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

The traits, as they are called through out 6 +1 Traits of Writing, are the characteristics of good and interesting writing.  There are a lot of things that I find intriguing about this model.  First and far most for me is that it gives me a way to assess my children's writing in a way that I can be specific and help them learn about what good writing is.

This manual, while it does have ideas about how to teach the traits, is mostly focused on how to evaluate writing for each trait.  There are grading rubrics, with details of how to apply them, sample writing to practice evaluating and explanations about a suggested grade for the piece.  The rubrics are pretty easy to use and many times are reflective enough that the student should be able to understand why the piece received the score it did and provides support to help improve it.

This book is not a book about what to write about, its about how to write.  Culham suggests that most of the writing we do should be writing we choose the subject and the format for.  She recognizes that some skills have to be developed by writing prompts, but emphasizes that writing primarily from prompts fosters resentment about writing in many students.

A huge plus about this model is that it can be taught and reinforced across several age levels.  You can use the exact same lesson for a first grader as you do for a high schooler.  I would suggest using a variety of examples, everything from picture books to novels your high schooler would be reading.

I think this method will be a good fit for us.  We've tried some writing curricula, and they haven't been successful with improving our writing.  Mostly, they've been boring and unclear.  Creating a writing program that focuses on letting the kids write what they want and write for their other subjects, but still allow them to grow as writers is something that will be very useful for us. 

 There are lesson books available for teaching the traits which should help if you are unsure where to start, or don't want to put in the time and effort to come up with lessons on your own.  (My next two reviews are about some lesson books.)