Unity may be the most crucial concept in writing. Unity directly relates to this question: What’s your point? We must ask that question at multiple levels of thinking: What’s your point in that sentence? What’s your point in that paragraph? What’s your point in that...
Have you heard of the Six Traits of Writing? The truth of teaching writing is that it’s not as simple as just six traits. Although the Six Traits of Writing is a practical and effective assessment and evaluation tool, it falls short as an instructional tool. Put...
Teach students to stop worrying and instead harness the power of reflective thinking and unconscious processing to come up with great and powerful ideas for writing, decision making, problem solving, achieving goals, and creating a great life. Have you ever told...
Are you familiar with the Six Traits of Writing? Initially developed as a writing evaluation model, it has evolved into a popular framework for writing instruction. It’s composed of these six traits: 1) Ideas, 2) Organization, 3) Sentence Fluency, 4) Word Choice, 5)...
The Six Traits of Writing is a framework used to assess and teach writing skills. It focuses on six key qualities (aka traits) that are essential to effective writing: 1) Ideas, 2) Organization, 3) Sentence Fluency, 4) Word Choice, 5) Conventions, and 6) Voice. In...
Are you a writer? A communicator? A thinker? A problem solver? Do you need to come up with great ideas? Yes, you are. Yes, you do. Let’s learn how to find these great ideas! Please note that this page indeed discusses getting ideas for writing. However, as a whole,...
It’s time for students and all writers to take control and ownership of their writing! You can do this by expanding your world of ideas. You can also do this by understanding the power of statements. Yes, I said statements, aka declarative sentences. I know. You...
UNITY is one of the more important concepts in writing. What’s unity? Well, unity is oneness. In writing, unity is oneness of purpose. We can sum up unity in writing with one question: What’s your point? Everything must speak to that point in some way to achieve unity...
“What’s your point?” That’s the most critical concept in writing. It’s crucial at the paragraph level and the whole composition level. Writers need clear and organized thinking throughout the entire writing process. Let’s look at four key concepts that help writers...
Although this page focuses on formal language and formal voice, it also relates to all forms of voice in all genres. Teaching students about voice in writing is valuable; teaching students how to use formal language in writing is essential. Interestingly, I approach...
Congratulations! You have found the ultimate 6-Traits of Writing master checklist and cheat sheet! Be sure to review all six categories and start guiding your students to true writing excellence! 1) Ideas / Content, 2) Organization, 3) Sentence Fluency, 4) Word...
How do we teach young students to get ideas for writing? It’s a process of inspiring students, setting the right tone, building the right habits, and teaching them specific idea-generation techniques. My goal is always to create a classroom full of writers as I teach...
Paul B. Diederich’s traits model greatly influenced the Six Traits of Writing. Diederich believed that both IDEAS and ORGANIZATION deserved greater weight than the other traits. Since both are so important, prewriting becomes critical. Prewriting is the process of...
Disorganized Boys In the New York Times article, “Giving Disorganized Boys the Tools for Success,” the paper addressed the growing educational achievement gap between boys and girls. However, these days it is the girls who are having more success in school. The major...
Ideas and Organization: The Most Important Traits Paul B. Diederich was a pioneer of the Six Traits of Writing. The Six Traits built on his model of five traits and fifty-five categories of comment. Although his traits were a bit different than the current Six Traits...
