Writing Assessment

Writing is an integral part of your child’s education. The process begins before kindergarten and continues through life. The traits provide a language for describing the qualities that most readers and writers think are important in good writing. What is the Six Traits Model? It is an instruction and assessment model to support and improve writing performance. A trait is a specific characteristic of successful performance. Some traits of a good dancer are balance, agility, love of music and rhythm. The traits of good writing are Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions.

Six Traits: A Way to Support and Improve Writing Six Traits Definitions

Ideas

Ideas are the heart of the message. They are the thoughts, the main point, the content, or the main story line of the piece.

Organization

Organization is the framework of the writing piece. Organization is what holds the ideas together to convey meaning. Each writing piece has a beginning, middle, and end—that is organization!

Voice

Voice is many things: personal words, ideas, tone, and style. Voice has the power to hold a reader’s attention and make the reading more enjoyable. Voice is used purposefully to enhance meaning.

Word Choice

In order for the reader to get the idea or point, the writer must choose ―just the right words or phrases to get the message across to the reader.

Sentence Fluency

Sentences make sense, and phrasing and word choice make them easy to read and understand. When a piece of writing is easy to read aloud, it has sentence fluency.

Conventions

Conventions are spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage, and paragraph indentation.

Benefits of the Six Traits Model

1. It gives teachers and students a common language to talk about writing.
2. It breaks down the complex process of writing into manageable ―chunks.
3. It aligns with standards-based instruction: students define quality and know what the expectations are.
4. It gives teachers a model for responding to student writing.
5. It gives teachers and students valuable feedback about student performance.
6. It provides opportunities to monitor progress over time.

How Can Parents Help?

Coach – don’t write – for your child.

Question, listen, and talk about writing together. Students need to do their own drafting, revising, and editing with you at the sidelines.Look first for what is done well in the writing and offer praise.

Writing is a challenging task. Children need encouragement to be successful.