Dissecting picture books to use as mentor texts

Picture books make great mentor texts! Teachers kept asking me if there was an easier way to figure out what to use from each book. So many great picture books out there, but when do you have time to look through all of them to pick out a passage for your next mini-lesson? That's what prompted me to create the Trait Trackers.    read more...

New resources for the secondary teacher

Check out a couple new resources for secondary teachers.    read more...

12 Days of Christmas — 6-Traits Style, by Charles R. Ratliff

To review the 6 Traits with his students and colleagues, Knox Community Elementary School teacher/coach Charles Ratliff revised the lyrics to the famous "12 Days of Christmas" carol.    read more...

Track your mini-lessons with the Trait Crate Labels

Storing and organizing your writing mini-lessons within a Trait Crate is not a new idea. However, I've developed a new tool to aid your organization further. I've created six oversized labels, one per trait, that would adhere to the front of each of your 6-trait file folders.    read more...

Use grammar to improve sentence fluency

Sentence fluency is a difficult trait to master. Because we often speak in short choppy fragments or long, gangly run-ons, students bring those habits into their writing. They write how they speak. It doesn't take long for students to realize if they just write short, choppy, simple sentences, they will be grammatically correct. Unfortunately, this creates a lack of sentence length variety.    read more...

Kristina’s favorite picture books for teaching the 6 Traits

Do you use picture books to teach the traits? Would you like some suggestions for books to use? Check out the list of Kristina's favorite books for each trait.    read more...

FAQ: Introducing the traits

Q: I know I should introduce each trait one at a time within six different mini-lessons. But what do the students do during independent writing time on those days? I want them to write something, but I'm not sure what it should be.    read more...

Here’s a great boy book for word choice

Many teachers utilize Jane O'Connor's Fancy Nancy to teach word choice and target precise language. It's a fabulous picture book for the trait of word choice. But many have asked for a "boy book" that targets the same word choice skills but is a little less girly. Found it!    read more...

Organizing your “trait crate” of mini-lessons

As you create and collect writing mini-lesson ideas, consider your organization. Most of you have heard me describe my “trait crateâ€� organization. I use a hanging file box to store my writing mini-lessons.    read more...

Teaching parents about the 6 Traits

September, October and November often include parent nights, open houses, and literacy celebrations. If you are looking to incorporate a 6-Traits focus during this year’s parent event, maybe one of the following ideas will be inspiring...    read more...