6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide, Grades 3 and Up

English teachers have it tough -- no matter how hard they try, they cannot avoid a degree of subjectivity when it comes to grading papers. This book, 6+1 TRAITS OF WRITING, will not make the process a totally objective one, but it will provide a definite structure that will be invaluable to both new and experienced teachers alike. In workmanlike fashion, Ruth Culham devotes chapters to the traits (ideas, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, organization, and conventions) PLUS one (presentation) with a series of indicators for teachers to assess each one.It's a great primer in the technique, and the chapters all follow a similar pattern with definitions of the traits, a list of reasons on why students struggle with that trait, steps on how to assess the trait, and sample papers to practice assessing using the 6 + 1 method. Each sample paper is followed by the scores the author gave it, along with their reasoning. Finally, the chapters are nicely rounded out with a series of practical ideas on how you can TEACH each trait. Teachers trying to get a handle on grading papers will appreciate the practicality and the structure.The caveats I have with the book are minor. First, the sample papers range from Grades 3 to 9, and it's often difficult to assess sample papers because elementary teachers may not know how far along a secondary student should be and secondary teachers may have no clue about what's expected from third-grade writers. The wide range in ages, in other words, creates a bit of extra confusion for teachers who are well-versed in their own age-group of students. Also, the extra batch of "practice papers" to assess at the back of the book are directly followed by the author's scores, meaning the papers and their scores often share the same page. It would have been more helpful to separate them so as to avoid accidentally seeing a score while trying to finish the paper.Culham's book is a great start, but a lot more practice assessing will probably be necessary to successfully implement the program. Also, I found that I had many questions about judgment calls while assessing some of the indicators and, in a workshop type setting, could have used further explanation from an experienced hand. Alas, the book cannot provide anything like that, but still, it's a start -- and a good one. Recommended.

I used this book to teach writing at a small private school of about 12 kids. I'm not a teacher by profession, but because I had home-schooled my kids for 18 yrs., the teacher of the school (who didn't like to teach composition), gave me the job and said design my own program. I'm thankful for this book. The kids said they hated to write. I got them each a designer pencil of something they liked and cut off the erasers. They could only use their special pencil for writing class. After a short time, these kids were so excited about writing! The teacher said she noticed the improvement in their writing skills.I got this copy for my grand kids whom I was recently visiting. My daughter home-schools and told me they don't like to write. I got a prompt online, and we all sat down for a 4 minute write. They were so excited about their little papers! They read them to my son-in-law when he got home and had him write one too.This program teaches kids to write and then to take care of editing later. The freedom to get your ideas down without having everything scrutinized is amazingly freeing. Once they realize it's ok not to have the grammar and spelling perfect, writing becomes a joy. Anyone can go back and fix spelling and even professional writers have editors. What we need to do is learn to get our own unique ideas down first and let the editing be used for the works worth sprucing up. This is not a text book; it is a how-to book for the instructor, so you can use it for any age.My sister is a principle of an award-winning elementary school. I told her about this program, and she said they pay for their teachers to go for the training. That would have been wonderful, but even with just the book, I felt successful in teaching writing.

The 6+1 Traits definitely gave me clarity like I'd never had before about what makes good writing good, and how to assess writing. Thanks to this book, I now have an excellent framework for teaching writing and a clear vision I'm working toward with my students.Where the book is less strong, in my view, is in suggesting ways to teach writing. Of course, the book does not pretend to be a writing curriculum or a series of lessons, so perhaps this is by design. Each chapter has focus lessons and a series of activities that are meant to introduce the concept of each trait and develop students' understanding of it. However, none of these are designed to work toward objectives of the 'students will be able to' type, organized around active verbs, and they don't really explain how to get students to use the traits in their writing.For example, an activity that has students practice reading text aloud in different voices to demonstrate the idea of 'voice' might end with, "Encourage students to use different voices in their writing." Well, to me THAT'S the part that seems like the crux of our teaching! How shall they do this? How can I break down the traits into bite-sized objectives, as I do with standards? I know that I must respond to my students' needs as they arise, but I would still like a sense of a long-term plan, plus I'm not even sure how to respond to their needs. Culham asserts a few times that she is sure her readers' filing cabinets are bursting with ideas for how to teach writing, but mine aren't!THe 6+1 Traits is an outstanding resource for setting the vision and goals of a writing course and for assessing writing. If you are looking for a resource to help you develop a long-term plan for teaching the traits, or break the traits into smaller lessons, you might find some ideas but it's not nearly so helpful for that.

El libro está bien, pero me ha llegado hoy, cuando todo lo demás llegó hace más de 2 meses y medio !!! Por eso pongo pocas estrellas en la puntuación.

Great book for beginning teachers or folks looking to change up gheir literacy program. This would actually make a great teacher gift

Well laid out and easy to follow with many concrete examples to clarify author's points. I'd highly recommend this book.

Excellent teaching tool!! English lessons made easy:)

Excellent book to teach writing. Takes the subjectivity out of the process.