Introducing the 6 Traits
If you spend some time in the early weeks of school describing what “good” writing includes, then you can curb the number of times you hear Is this good? Am I done? Is this what you want?? from your students.
GOOD WRITING INGREDIENTS
The six researched components of all good writing (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions) need to be introduced to students in a kid-friendly way. Don’t be the only one in the classroom who knows what a “good” one is.
PLAN YOUR TRAIT INTRODUCTION
Consider setting aside 1-2 writing mini-lessons per trait – that’s 6-12 days total. Within these initial lessons, introduce the six terms quickly. Remember this is only an introduction meant to build common vocabulary between you and your students.
THEMATIC INTRODUCTIONS
Not only do you want to consider the pacing of your introduction, but also the common thread. Introduce all the traits in a consistent manner. For example, read picture books for all, or sing songs for all, or do an activity for all, etc. The consistency will show students how the traits all work together; they are all part of the same thing.
BUILDING SCHOOL-WIDE CONSISTENCY
When thinking of how to introduce the traits to your writers, consider incorporating a building-wide set of visual icons that represent each trait. Not only do students hear the same trait words from year to year, but they see the same graphics. This begins to develop building-wide consistency in implementation and writing expectations.
The icons appearing here are ones I have selected to correspond with each trait. You can also click here to read my rationale for choosing each icon. If you like these icons, you may download them here for free.
I am taking a graduate course and want to focus my class project on the Six Traits writing model. I can’t seem to find the research behind the model. Can you help me?
Suzanna Wilson
The research on 6 Traits is being conducted at the Northwest Regional Laboratory (NWREL) in Oregon. Here is a link to their site and the research they have published: http://educationnorthwest.org/traits/research.
