Of all those arts in which the wise excel,
Nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.
--John Sheffield

Writing is a personal, and professional, love of mine! After writing, editing, and performing project-manager duties for a variety of Teacher Created Material's educational resources (www.teachercreated.com), I have learned that there is much to explore and learn in regard to the act of writing well.

According to Noah Webster, the definitions of write include: to record information; to communicate. Given the fact that we are in the midst of the Information Age, our students must not only learn the craft of writing, but must also learn how to become successful communicators.

Please click on the link or links below that best meet your current writing needs or concerns.

• Six Traits of Writing
• The Writing Process
• Nonfiction Writing and Research

Six Traits of Writing

I have had the pleasure of training, modeling, and mentoring the use of the six traits in a variety of grade levels and classroom environments. My multi-year clients have had great success in both implementing and sustaining this research-based writing model (www.nwrel.org). They have not only raised their state writing test scores significantly, but also discovered, or regained, a love for writing--teachers, students, and even parents!

I have discovered over years of experience that there is oftentimes a "double whammy" of difficulty for educators who are asked to teach, incorporatie, and reinforce the writing traits in their classrooms. One reason: Most teachers are not writers by nature. Therefore, when asked to teach the traits of writing, many teachers find it easier to sidestep the challenge rather than face the issue. Secondarily, even though the traits are designed to break down essential writing components, it does not mean that the task of teaching writing instantly becomes easier. In fact, the opposite often occurs.

That is why educators of writing need sustained inservicing, coaching, and mentoring. My love for writing, understanding its components, the demands of teaching, and the need for reliability and validity of writing assessment and evaluation, will guarantee my role "an asset" to your current writing program or school-improvement plan.

If the six traits writing model is new to you, you may want to read the quick summary outlined below. You may also want to click on the links to provide you with a little more insight.

So, What are the Six Traits?
The concept of breaking down the components, or traits, of writing was first developed at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) in Portland, Oregon. Over the last decade and a half its popularity has excelled. Many states and districts have mandated its use via classroom practices, assessments and evaluations, and curriculum products. Here is a quick mini-definition for each trait:

Ideas: A clear, focused content packed with details
Voice: Writing that is active and engaging for the reader (a specific audience)
Word Choice: Choosing the right word or words to convey a message, idea, or feeling
Sentence Fluency: Sentences are clear, concise, and various lengths
Organization: The order makes sense, including strong transitions words and a clear beginning, middle, and ending
Conventions: Proper usage of grammar, punctuation, and spelling
+1 Presentation: The final product is pleasant to the reader's eye.

Six Traits Links
If you use your favorite search engine and write in Six Trait*, you will get a myriad of hits that you can explore. Here are three of my favorites:

www.nwrel.org
The official Website created by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory located in Portland, Oregon. Click on "Topics", scroll to "Teaching and Learning", then click on "Writing" to get to the Six Traits portion of this massive site.

www.6traits.cyberspaces.net
An unofficial site containing elementary lesson plans and rubrics.

www.teachercreated.com
On the home page of Teacher Created Materials, click on the Curriculum Programs Link; the Write Time For Kids: A Nonfiction Writing Program link; then the More Information: Correlations links. The first listing will be the 6+1 Traits of Good Writing correlated to the great nonfiction product entitled Write Time For Kids. Of course, the correlations' intended purpose is to be used with the product (purchase information is available within the site), but the benchmarks and lesson topics for each trait are extremely helpful.

The Writing Process

Although the writing process has been a staple in most classrooms over the past two decades, there is misunderstanding concerning its proper instruction and usage. For example, many teachers incorporate the writing process by giving their students a full week or two to complete a writing assignment. If students are only exposed to longer periods of time to move through the writing process, what is going to happen when the state writing assessment requires the same students to utilize all of the writing-process stages in one or two 45-minute sessions? Oftentimes, disastrous test scores! As educators, we must make certain that the stages of the writing process are focused on individually and corporately, but within a variety of situational environments.

Another concern is the misunderstanding and interpretation of revision versus editing. When educators have not been trained properly in the nuances between these two terms, student work can not improve to its fullest potential. When educators have a clearer understanding and teach children to be their own self-evaluators, the writing improves.

If you are focusing on the writing process using the Six Traits Model, please feel free to contact me to discuss your specific needs, concerns, or school-improvement plan(s).

Nonfiction Writing and Research

Research begins in Kindergarten. Yes, it's true! When asked to write about Me, Others, Animals, or Seasons, a child is actively engaged in utilizing nonfiction-research strategies such as tapping into prior knowledge, explaining vocabulary meaning, and conveying a message. As students grow older, these requirements simply become more complex.

In a research article (no pun intended) released in The Los Angeles Times, September 1999 it stated that students, Kindergarten through 12th Grade, deal with fictional reading and writing 80% of their learning day, whereas in adulthood, one deals with 90 % nonfiction. Interestingly, this 80% fiction figure was not due to younger children being the fictional readers and writers and the secondary students purely nonfiction. Rather, all grade levels must be responsible for changing practices to conform to the now-expected nonfiction paradigm.

Teachers have been scrambling for best practices to teach and incorporate nonfiction-writing strategies. Fortunately, publishing companies are beginning to meet their needs.

Through one-day awareness trainings, or via sustained, ongoing mentor-coaching, it is essential that your teachers and support staff become confident as nonfiction educators. Since the majority of my published books are nonfiction based, researching and writing for a nonfiction purpose is something with which I am quite familiar. My goal, and desire, is to help you and your staff or district make this necessary transition run smoothly and effectively. Please feel free to contact me personally so that we can discuss your site's needs and concerns.

Just Two of My Favorite Primary Children's Testimonials

Andrea, a first grader, created this card for me. I taught her class about using the Voice writing trait in both words and illustrations in regard to addressing a specific audience (a specific person). As I taught the class, grade-level teachers were observing me and taking notes as I modeled the lessons over a period of time. This was a special card Andrea made just for me. I love my candle-cake hair!

Thank you for coming to our class and teaching us how to write. I especially liked when you read us the book that you wrote. Come back and see us again.

Michael, a second grader, sent me this note after I had read his class a published big book I wrote entitled The Letter Bugs. After reading the book, I shared some of my personal experiences in the writing process from "idea to book." My favorite sentence in his letter was his desire to see me again. What a blessing to be a teacher!