6 + 1 Traits of Writing Lessons

The Lower Elementary students are enjoying participating on the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing Lessons.

Our lessons use picture books to model good writing and provide our students with fun writing experiences.  What a better way to inspire our young writers than by celebrating he design, illustration and words of fine literature?

  

Currently, we are learning to generate ideas. The trait of ideas deals with the heart of the piece of writing. What is the topic?  Is the topic narrow enough so that the writer can be specific with lots of good details?  Is the topic interesting, and does the writer have knowledge or experience on that topic to make the writing come alive?  

Young writers do not always think they have strong ideas for writing.  As we read the pictures books together, we talk about the writer's idea and how often a simple idea became an inspiration for the book.  The children learn to see they can use the ideas in the picture books as springboards for ideas in their own pieces. 

Each month, we will introduce a new trait.       

The six traits are:

1.  Ideas

2.  Organization

3.  Voice

4.  Word Choice

5.  Sentence Fluency

6.  Conventions