6 + 1 TraitsLaurie Stowell

Cal State San MarcosSan Marcos Writing Project

lstowell@csusm.eduhttp://www.csusm.edu/education/outreach/smwp.html

St. Mary SchoolMay 2, 2014

* Gives teachers, students and parents a common language to talk about writing.

6 + 1 Traits

Assessment for writing

Assessment of writing

* K-16 teachers read and sorted stacks and stacks of papers

* After sorting, they extrapolated what the specifics of the papers were that caused teachers to put them in different piles.

* Lists were compiled, descriptors created, and common characteristics or TRAITS emerged.

Brief history

“Assessment should be used as feedback only and not as reward or punishment.”

-Jerome Bruner

* In all 50 states, Great Britain, France, South America, China and the Middle East

*By teachers primary through college*By teachers in language arts, math,

science, social studies, foreign language and special education.

6 + 1 traits are used:

* Ideas (details, development, focus)

* Organization (internal structure)

* Voice (tone, style, purpose and audience)

* Sentence fluency (correctness, rhythm and cadence)

* Word choice (precise language and phrasing)

* Conventions (mechanical correctness)

And now they also look at • Presentation (handwriting, formatting, layout)

The 6 traits + 1

Writing is like a guitar

Guitars generally have 6 strings. Each string has a different note or tone. Some are high and some are low. If you were to play a song with one string, the song would be rather dull, boring and monotonous. However if the six strings are played together and they are given an interesting rhythm, the gorgeous melody floats across the room and stirs the soul.

Writing is the same in many ways. Without all the elements, the writing is lacking. With all the elements, the writing can stir the soul.

Revision EditingIdeas ConventionsOrganization PresentationVoiceWord choiceSentence Fluency(creating meaning) (getting things

right)

Another way to look at the traits:

The six traits are not a writing curriculum!

They are a way to link effective classroom centered writing

assessment with revision and editing processes.

“Teachers ask the wrong question first… “What do we do?” -- putting the focus immediately on designing tasks - when they need to ask “What do we want kids to know and be able to do? How well? What does quality look like?” [We] need to ask these questions very clearly first.”

Mike Hibbard, Education Update, 38(4), p. 5, ASCD, June, 1996

Performance Assessment

“We must change from a model that picks winners to one that will create

winners.”-Harold Hodgkinson

Michigan: The state and its educational system

Scoring the 6 traits way:

“The Redwoods”

And

“Fox”

Origin of and research on the trait model is 5 points

Analytic, not holistic Classroom assessment, not large scaleAre we ranking and sorting? (summative)

Or leading students to revise and edit? (formative)

Why a 5 point scale?

Offers broad perspective Challenges us to think of writing in new ways Gives us a model for responding to students’

writing Provides vocabulary for talking with students

about writing Provides a solid foundation for revision and

editing Allows students to become evaluators

Advantages of Analytic Scoring

Pet Peeves

and Scoring biases

Use the complete scoring guide – not a shortened version

Read the scoring guide at the “5” level as a definition of the trait

Read the paper Ask yourself, “Generally stronger or weaker on this

trait?” Work from the “5” down, or the “1” up Use the full range of scores – “5” is not perfect and “1” is

not an “F”

Tips on Scoring:

IdeasOrganization

Voice

Score for:

The Core Standards never mention voice outright, But they do mention style (See writing standard 4). Style is an umbrella term that in trait language  encompasses voice, word choice, and sentence fluency. They all work together. Notice that standard 4 also suggests that the style should be appropriate to “task, purpose, and audience.” This ability to adjust style to fit context–and to write in a way that reaches an audience–is definitely a component of voice.

Voice:

Word ChoiceSentence fluency

Conventions

Score:

How students learn the traits: Introduce 1 trait at a time: ideas, organization, voice, word choice sentence fluency, conventions. Upper grades review the traits one at a time.

In the beginning of the year ask them to write pieces focused on one trait at a time.

When they go back into a piece to revise, ask them to use a word choice lens or voice lens to make it better.

Getting started teaching the traits

“Getting started with the traits” (http://educationnorthwest.org/resource/504)

Have students help you build files of examples of good “traits”. Find mentor texts in their reading and their own writing. Write them on chart paper hanging around the room – help them read like writers.

Do short practice pieces: “Describe your morning routine, paying attention to word choice”.

Sometimes bad examples are the best teachers. Read good examples of writing for a trait and then read bad examples and talk about how to make them better.

Give groups of students a bad example to revise.

Deconstructing writing

Introduce language of the traitsCan be used with drawing, driting and

picturesTeach ideas, organization and voiceUse different rubrics: See Spandel’s

rubrics in Creating Writers and Culhams 6+1 traits with primary writers.

Teaching the traits with K-2

Start with what is working What traits does this child have in this piece? What traits need work in this piece? Know the student and what he or she is capable

of and can handle in a conference Choose one or two things to work on in a

particular paper

Teaching writers with traits

Frogs are amphibians. They spend most of their life in the water but sometimes they live on land. They don’t have tales, they are pretty smooth and have bulging eyes. Frogs have long back legs so they can jump. There are many kinds of frogs, but they all have the same basic body structure.The largest frog is from Africa…Tree frogs live on all continents accept Antartica…

-7th grade

Traits can be used with all genres. Information writing:

A sticky pink tongue darts out to grab a small unsuspecting bug and- ZAP! It slurps it down for a mid-morning snack. Such is a moment in the life of the frog, a common amphibian found in all shapes, sizes and colors and in many places around the world. In fact, about the only place you won’t find some kind of frog is in the coldest parts of the world like Antarctica. As a cold-blooded amphibian, the frog cannot adapt to the year round freezing temperature of the air and water.

A revised piece

From the largest African Goliath frog measuring about one foot long to the smallest tree frog which is only 1/2 inch, the daily struggle for survival is great…

Did you know that many common frogs… are in danger of becoming extinct?

It may not see important to make sure that frogs have a safe and clean place to breed and grow, but people need frogs for many more things than you may think…

Just because there are six traits in the model, this does not mean that you have to give every paper six scores every time.

For example: a particular writing assignment on how species adapt to environmental factors, you might want to emphasize clear ideas, good organization, appropriate scientific terms and perhaps, conventional correctness.

Adapting the traits to fit you

Suppose you ask students to determine how many different ways rectangular shapes can be combined to create a design for a one story building. You want them to write an explanation of each step in their thinking.

You might choose to primarily on ideas (clarity), organization (steps in order), word choice (correct mathematics terminology) and conventions (including mathematical symbols).

Geometry

If you do not feel comfortable letting go of any trait altogether, try what many teachers have done: Weight the traits according to emphasis.

For example if students in a group design a newspaper that might have sold in London in the 1800s, what is important?

Weighting

Let’s say the assignment is worth 100 points:• Ideas 25• Organization 10• Voice 10• Word choice 20• Sentence fluency 10• Conventions and presentation 25Weight them however you want: just give

students a clear picture of what is critical.

Weight the traits

When students write every day, they improve. Paint-by-number isn’t art; writing to prompts

with formulas isn’t real writing, either. If you have some choice in the task, you work

harder and enjoy it more. No one fails at writing or teaching writing. We’re all learning.

Guiding Principles

Robert Marzano's research stresses the importance of making meaning through comparison and contrast thinking.

Create a metaphor for a good piece of writing using the traits as a guide.

The Power of Metaphor

Human Body:

Forest:

Using The Important book by Margaret Wise Brown create and important book about the traits including icons to remember them better.

“The important thing about ideas is they are they heart of the message…”

The Important Book:

“The key to assessment is the word itself. It comes from the Latin verb assidire: to sit beside. We are not ranking here. We are sitting beside a piece of writing and observing its qualities. We are finding a common language to talk about those qualities.”

-Barry Lane

A scientific study conducted by REL Northwest in 74 Oregon elementary schools showed that the 6+1 Trait Writing model caused a statistically significant increase in student writing scores during the year in which it was studied.

6+1

Study finds use of 6+1 traits produces higher scores

Research and resources: Creating Writers (5th edition)

by Vicki Spandel6+1 Traits of writing: The complete guide grades 3

and up by Ruth Culham (Scholastic)6+1 traits of writing: The complete guide grades K-

2 by Ruth Culham6+1 traits of writing: The complete guide for middle

grades by Ruth Culham

Creating 6-Trait Revisers and Editors for Grade 6: 30 Revision and Editing Lessons by Vicki Spandel Published by Pearson They have these books for grades 1-8

Two best online resources:

Northwest Regional Education Lab:•http://educationnorthwest.org/resource/949

Writing Fix: • http://writingfix.com/index.htmCreator of Writing Fix site:• ( http://corbettharrison.com/lessons.html• http://denaharrison.com/Traits.htm)

• M.S. Teacher: http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/writing/menu.html

Resources for Elementary Teachers: http://www.smekenseducation.com/6-traits-of-writing.html

• Color coded by traits: http://www.smekenseducation.com/seeing-the-traits-within-the-common-core-standards.html

• samples of scored student papers:http://educationnorthwest.org/traits/ccss/samples-of-student-writingNorthwest Regional Education Lab: • http://educationnorthwest.org/traits/ccss• http://educationnorthwest.org/webfm_send/1252• http://sixtraitgurus.wordpress.com/

Common Core & 6 traits: