Six Traits Writing can be beneficial in regards to teaching students how to write. There are six traits that when combined can help students become successful in writing. The traits consist of Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency and Conventions. (The Components of Writing) When teaching about the Six Traits of writing, you can focus on one trait at a time and increase a student’s confidence. It is kid-friendly and easily understood at a young age.
The benefits of using Six Traits Writing is that it gives teachers and students a common language to use when conferencing about pieces. Districts that adopt the program can form consistency between teacher to teacher or grade levels. It chunks up the writing process so that it become manageable. Having a rubric that is scored by each trait helps students to know what is expected, or what is considered “quality” writing. This also helps with building a solid foundation for revision and editing.
I personally like the Six Traits Model because I find it encourages writers when they see they are evaluated by a trait rather than a holistic score. Students can reflect on what part of their writing has strengths and what other pieces need improvement. As a teacher, I like to reflect on ideas, organization, and voice first. It makes a great connection to main ideas, supporting details, and author’s purpose.
Out of curiosity, do you think you could use this in the classroom for poetry? I was thinking about it and found that 6+1 Traits could be used for so much other than the standard essay. I know for poetry it might be a bit harder, but not impossible. Could this be a universal idea for reviewing and revising writing?
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