Parent Handbook for the Six Traits of Writing
This handbook has been created to help parents understand the Six Traits of Writing and how they are used to assist students in the writing process.
Students are involved in a variety of writing experiences throughout their education. The following is a list of most of these forms of writing:
- Narrative Writing: tells a personal experience or story; always includes characters, setting, and plot (Examples: short story, journals, novels)
- Descriptive Writing: creates a vivid image in the reader’s mind; uses precise details to paint “word pictures” for the reader (Examples: menu, travel brochure, poster)
- Expository Writing: informs, explains, clarifies, defines (Examples: research paper, essay, report)
- Persuasive Writing: informs and attempts to convince the reader to take the same stand (Example: movie review, restaurant critique, letter to the editor, editorial)
- Technical Writing: uses research to present specialized information, but just because it is technical does not mean it has to be flat or dull (Examples: VCR manual, driver’s manual, legal document, cookbook)
- Business Writing: provides information in a way that is clear, well-organized, efficient, and usually answers a question; summarizes work completed and proposes new strategies (Examples: memo, proposal, long range plan, business letter)
Prewrite:
- Make sure your student reads the writing prompt (the instructions) carefully. The instructions will help your student determine the purpose for writing.
- Ask your student who the audience for the paper is. This will help determine the style and content of the paper.
- Ask to see the rubric that will be used to assess the paper so that you and your student know what the standards will be.
- Ask your student what information they need to know in order to get started. The student may need to reread class notes, a chapter from a book, or their library research before putting pen to paper.
- The student should make a list of points for discussion and what order the points will go in. Students can do this in a list form, an outline, or in a web. Teachers often provide prewrite sheets or graphic organizers to help students with this part of the writing process.
Draft:
- Keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy that your student can resource while working.
- Coach – don’t write – for your student.
- Question, listen, and talk about writing together.
Revise:
- Let the student revise their own work, examining their own writing from an outsider’s perspective. In order to do this, it is good to use a pen/pencil in another color to mark revisions.
Edit:
- If necessary, use the revision guides to help your student edit for each of the six traits, or the traits the teacher has emphasized as part of the assignment.
- Point out the strengths of the paper to your student, so he or she knows what he or she is doing well.
- Check spelling and grammar. Is the paper free from errors?
Publish:
- Be sure your student has correctly formatted his or her paper according to the teacher’s standards.
A rubric is a scoring tool consisting of a set of criteria that describe what expectations are being assessed/evaluated. It also includes descriptions of levels of quality used to evaluate students’ work or to guide students to desired performance levels.
The 6 Trait Rubric is a 5 point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 being the lowest score. Each of the six traits has descriptors for the individual score.
The teacher will stamp the students work with the following stamp:
A number 5 to 1 will be assigned for trait or traits being assessed. The number will be based upon the student writing in comparison with the rubric for that trait. The number system will then be translated into the following grading scale:
5+ = 1003+= 831+= 69
5= 973= 811= 65
5-= 933-= 771-= 60
4+= 912+= 74
4= 892= 72
4-= 852-= 70
If more than one trait is being assessed the grades will be averaged to find the student’s overall grade.
Paper Title: My Best Thing
Grade: Middle School (6-8)
Scores:
Reader 1 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 3
Reader 2 / 3 / 3 / 4 / 3 / 3 / 3
Comment 1: The ideas in this piece are valid—reasonable, even insightful. But where is the specific support? The writer “tells” but does not “show.” Did this writer have a first experiment that “bombed?” Can he name a poor hapless scientist who inadvertently picked up the wrong beaker and blew herself to bits? And, “science” is a big place—what specific jobs interest this writer? The ideas need to be anchored to bring this paper into the “5” range.
Comment 2: Voice is the trait that is the strongest for this reader. The “budding scientist” reveals a strong commitment to becoming a scientist throughout the paper. Unfortunately little else is revealed, such as what field of science or why the interest in science—you’re just left with the information that he will “be in the science field”, and “will be famous”!
My Best Thing:
The thing I am best at is science. And the way I learned it is through hard work, consintration, studing, and the ability to think hard. It takes a lot of reserch and observation to truly make it stay in your mind. You also have to be patient for this kind of activity, because no one gets an experiment right on the first time. So that means test after test until you get it right. When you get into science you have got to keep the bad things in mind such as: all the stress, taking your job home, the sleepless nights, and the chances of dying from your own experiment. I think that science is the best job field to get into, because it is high paying, interesting and filled with entertainment. In this job field there is always something new to do. One day I’ll be in the science field, and I’ll be famous.
Paper Title: My Cats
Grade: Middle School (6-8)
Scores:
Reader 1 / 2 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 3-
Reader 2 / 3- / 3 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 3
Comment 1: Who begat the cats? That is the question (unfortunately). The oddly narrowed focus upon the topic of "How I got" five cats amounts to minutiae overkill. The idea is doomed by a fatal lack of "reason for being." The reader wants to know: "Why is this important?"
Comment 2: This writer seems to feel that telling the names of all the cats and the order in which they were acquired provides all the information that the reader needs. However, as one of the "3" descriptors of ideas and content says, "The reader is left with questions."
My Cats:
I have five cats. their names are Patches, Pooky, Popcorn, Oreo and Shaton. All of them are girls except for Pooky. Patches is the oldest, she’s eight years old. Oreo and Shaton are almost two years old. Popcorn and Pooky are almost one year old. I got Patches from a friend after my other cat was killed. Patches just lived with us for about five years. Then I went to Maui with my mom and I left her with my dad. I missed her so much that my mom caught a wild cat for me and I tamed her. So my brother and I came home from school and there were four baby kittens there. And Shaton and Oreo were two of them. That’s how I got Shaton and Oreo. How I got Pooky and Popcorn is Oreo had kittens May 24, 19__. Oreo had four kittens but one died, and Shaton had four kittens also. Oreo had Pooky and Shaton had Popcorn. We still have them and their doing just fine.
Paper Title: Skateboarding
Grade: Middle School (6-8)
Scores:
Reader 1 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 3-
Reader 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 3
Comment 1: The failure to “invite” the reader to share (even minutely) in the joy of the writer’s favorite hobby, leaves this reader feeling “on the outside looking in.” The lack of an engaging introductory sentence and the abrupt ending—“Now I just ride in the streets and do tricks”—strongly suggest the need for improvement in the trait of organization. Simple sentences of “bare facts” contribute to the low voice score, as well as a bland “3” in sentence fluency
Comment 2: The writer’s T-shirt slogan, “Skateboarding, What a life to live”, gives the reader the idea that this essay will relate at least a few exciting experiences on the skateboard. Instead, the reader finds little to reveal who the writer is or why skateboarding is “a life to live.” Even the conventions score is affected by the amount of writing because there is not enough to show the writer’s skill beyond the basics.�
Skateboarding:
My T-Shirt slogan would say “Skateboarding, What a life to live.” I would choose this slogan because skateboarding is one of my favorite hobbies.
I learned skateboarding from one of my old best friends. He taught me tricks and gave me my first skateboard.
I met another friend who has this big half-pipe, a ramp. I go to his house and ride on his ramp and learn new tricks.
Now I just ride in the streets and do tricks.
Paper Title: I may be quiet but I listen very loud
Grade: Middle School (6-8)
Scores:
Reader 1 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5
Reader 2 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 5
Comment 1: The striking originality of this essay translates the writer’s personal experience into the realm of universally shared human experience. The sentences beginning with the words “I hear” create momentum as the examples of hurt, isolation, and loneliness pile up. In this case, the repetition of sentence beginnings, purposefully crafted to create an effect, enhance the readability of the piece
Comment 2: “Insight—an understanding of life and a knack for picking what is significant” is a descriptor under the “5” in the scoring guide. For this reader, that describes this paper perfectly.
I may be quiet but I listen very loud:
On my shirt I would put: “I may be quiet but I listen very loud.”
As many people know I am a quiet person. Not many people know me very well. Several reasons for this are: I don’t need to hear my voice all the time to know I’m alive. I feel and breathe, thus I know I’m around. Another reason is I don’t need to monopolize conversations to get attention, or to interrupt people all the time so I can be the center of attention—I know who I am, what I need and how to get it. I don’t need to hurt others to build myself up.
But I do hear well, I hear others cutting “friends” of theirs apart, saying unkind things just to make themselves seem better. I hear people’s feelings being hurt by others ignoring them. I hear when no one speaks to me because I choose to be more considerate of others and not to follow the crowd. I hear tears on faces, because they aren’t accepted by some because they don’t have the right looks, the right clothes, or they are not cool enough to be popular. I hear the loneliness of people sitting in the folding chairs at a school dance because they are not loud enough to be heard.
I plan on listening to my children like my own parents listen to me. Surprisingly…they were the ones that taught me to listen.
Paper Title: Memories
Grade: Middle School (6-8)
Scores:
Reader 1 / 5 / 5- / 5 / 5 / 5 / 4-
Reader 2 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 5 / 4 / 4
Comment 1: Camp experiences are a favorite topic for sixth graders; even without the theme of friendship with Sarah, the information offered by the writer about her camp experience alone would be interesting and complete in itself. One great strength here is the writer’s penchant for “naming”— people (“Kyak and Honeybucket”); places (“Cedar Ledge”); activities (“the B.I.F.F.Y.” and “tippy test”). The word choice in general is natural, lively, precise and often striking ( “banana like kyaks”).
Yet what makes the paper stand out for this reader is the masterful way in which the writer merges the themes of making a new friend and enjoying camp in a way that reveals both personalities—as fun-loving, a bit daredevil, and ready-for-anything.
Comment 2: This paper has many strengths, one of which is the choice of words. The level of “5” in the rubric describes this writer’s word choice very well. The reader is able to feel a part of the camp experiences through such phrases as “my skin turned to ice when I cannonballed off the deck” and “we…rapped our selves together in Sarah’s gold spaceblanket, & waddled, chattering, to lunch.”
The conclusion, also, provides a strong sense of closure even though the reader feels a sense of loss for the writer that all she has “to remember Sarah by is, an old, rugged seashell, with Sarah written on the top.”
Memories:
Sarah & I first met in the hutchen of Cedar Ledge, a group of cabins, at campRobinswold. I saw her long, wavy, blond hair glimmering in the sun & it caught my eye. As I looked over, her soft, blue eyes met my chocolate eyes. I sat down next to her when the councilors told us to sit in a circle on the cold, grey, hard hutchen floor. As we went around the circle saying our names, I thought about how friendly she acted towards others. Kyak & Honeybucket asked me to e in there cabin, & I accepted. I really wanted to be in Sarah’s cabin though.
The next day we took our swimming tests. The salty, cold canal water, turned my skin to ice when I cannonballed off the dock into it. Sarah was in the second group & I was in the first. After I got out the water & on to the dock, I watched Sara swim. I realized she was a good a swimmer as I was. I talked to Sarah for the first time while we were waiting to take the tippy test so we could go boating. Sarah told me the banana like kyaks were the best type of boats, so we both took our test in kyaks. Sarah first, then me.
That night after “Taps” was played, I wrote a letter home saying I had found a best friend named Sarah. As I heard one of the councilors coming, I turned off my flashlight & pretended to be asleep.
After that day, Sarah & I did everything together. We sat together in the dining hall every meal. We went to the B.I.F.F.Y. as partners. Even when we went up to lakeArmstrong for a campout., Sarah & I put our sleeping bags right next to each others.
On Thursday, we went kyaking together. The wind had kicked up & everyone, except Sarah & me, had gone to the showers. Sarah & I rode the waves & sang our favorite song ”Purple Lights” till the lifeguard began to worry the waves might tip the kyaks, like a cat when it falls asleep standing up, & made us go to the showers. After we showered off & changed, Sarah & me were freezing in the misty air. We both rapped our selves together in Sara’s gold spaceblanket, & waddled, chattering, to lunch. At the dining hall they said we looked hike hershey kisses; no nuts though.
Saturday was the last day at camp. Sarah & I waved each other sad goodbyes as our parents came to get us. We had forgotten to get each other addresses because we were having so much fun during the week. The only thing that I have to remember Sarah by is, an old, rugged seashell, with Sarah written on the top.
THE END
Paper Title: My Friend Lucky
Grade: Middle School (6-8)
Scores:
Reader 1 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 2
Reader 2 / 3 / 2 / 4 / 3 / 3 / 2
Comment 1: This writer appears to be writing within the restrictions of a self-imposed “safety zone” limited to easy-to-spell, simple words, and easy-to-punctuate, simple sentences. A smattering of slang words and expressions (“bomb it”, “prett cool”, “awesome”) are the only indications the reader has that the writer is a sixth grader. However, the spark of voice (“How rude” and “I was so happy”) offer hints of possibilities.
Much is left unsaid in this story of Lucky, and the reader is left wanting more.
Comment 2: “How Rude”, “I was so happy,” “I would bomb it”, “That was prett cool”, “He’s an awesome sled dog.” All of these comments provide the reader with the feeling that the writer really likes his dog. Unfortunately, the rest of the paper is written in a very simplistic way and you don’t learn much more.
The introduction provides a satisfactory beginning, but the ending is very weak and leaves you hanging--“That’s I’ll I know hope you enjoyed it.”
My Friend Lucky:
Lucky is a dog I saved three years ago. He is a collie and weighs 75 pounds. He is golden brown and white. Now that you know him a little bit I’ll tell you the story.
I was riding my bike in a cold wet afternoon when two crazy men speed in front of me. They stopped and droped a cute puppy out the window, and sped away. How rude.
I went to pick him up, he was cold and wet. I brought him home and asked if I could keep him. My mom said yes after a while. I was so happy.
Lucky was hyper and loved to play ball. I would bomb it and he would go get the ball no matter where it went. That was prett cool.
He got very protective that was pretty good but friends didn’t like that. Lucky loves the snow. He’s a awesome sled dog.
That’s I’ll I know hope you enjoyed it.