Seeing the Traits within the Common Core Standards
Several of you have emailed asking how the 6 Traits of writing fit into the new national Common Core Standards (CCS). I have color coded the new K-12 language arts standards (for writing and language conventions) to identify the skills listed by the most significant trait they target. Each grade level utilizes the same color key:
- Skills that fall under the trait of ideas are all in blue text.
- Skills that fall under the trait of organization are all in green text.
- Skills that fall under the trait of voice are all in pink text.
- Skills that fall under the trait of word choice are all in red text.
- Skills that fall under the trait of sentence fluency are all in orange text.
- Skills that fall under the trait of conventions are all in purple text.
For those of you working to weave the 6-Traits language into your writer’s workshops, this will give you a guide as to which trait to label each skill and where to fit the skill within your year-long bulletin boards. This color-coded document will also help you organize the mini-lessons within your Trait Crate.
Of course, those of you familiar with the 6 Traits know that the same skill can target more than one trait at a time. For example, “vivid description” improves word choice and also adds to the ideas and details. Not to mention that such description can add words, elongating the sentence, consequently improving the sentence fluency. So keep that in mind as you read through the color-coded CCS; some skills could have been identified with more than one color.
Throughout our most recent series of regional workshops, I have shown a series of writing rubrics also color coded by trait. These included the:
- Indiana ISTEP Writing Application Rubric and Language Conventions Rubric
- Indiana English 10 End-of-Course-Assessment Rubrics (Writing Applications and Language Conventions)
- ACT Rubric
- SAT Rubric
Each of these is downloadable and includes the same color key for the 6 Traits as used within the Common Core Standards. Take note of the unequal distribution of color within the rubrics. For most state and national writing assessments, students can typically earn a passing score for their execution of the traits of ideas and organization. This typically includes communicating interesting ideas in a clear and well-developed body. Add to that a solid beginning and ending with a middle that flows in a logical order. The emphasis on first-draft writing is always on the traits of ideas and organization. Be sure your writers know this!
Although many rubrics mention word choice, voice, and/or sentence fluency within the scoring criteria, it’s usually not essential in the passing levels. NOTE: These expectations increase within the "exceeding" or "pass-plus" levels.
