Have you heard of the 6+1 Traits of Writing framework? To be honest, I hadn’t when we were assigned this framework as a school-wide writing workshop. The framework focuses on developmentally appropriate practices for creating strong pieces of writing…. And that was a ton of buzz words. To put it simply, it lays out how we naturally write. We start with ideas then build our path, words, and more. Following this framework makes it easy to love writing and the writing process.
Writing Workshop Part 1:
Finding Ideas (podcast episode 13)
My favorite part though, if we’re being honest, is that it focuses on what kids CAN do, not what they can’t. Grammar isn’t even addressed until the end… that’s right, the end! On top of that, the framework encourages teachers to conference and focus on only ONE trait to improve instead of looking at everything. If we want our kids to love writing, then we’ve got to make it fun and accessible for them to learn how to write.
Why are ideas important?- without them, you have nothing. Writing doesn’t exist without an idea.
Where do we find ideas?- you could say “Just look around”, but that’s not helpful. Instead, I created an anchor chart with writing ideas for each letter of idea. One of my favorite ways to help kids with ideas is through games like the Story Coins Writing Game.
What if my idea sucks?- you’re not alone! Most ideas do in the beginning… it’s what we shape them into that matters. This is why the other traits of writing are so important. An idea can’t do anything without voice, word choice, organization, presentation, sentence fluency, and use of conventions.
Mentor Text:
What do you do with an idea?- have you read this book? It’s one of so many that are amazing for using as a mentor text with this trait. The key to a mentor is to preview it and make notes with little sticky notes so you know where to stop and discuss with kids. When you are talking about ideas, you might want to point out what the author did with the idea or how it could have gone a different way.
Informational and Opinion Text
This framework is genius because it works for any type of writing. The traits of writing easily fit with informational or opinion writing. Once kids have learned the traits, they can work to apply them to other types of writing.
Writing Workshop Part 2:
Organization and Presentation (podcast episode 14)
If you are a 6+1 traits purist, then you might have already noticed I have deviated from the plan. To be honest, I look at this framework as more of a suggestion than hard and fast rules. I’m a visual person… I love to draw graphs and sketches to see my ideas. Over the last few years teaching, I’ve realized a lot my students also favor this more visual layout… so I’ve moved the presentation piece, the + 1, to the top of my workshop instead of the end.
I’m blending organization and presentation together. I think of them as best friends who compliment each other. Your organization is lost if the presentation is off…. And you can’t create a strong presentation if your writing is disorganized.
How do we organize writing?- If students are telling a story, then a simple beginning, middle, and end pathway works well. However, if they are writing information or opinion, they may want to organize based on a main idea and subtopics.
How do I best present my writing?- The biggest key is keeping the reader, or consumer, in mind. The presentation should serve the ideas, not distract from them. In addition, have students think about the purpose of their writing… is it to answer an essay question? Then paragraph format is best. Or, are they entertaining a young audience? In that case, they might want to try a picture book or video creation.
How do I know if my writing has a good “flow”?- I am a big believer in having students create their own organizers. While there are amazing ones out there ready to go, students won’t always have access to pre-made organizers, so they need to learn and practice getting their ideas to fit without the predesigned boxes. With a basic organizer, students can quickly see if their ideas make sense in the order they have them. Some of my go-to designs are simple rectangles to represent each paragraph, boxes for pages of a book, or writing the letters B, M, D in bold for beginning, middle and end.
Mentor Text:
Grab any book that fits your genre- Or, have students find a mentor presentation they can use be it a book, a news article, blog post, video, or what have you. Again, the organization depends on the presentation, so once students know how they want to present their writing, they can work backwards to organize it for the reader.
Writing Workshop Part 3:
Voice and Word Choice (podcast episode 15)
Part 3 is getting down to the nitty gritty of writing… voice and word choice. When I’m teaching traits, these two naturally overlap because your writing’s voice is defined by the words you use and the words you choose are influenced by the tone you want to set. I tell my students to think of voice as writing your emojis… think of all those cute, crazing little icons. How often do you use an emoji to make a point about how you feel instead of words.
How do I find the voice of my writing?- Have students talk about the point of their writing. What do they want their audience to take away? Are they teaching, persuading, or entertaining? They could even pick emojis to outline their writing before thinking of words. Once they get to the word part, they have to explain the emoji meaning in context of their writing.
How do I find the best fit word?- I like the 1, 2, 3… that’s the word for me approach. 1- did I include details? Sometimes it’s about adding the right words like more adjectives or adverbs. 2- did I try other words? Have students get out a thesaurus and look for other options. They can substitute words in the sentence and have peers give feedback on which word they liked best as the reader. Finally, 3- does my word help or hurt my writing? Not all words are created equally and just because the word “sounds” fancy, doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for the piece. Remind students the point of their writing is to have their reader gain something, not be frustrated by words they don’t know.
How do I know if my voice and word choice fit together?- Check to see if it makes sense. For example, if your story is funny and full of sarcastic comments, you don’t want your tone, or voice, to be sad or dramatic. The words students pick should match the tone, mood, and feeling of the piece. The words should also match the character’s voice, if there are any. You wouldn’t want an angry character using joyful words like sparkle would you?
Mentor Text:
Three of my favorite mentor texts for voice and word choice- Ada Twist, Scientist, by Andrea Beaty is perfect for introducing and discussing voice in writing. Honestly, any of the kids in Beaty’s series are perfect for voice because her writing tells their stories through their voices. Each kid is unique and has a special skill that the reader gets to know through Beaty’s use of voice. My second favorite is The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds is great for talking about where to find new words and why words are important. Finally, The Brain is Kind of a Big Deal by Nick Seluk is a great example of how to blend non-fiction tone with fictional voice. His little brain character definitely has personality.
Writing Workshop Part 4:
Sentence Fluency & Conventions (podcast episode 16)
In part 4, we are polishing and perfecting writing. Sentence fluency and use of correct conventions are so important for getting your message across to the reader.
Sentence Fluency- fluency is the flow of your writing. How does it sound to the ear? Interesting writing should have a happy mix of simple and complex sentences. There is an amazing graphic that’s been floating around social media the past few years that compares writing sentences to music. If every sentence is the same length and tone, the piece is boring. But, if you mix sentences and tones, add some ebb and flow, the piece becomes interesting. When I work with my students on sentence fluency, I have them choose a sentence from their writing. It can be any sentence. Then, we look at how we can transform it to be more complex or add more depth.
Conventions- Hi… I’m Kayleigh and I struggle with spelling! As a kid, I would get caught up in not knowing how to spell something which led to frustration and losing my train of thought. We often teach conventions, grammar, punctuation, spelling, in isolation, so looking at conventions as a big picture can be hard for students. My first step as a teacher is reminding my kids that I don’t care how they spell a word. WE can fix that. We can fix the periods and subject verb agreement, too.
Conferencing- Focus on 1 thing! This has been a game changer for my writing conferences. Since I’m currently teaching online, I have students sign up for a 15 minute conference slot. They also make sure I have access to their piece and come prepared to talk about one thing they want to improve. Then, we talk and I let them lead. I have notes ready, but I’m more focused on where they see their areas of growth. Before we finished, I give them one thing to work on. It could be creating more fluent, interesting sentences. Or, they might need to work on add voice through dialogue. Whatever my suggestion, I keep it to one task.
Mentor Texts
Grab any book that fits your genre- It can any of the ones I’ve talked about in past episodes or something you’re loving right now. Then, look for a sentence that you can use as a mentor for the structure or grammar piece you want to teach.
