Explanatory
• Word Choice Using Words to Create Meaning (Conventions
Review)
• Sentence Fluency Making Smooth-Sounding Sentences (Conventions
Review)
• All Traits Putting the Traits Together (Conventions
Review)
Introduction 9
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Instruction is based on a 40-minute daily writing block. If you
don’t have that much time, you’ll fi nd an alternate schedule in
the Traits Writing Implementation Guide.
Overview of a Core Week
A Weeklong Plan Based on Best Practices As you’ll see in this
walk-through of a week’s worth of instruction, Traits Writing
provides abundant opportunities to work with the whole class, small
groups, and individual children. It also contains opportunities for
children to work with their classmates and on their own, ensuring a
stimulating, supportive environment in which to learn.
Each key quality is covered over a fi ve-day period. If confl
icts, backlogs, and holidays prevent you from completing a unit,
you can extend instruction into the Reality Check that follows the
unit.
Introductory Lesson on the Key Quality (15 minutes)Independent
Writing (10 minutes)Read-Aloud: Mentor Text (15 minutes)
1DAY
Video Screening: Mentor Text Author (10 minutes)Writing Project,
Phase 1: Starting the Project (15 minutes)Conventions Focus (15
minutes)Assessment and Grouping (30 minutes, after class)
2DAY
Di erentiated Small Groups (40 minutes)3DAY
Writing Project, Phase 2: Developing the Project (25
minutes)
Hands-On Activity (15 minutes)4DAY
Writing Project, Phase 3: Finishing the Project (20
minutes)Partner Conventions Check (10 minutes)Whole-Class Refl
ection on the Key Quality (10 minutes)
5DAY
(25 minutes)
(20 minutes)
(10 minutes)
(25 minutes)
(20 minutes)
(10 minutes)
Traits Writing10
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