Writing: 6 + 1 Writing Traits
The 6 + 1 Writing Traits Model gives students and teachers a common language for talking about writing. The following sites have definitions, descriptions, rubrics, and exercises to help students become familiar with the characteristics of good writing. There are many interactive features so students can practice their own writing and learn how to evaluate effectively. There are video clips, prompts, activates, and examples of writing at different levels of accomplishment, as well as eThemes Resources on grammar, narrative, and text structure.
Grades
- 3,
- 4,
- 5,
- 6
Links
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About the 6 +1 Traits Writing Model
The official website of the 6+1 Traits writing model, the basis for the descriptive criteria used by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory to define the qualities of good writing at different levels of achievement.
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6 + 1 Trait Writing Lesson Plans
NWREL provides an array of lesson plans organized by trait and grade level. Teachers can search to find lessons to fit their students' particular needs.
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6 + 1 Writing Traits
Here is a broad selection of interactive exercises, activities, and prompts, along with numerous links to other writing resources.
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Six Trait Posters
Download these classroom posters of the first six traits and print them out. They are available as either MS Word or one-page PDF files. NOTE: This site links to a site with ads and a discussion forum.
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Scholastic: 6 +1 Traits of Revision
There is an important difference between editing and revision. When using the 6 + 1 Traits model, the first five traits deal with revision, the last two with editing. These activities are designed to help students understand how to revise effectively.
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Teaching the Six Traits
This site offers a menu of activity ideas for teaching the first six traits.
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Six + 1 Traits
This hypertext handbook covers not only the 6 + 1 Traits, but also paragraph structure, commonly mixed word pairs, and other style elements.
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Mining Memory
Personal memory is a source of inspiration for writers of all sill levels. These exercises are for developing the Ideas Trait.
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The Concept Mapping Home Page
Concept mapping is a technique for representing knowledge graphically, and can be a useful tool for developing the Ideas and Organization Traits. This site has an example of a concept map, links to concept mapping resources, and a bibliography.
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The Online Writing Assistant
This is a resource for helping with the Conventions and Presentation Traits, offering help with organizing, editing, and revising different styles of writing.
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eThemes Resource: Grammar: Interactive Writing Activities
These sites feature interactive grammar and writing sites that are fun to use with SMARTboards. The online games and quizzes cover topics such as nouns, verbs, sentences, proofreading, capitalization, punctuation, plurals, and more. There are links to an eThemes Resource on writing prompts and to the eThemes index that leads to many more resources on grammar and writing topics
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eThemes Resource: Writing: Personal Narrative Writing
These sites have tips and examples for writing strong leads for paragraphs and structuring personal narrative writing. Students can learn how to capture and hold their readers' attention. There are classroom activities, online quizzes and exercises, and ideas to help writers develop their skills. Includes links to eThemes on grammar and interactive writing activities.
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eThemes Resource: Writing: Text Structures
These sites explain the different types of text structures that are used in expository writing. The text structures include chronological sequence, comparison/contrast, description, problem/solution, and cause and effect. Read examples of the different types, learn about the common cue words, and download graphic organizers. Includes many teaching tips for improving reading comprehension. There is a link to an eThemes Resource on graphic organizers.
Education Standards
- AU
- AL
- MO
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NV
- 5.3.1.1
- 5.3.1.2
- 5.3.1.3
- 5.3.2.1.a
- 5.3.2.1.b
- 5.3.2.1.c
- 5.3.3.1.a
- 5.3.3.1.c
- 5.3.3.1.d
- 5.3.3.1.e
- 5.3.3.1.g
- 5.3.3.1.h
- 5.3.6.1.a
- 5.3.6.1.b
- 5.3.6.2.a
- 5.3.6.2.b
- 5.4.1.1
- 5.4.1.2
- 5.4.1.3
- 5.4.2.1.a
- 5.4.2.1.b
- 5.4.2.1.c
- 5.4.2.1.d
- 5.4.2.1.e
- 5.4.3.1.a
- 5.4.3.1.b
- 5.4.3.1.c
- 5.4.3.1.d
- 5.4.3.1.e
- 5.4.3.1.f
- 5.4.3.1.g
- 5.4.3.1.h
- 5.4.6.1.a
- 5.4.6.1.b
- 5.4.6.1.c
- 5.4.6.1.d
- 5.5.1.1
- 5.5.1.2
- 5.5.1.3
- 5.5.2.1.a
- 5.5.2.1.b
- 5.5.2.1.c
- 5.5.2.1.d
- 5.5.2.1.e
- 5.5.2.1.f
- 5.5.3.1.a
- 5.5.3.1.b
- 5.5.3.1.c
- 5.5.3.1.d
- 5.5.3.1.e
- 5.5.3.1.f
- 5.5.3.1.g
- 5.5.3.1.h
- 5.5.6.1.a
- 5.5.6.1.b
- 5.5.6.1.c
- 5.5.6.1.d
- 5.6.1.1
- 5.6.1.2
- 5.6.1.3
- 5.6.2.1.a
- 5.6.2.1.b
- 5.6.2.1.c
- 5.6.2.1.d
- 5.6.2.1.e
- 5.6.2.1.f
- 5.6.3.1.a
- 5.6.3.1.b
- 5.6.3.1.c
- 5.6.3.1.d
- 5.6.3.1.e
- 5.6.3.1.f
- 5.6.3.1.g
- 5.6.3.1.h
- 5.6.6.1.a
- 5.6.6.1.b
- 5.6.6.1.c
- 5.6.6.1.d
- 6.3.1.2.a
- 6.4.1.1.d
- 6.5.1.1.a
- 6.5.1.1.b
- 6.5.1.1.c
- 6.5.1.1.d
- DE
- IL
