The Six + 1 Traits of

Writing
(Source: Northwest Regional Educational Library: http://www.nwrel.org)

Lieschen Schoenert
Tyler Livingston
Plymouth Middle School
“I always did well on essay tests. Just put
everything you know on there, maybe
you’ll hit it. And then you get the paper
back from the teacher and she’s written
just one word across the entire page,
‘vague.’ I thought vague was kind of
vague. I’d write underneath it ‘unclear’
and send it back. She’s return it to me,
‘ambiguous’. I’d send it back to her,
‘cloudy’. We’re still corresponding to this
day…. hazy…. muddy…” Jerry Seinfeld
(SeinLanguage)
 What do teachers look for
when grading students’
writing? How do we grade
papers? What do teachers
teach when we teach writing?
“Students have been conditioned
to believe that great papers just
happen. That they are a
guessing game and that one
finds out what to do after it is too
late.”
Margie Krest “Adapting the Portfolio to
Meet Student Needs” English Journal
February 1990
The Six +1 Traits of Writing
 It’s not a program or curriculum.
 The Six Traits is a scoring guide or a tool
for writing.
 It is a shared vocabulary for teachers and
students.
 The six traits is an instrument teachers
can use to provide “accurate, reliable
feedback to students and to help guide
instruction.”
 The six traits were developed in the 1980’s
by teachers from across the country.
 These teachers evaluated thousands
of papers at all grade level and
identified “common characteristics of
good writing”.

 These “qualities” became the six-

traits.
 The Six Traits + 1

 Thesix traits are: Ideas,

Organization, Voice, Word
Choice, Sentence Fluency,
Conventions and Presentation
(the +1).
 Ideas
 The ideas are the heart of the
message, the content of the piece,
the main theme, together with the
details that enrich and develop that
theme.
 Sound Ideas..
 It all makes sense
 I know this topic well
 I have included the most interesting
details
 My paper has a purpose
 Once you start reading, you will not
want to stop.
 Organization
 Organization is the internal structure
of a piece of writing, the tread of
central meaning, the logical and
sometimes intriguing pattern of the
ideas.
 Good Organization..
 My beginning will interest the reader!
 Everything ties together.
 It builds to the good parts.
 You can follow it easily.
 At the end it feels finished and
makes you think.
 Voice
 The voice is the heart and soul , the
magic, the wit, along with the feeling
and conviction of the individual
writing coming out through the
words.
 Individual Voice..
 This really sounds like me!
 I’ve been honest and written what I think
and feel.
 Can you fell my commitment to this topic?
 I want you to experience my writing with
me.
 I know why I’m writing and who my
audience is.
 I bet you’ll want to read this to someone.
“We must teach ourselves to recognize our
own voice. We want to write in a way that
is natural for us, that grows out of the way
we think, the way we see, the way we
care. But to make that voice effective we
must develop it, extending our natural
voice through the experience of writing on
different subjects for different audiences,
of using our voice as we perform many
writing tasks.” Donald
Murray (Write to Learn)
 Word Choice

 Word choice is the use of rich,

colorful, precise language
that moves and enlightens
the reader.
 Powerful Words…
 This is the best way to say this.
 My words create mind pictures!
 I’ve tried new ways to say everyday
things.
 Listen to the power in my verbs.
 Some of the words and phrases
linger in my mind.
“Powerful writers and powerful speakers
have two wells they can draw on for that
power: one is the well of rhythm,; the
other is the well of vocabulary. But
vocabulary and a sense of rhythm are
almost impossible to “teach” in the narrow
sense of the word. So how are children
expected to develop a sense of rhythm or
a wide vocabulary? By being read to,
alive, a lot!”
Mem Fox (Radical Reflections, 1993)
 Sentence Fluency
 Sentence fluency in the rhythm
and flow of the language, the
sound of word patterns, the way
in which the writing plays to the
ear—not just to the eye.
 Sentence Fluency..
 My sentences begin in different
ways.
 Some sentences are short and some
are long.
 It just sounds good as I read it aloud-
it flows.
 My sentences have power and
punch.
 I have “sentence sense.”
 Conventions

 Conventions are the

mechanical correctness of the
piece—spelling, grammar and
usage, paragraphing, use of
capitals and punctuation.
 Correct Conventions..
 I don’t’ have many mistakes in my
paper.
 I have used capitals correctly.
 Periods, commas, exclamation marks
and quotation marks are in the right
places.
 Almost every words is spelled
correctly.
 I remembered to indent each
paragraph.
 Presentation (the + 1)

 Presentationzeros in on the
form and layout of the text
and its readability; the piece
should be pleasing to the eye.
 Good Presentation…
 My paper looks neat and is legible.
 Someone could easily read my
paper.

“Editing is easy all you have to do is

cross out the wrong words.” Mark
Twain
“I believe it is important not
only to share a common
vision for lifelong learning
and literacy; but a common
vocabulary for how we talk
about such issues.”
Dr. Beverly
Ann Chinn, NCTE President, 1995-1996
“In evaluating writing, I know my grading
system has to take into account all the
abilities that come into play when a writer
writes. Writing isn’t one ability but a
combination of many—experimenting,
planning, choosing, questioning,
anticipating, organizing, reading, listening,
reviewing, editing, and on and on.”
Nancie Atwell (In the Middle)
 “If people cannot write well,
they cannot think well, and if
they cannot think well, others
will do their thinking for
them.”

George Orwell