The 6+1 Traits of Writing
In this week session, we will be looking at the 6+1 traits of writing. Before I go into depth on what the 6+1 traits of writing let us reflect on the ways we teach writing to our students.
When teaching writing, do we guide students through each process one at a time? What about feedback and encouragement? Do we offer those? How many of us, as teachers help students when they struggle to formulate ideas on their own? Or we just offer a topic on our own?
I am guilty of doing some of these, not because of dislike teaching writing, but because of frustration, whether in helping students formulate and develop their own ideas or in trying to complete the curriculum.
In this blog you will gain some insight on what is the 6+1 traits of writing ,why its important? and the proper way in grading students written pieces.
The 6 + 1 writing traits is a way of teaching, modeling and assessing the instructions of writing. These traits are consideration to be the good traits that students should use in their writing. We all know that students struggle with formulating ideas for writing, but what we did not know was why. Listed below are three reasons as to why
- Students find writing to be complex
- Students think faster than they write and
- Students do not write for themselves.
It is our job as teachers to help students with these like allowing them to select their own topics, this might help the ideas flow better when they are writing about something they like or familiar with. It is my believe that once the 6 + 1 writing traits are use in the classrooms, students will be able to write with confidence and grow to love writing.
The 6 + 1 writing traits are ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions and presentations.
- Ideas- the overall message and meaning being convey in the writing.
- Organization- the internal structure of the writing, the sequence and pattern ( mean how the piece of writing will flow).
- Voice- The personal tone of the writer in the written piece.
- Word Choice- the vocabulary the writer chooses to convey meaning.
- Sentence Fluency- the rhythm and flow of the language.
- Conventions- the mechanical correction in the writing this includes (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and paragraphing and
- Presentation- is the both visual and textual elements of the final written piece. it is the way the message is portrayed on the paper.
In learning about the 6 + 1 writing traits, my lecturer gave us a written piece to grade using our Test of Standard grading rubric which mostly looks for ( spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization) based on the rubric followed the student failed drastically because we only focus on the mechanics of the writing.
We then grade the written piece using the 6 + 1 writing traits as the rubric and I was shocked to see a big difference in the marks. I think all teachers should use the 6 +1 traits of writing as a marking guide because it focus on every aspect of writing and just not the mechanics of the written piece.
I personally prefer using the 6 +1 traits of writing as a marking guide because it help us to judge the students written pieces fairly but also help to build the students confidence when they see the grade they received.
Going forward I would like to see all teachers using the 6 + 1 traits of writing as their rubrics, I know I will.
It is import to ask those questions when teaching writing. I like how you explain the 6 +1 Traits of Writing in details. It is a very good assessment in testing students' writing performance. Going forward I will implement this in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding the 6+1 traits of writing is one I think everyone should follow. This also encourages students to want to try even more. Students and teachers alike be very much frustrated when it is all centered around what the teacher wants and not what can my student give. This encourages students to be more creative and the willingness to express. There are some aspects of this I have already incorporated with my students, so now, I can take this knowledge and do much more in order for me to help them and help myself.
ReplyDeleteI too endorse the use of the 6+1 traits of writing in our classrooms and would encourage all teachers to do the same. From the practical experience in Lit class, I think it’s one of the best and easy to use writing assessment tools that I have encountered. This instructional and assessment tool helps us to deviate our teaching and grading focus from just the conventions aspect (mechanics and capitalization) and give more consideration and credit to the flow, voice, word choice and the others, which are equally and in some cases more important to the message the writer is trying to convey.
ReplyDeleteI too am guilty of some of these things you mentioned. However if we as teachers incorporate this method in our teaching our students may become better writer's Some of ur are already using these methods but if we try them in these steps perhaps we and our students can overcome writing frustrations.
ReplyDeleteThis blog has certainly opened my eyes. Although I am not a teacher of English Language, I am seeing the inherent benefits of using the 6+1 traits of writing. Students have a voice! Speaking from experience, it can be very debilitating for a student to pour his/her heart out on a paper to only be assessed on the mechanics of said paper. What I appreciate about 6+1 model is that it takes into account the holistic student and makes teacher feedback more focused. I can see how student's writing can be improved from a more precise feedback, which this model purports to do. From the information, I am gleaning also that it can help to promote critical thinking in the classroom. I would hope that this is something that being pushed more in the English Language classrooms.
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