Goals of the Workshop: A Review

to understand the

what, why and how

of the Six Traits of Writing Model & how they integrate

with WAC

Websites

http://budden.wikispaces.com

http://itwwp.org

www.nwrel.org

STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING THE SIX TRAITS TO

STUDENTS

STRATEGY ONE• Brainstorm qualities of good writing

• Read, read and read some more!

• Validate students’ opinions by giving them the Student-Friendly Guide & keep language of traits posted in room

• Base grades on growth in traits

Teach students the language they need to speak and think like writers

Activity:

Ask students to create a free-verse “poem” by brainstorming the qualities of a trait using the following stem as a starting point:

The important thing about _(insert a trait)__ is…

Example:

The important thing about Presentation is thatIt looks GOOD.You can’t decide whether to read it firstOr set it aside for a treat later…The margins, fonts, illustrations and chartsAll make the message clear. When you hold it up, others go “ooh, aaah.”Your handwriting would make your grandmother

proud.But the most important thing about Presentation is

thatIt looks GOOD.

STRATEGY TWO

• Read, score and discuss anonymous student papers

• Use examples from opposite ends of the spectrum

• Use samples for many genres

Rules for using the Rubric with Level 3 Writing

• Begin at top or bottom score point descriptors• Look for what is present in the writing, not for

what is missing (no deficit models!)• ALL indicators under a score point must be

present & justifiable in order to award that score point

• Split scores (a 2/3, e.g.) are ok• ALWAYS depend on the rubric, not personal

opinion• Good writing is good writing. Don’t try to ‘adjust’

for grade level or “ability levels.”

STRATEGY THREE

• Rehearse the process of revision in small groups. This is especially helpful for a group effort in moving a piece from Level 1 to a Level 2 or 3.

My Teacher Had a Rip in His Pants

Just about a week ago my teacher had a rip in his pants. It was really funny. I didn’t see it riht away but someone told me then I saw it and wanted to laugh but I held it in. Then someone told him and everyone started to laugh. Then he went home to change. The End.

STRATEGY FOUR

• READ– Literature you love, yes, but also:

• Think beyond books:

• Discuss which trait(s) are emphasized in real-world writing, such as:

–A computer -Junk mail

manual -A map

–Recipe -Business letter

–Menu -Travel brochure

–Catalogue - A blog

–A Presentation (think Springboard)

STRATEGY FIVE

• Focused Revision Lessons– Create a SHORT paragraph that is WEAK in

the trait you want to emphasize in a lesson– Read your piece aloud on overhead. Have

students score it– Ask students to help you make a Plan for

Revision—a very specific suggestions for making it stronger in the focus trait

– Save their suggestions on overhead– Revise, but don’t make it perfect! Talk it

through!

My Trip to Disneyland

Well, one time we went to Disneyland and it was pretty fun. And there were a lot of people there who wanted to ride on the same rides as we did so we had to wait in line for a long time and that part wasn’t so great, but except for that, Disneyland was really cool. My favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, but I liked the food there, too. They’ve got lots of different kinds of food to eat there like chili cheese fries and popcorn. My son, Sam, really liked the hamburgers there because they were barbecued and had a lot of good stuff on them, but I liked the chili cheese fries the best.

Sometimes we make them at home now because they were so good at Disneyland. Anyway, Sam and I had a great time at Disneyland. Sam didn’t like the ride “It’s a Small World,” because he said it was really boring. But I liked it because it showed all the different countries and how they dressed. There were a lot of people at Disneyland from different countries too. When they came in they looked so surprised to see all the people and rides and food everywhere

STRATEGY SIX

Designing Effective Writing Assignments

RAFTS!

• Role of the writer – helps the writer decide on point of view and voice.

• Audience for the piece of writing – reminds the writer that he must communicate ideas to someone else; helps writer determine content and style.

• Format of the material – helps the writer organize ideas and employ the conventions of format, such as letters, interviews, and story problems.

• Topic or subject of the piece of writing – helps the writer focus on main ideas.

• Strong verb – directs the writer to the writing purpose, e.g., persuade, analyze, create, predict, compare, defend, evaluate.

Example:

You are Ulysses on your journey home from Troy after being gone for over 10 years. Write a letter to your wife Penelope explaining why you won’t make it home for dinner, AGAIN.

• Role: You are Ulysses

• Audience: your wife Penelope

• Format: Write a letter

• Topic: Why you won’t make it home

• Strong Verb: “Explaining”

Examine the following actual prompt from ISTEP. Can you identify the RAFTS elements? How might RAFTS help students make sense of their writing assignments? ( the first slide is background, the second is the prompt)

• Starting next year, your school may require all students to complete a certain number of hours of community service in order to graduate. The service must be off campus and must be approved by a school counselor on the basis of its value to the community and to the student.

• What sort of community service would you choose if this new requirement went into effect? Possibilities include volunteering at a hospital, cleaning up or helping maintain parks, and helping younger students with their homework at a library or community center.

Write an essay to explain your choice to your school counselor. Describe exactly what sort of service you propose to do. Explain why it would be of value to the community and why it would provide a worthwhile educational experience for you.

Try reversing the process. Write a prompt in traditional form using

these elements:• Role: The digit “1”

• Audience: The digit “0”

• Format: Argument

• Topic: Who is used more?

• Strong Verb: convince

STRATEGY SEVEN

FOCUS LESSONS on EACH TRAIT

IDEAS & CONTENT

A Warmup

On board, post:

“Five Good Uses for a Pocket” Have students make a list of the five best uses

they can think of. Share. Ask them to think about which ideas appealed to them most…and why. Contrast ideas with imagination to those with little thought.

Show, Don’t Tell

A great way to have students move away from trite ideas in writing is to present them with a few clichés, like:

“You can’t judge a book by its cover” or “Turnabout is fair play” or “Turn over a new leaf”

Then, have them write briefly on one, demonstrating the cliché without stating it outright. Read them aloud, letting rest of class figure out which cliché has been revealed. Ask why it’s better not to say the cliché outright, even if its true.

ORGANIZATION• Zoom!• Post scenarios, like:

• A biography of a famous person• A classified ad for a used car• The header for a restaurant ad

Ask students to practice creating introductions that will leave readers begging for more. Share. Ask: Which is best? What helps craft a good intro?

VOICE• Compare two versions of a topic, one from

an encyclopedia and one from a children’s book. Animals are good here. Compare the writers’ voices.

• Voice can be examined in depth by having students write to different audiences. Have them write letters to different audiences on their recent grade card– address one to a parent, one to a friend, one to a teacher or principal. Discuss the “code switching” they did in their writing.

For instance: (from Wikipedia)

The Gray Wolf (Canis lupus; also spelled Grey Wolf, see spelling differences; also known as Timber Wolf or Wolf) is a mammal in the order Carnivora. The Gray Wolf shares a common ancestry with the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), as evidenced by DNA sequencing and genetic drift studies. Gray wolves were once abundant and distributed over much of North America, Eurasia, and the Middle East. Today, for a variety of human-related reasons, including widespread habitat destruction and excessive hunting, wolves inhabit only a very limited portion of their former range.

versus:

from “Wolves” (in Zoobooks 2)

Wolves are the lions of the Northern Hemisphere. Found in North America, Europe and Asia, the lives of wolves are very similar to the lives of lions in Africa. Like lions, wolves live in groups, they are meat-eating animals that work together to catch prey, and they are beautiful animals. In fact, some of them even have thick ruffs of hair that look like the manes of lions. When you consider all these similarities, it seems strange that many people admire lions, but dislike wolves. Lions are called “magnificent” and “lordly.” But wolves are often called “sneaky” and “cowardly.”

WORD CHOICE

• Try this CLOZE activity:

What words are missing from the following passage from Annie Dillard’s essay “In the Jungle” in her book Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters?

The lake was wonderful. Herons, egrets and ibises _____the sawgrass shores, kingfishers and cuckoos _____ from sunlight to shade, great turkeylike birds ____ in dead branches, and hawks ____ overhead. There was all the time in the world.

I saw the shoreline water ___ and the sawgrass ___above a thrashing paichi, an enormous black fish in these parts…Piranha fish live in the lakes, and electric eels. I ____ my fingers in the water, figuring it would be worth it…

The lake was wonderful. Herons, egrets and ibises plodded the sawgrass shores, kingfishers and cuckoos clattered from sunlight to shade, great turkeylike birds fussed in dead branches, and hawks lolled overhead. There was all the time in the world. I saw the shoreline water roil and the sawgrass heave above a thrashing paichi, an enormous black fish in these parts…Piranha fish live in the lakes, and electric eels. I dangled my fingers in the water, figuring it would be worth it…

Try this: Post these words:

•TAUNT•ATTEST•WAILask students to write what they

think they might mean.

Give them these sentences:

• “Your dress is the ugliest one at the dance,” taunted Allison.

• “There’s the killer!” the witness attested as she pointed to the defendant.

• “Give me back my toy!” the two-year-old wailed.

•Ask them to revise their definitions and ask what all three have in common

(they’re synonyms for “said”)

•Now, ask them to brainstorm as many words as they know that could serve as synonyms for “said.”

•Chart them, then ask: Why not just use “said”?

Some synonyms for SAID

Mentioned BoastedMuttered InferredExclaimed ImpliedWhispered RelatedInsisted UtteredAnswered SnappedWent on MimickedShrieked DivulgedExplained FumedShouted AcquiescedSpoke AllegedPersisted Propounded

SENTENCE FLUENCY

• Try this: Use SAS (Sentence Analysis Sheet) on passages—either professional or student

SOS (Sentence Analysis Sheet)

Sent

#

1st 4 words

Verbs # of words

1

2

3

4

5

I have a dog. I have a brother and sister too. We live in a big house. We used to live in California where my mom used to work at a hospital that had a funny name I can’t remember and we lived by the beach where we used to go swimming when it was warm enough we used to wade in the big waves and look for little critters like to scurry around and burrow down in the sand qucikly for you get a good look at them.

Try it by analyzing these sentences from Eve Bunting’s “Secret Place”

• In the heart of the city where I live there is a secret place.

• Close by is a freeway where cars and trucks boom, and a railroad track with freight trains that shunt and grunt.

• There are warehouses with windows blinded by dust and names paint-scrawled on their brick walls

• The lines on the telephone and electric poles web the sky.

• Smokestacks blow clouds to dim the sun.

CONVENTIONS

• Try this: Give students a paragraph that has serious problems with conventions. The length of the piece and complexity of convention issues can be modified.

Bob and Barry shrunk down in their seats. The theater was completely empty exept for a old craggy man in a balck treanchcoat who was setting just two rows behind them they had herd this move was scarry, but there spines had gone weigh beyond tingling to reverberating in terror. They’re heart’s leap just when the music reaches a creschendo, they feel gnarled hands grip there shoulders from behind.

Have students edit the piece for conventions using a step-by-step list like this:

1. spelling2. punctuation3. capitalization4. grammar and usage5. paragraphing (if appropriate)

Discuss the advantages of breaking a complicated task down into doable chunks.

Goals for Writing Teachers

• To celebrate students’ love of writing

• To see not what is MISSING, but what is THERE

• To teach ourselves to identify moments of voice, details, expressiveness, exploration with conventions

• To help students recognize and build on their strengths

• To respond to content first

• To respond to the writer, not the writing

• To control the anxiety that urges us toward too much perfection too soon

• To see exploration as an achievement

• To help students see that writing is thinking, and conventions exist to serve ideas

• To give students the language they need to think like writers

• To share with expression, passion, voice and heart the books WE love

• To write…and to share with students the adventures of our writing

• To nurture within ourselves a bedrock belief in the power of children to do amazing things