Laying the Foundation For Six-Traits
The writing process lays an important foundation for using six traits in any program of writing instruction. The traits simply provide a language to strengthen the process foundation and give students possibilities for revision. If you're think, "How do I fit all this into my curriculum?" remember this: process comes first. Traits enhance process and help students understand modes or forms of writing which are mostly about purpose.
Begin by establishing process writing during your routine in Writer's Workshop. Students need to understand the components of prewriting, drafting, revision, and editing before they can make good use of trait language. When you are ready to introduce the traits, explain that traits are features or characteristics. Ask the students what they think are the traits of good writing and then connect your discussion to the six traits of ideas and content, organization, voice, word choice, fluency, and conventions. As each trait is introduced, the students will learn to use this language as they assess and improve their own writing.
In 1983, a school district in Beaverton, Oregon did a national search to find a scoring guide they could use for writing. They discovered some research done by Paul Diederick in the 1960's. He assembled 50 professional people from different career backgrounds and had them group student papers into three categories; effective, somewhat effective, and problematic. Then they brainstormed the attributes they found in the effective papers. Everyone seemed to be influenced by the same qualities.
The Beaverton teachers wondered what they would come up with if they did the same experiment. Their group was comprised of all teachers and led by Vicki Spandell, the district writing consultant. The results were the same and they completely agreed with Paul Diederich's research.
The qualities for good writing were organized into the following 6 categories called the 6-Traits.
1. IDEAS AND CONTENT
2. ORGANIZATION
3. VOICE
4. WORD CHOICE
5. SENTENCE FLUENCY
6. CONVENTIONS
The reliability is places upon us, as teachers in our classrooms, to consistently use the same vocabulary and criteria in teaching and assessing writing, while empowering students to self-assess their own strengths and weaknesses. Look for teaching strategies in the following months for each of the traits.