The document discusses young children's ability to write and how they should be viewed as writers from an early age. It provides examples of early writing from children and discusses best practices for helping young writers, such as reading to them, modeling writing, and celebrating their writing. The document also introduces the Six Traits Analytic Model for assessing writing and provides information about each of the six traits: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions.

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“Young children are writers as
soon as they draw or put a
symbol on paper and tell us
what it says. We should call
them writers and treat them as
writers from that moment on.”
-Marcia S. Freeman
Teaching the Youngest Writers, p. ix

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“My beliefs about children and writing
are based on three assumptions:
1. Young children can write
2. Young children want to write
3. Young children possess the
knowledge, interests, and
experiences to write about.”
-Carol Avery
And With a Light Touch, p. 65

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HLo! IUS TLVNSTL
WEMVDNDNW IHV A
DGNMDBN I HLPMYMOMCK
Hello! I used to live in Seattle.
We moved, and now I have a
dog named Ben. I help my
mom cook.

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Helping very young [any] writers
 Find what is right and strong
 Give supporting detail
 Suggest one kind of addition
 Title, punctuation, words, picture, etc.
 Honor the writing
 Link writing and reading

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Helping very young writers
 Read, read, read
 Model, model, model
 Assess together
 Revise together
 Having time to write
 Keeping portfolios

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Helping very young writers
 Celebrate the writing!
 Writer, editor, reviser
 Not merely task completer

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Six+1Traits Analytic Model
 Ideas and Development
 Organization
 Voice
 Word Choice
 Sentence Fluency
 Conventions
 +1 Publication / Presentation

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Six Traits Analytic Model
• History
• Who does it belong to?
• 6 + 1 Traits and NWREL
• What’s so great about it?
• Is it a writing program?
– Writing is complex
– Doesn’t come in a box
– Your skill/caring are essential

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Six Traits Analytic Model
• Shared vision of good writing
• Common language
• Assessment to increase student
learning
• Vocabulary / expectations shared
with students thru rubrics
• Students / peers revising own /
peers’ work
• Elements in all disciplines
• Compliments writing process

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From R. Culham’s book
• Useful feedback
• Systematic way
• Aligns assessment with instruction --
assessment to guide instruction
• NOT a final evaluation of student as
writer
• IS assessment of student’s writing at
a point in time
• Student’s chance to show
remarkable growth

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Old Paradigm . .
• Avoid errors at all costs!
• Papers bleeding with red ink!
• Mistakes & failures
• Error-free vs taking risks
• Writing is a final product
• Every assignment becomes high-
stakes by grading

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New Paradigm . .
• Take risks
• Look at and comment on content
• Mistakes and errors mean it is not
finished
• Comments and feedback, not grades
• Writing relates to the real world
• Assignments can be fun
• Self, peer, and teacher assessments
• Empower students

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Six+1Traits Analytic Model
 Ideas and Development
 Organization
 Voice
 Word Choice
 Sentence Fluency
 Conventions
 +1 Publication / Presentation

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Ideas
• Content, or main theme
• Heart of the message
• Clear and focused
• Holds reader’s attention
• Relevant anecdotes
• Details enrich
• Accurate details
• Insight

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Organization
• Internal structure
• Showcases central idea or theme
• Moves reader through the text
• Inviting introduction
• Satisfying conclusion
• Thoughtful transitions
• Organized progression of thought
• Logical and effective sequencing

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Voice
• Personal voice of author comes
through
• Sense of a real person speaking
• Awareness and respect for audience
• Honest, personal, and engaging

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Word Choice
• Precise, colorful and rich words to
communicate
• Intended message is conveyed
• Precise, interesting, and natural
• Powerful and engaging
• Specific and accurate
• Enhance meaning
• Clarify understanding
• Paints a mental movie
• Creativity

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Fluency
• Easy flow, rhythm
• Well built sentences
• Strong and varied sentence
structure
• Creative and appropriate
connectives
• Cadence

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Conventions
• Mechanical correctness (spelling,
grammar, punctuation,
paragraphing, etc.)
• Conventions enhance readability
• Close to publication

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Presentation/Publication
• Form and presentation enhances
reader’s understanding and
connecting
• Pleasing to the eye
• Handwriting/fonts and white space
• Consistent and not distracting
• Effective integration of visuals

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The Traits in Your School
• Will it help the students?
• Will it help test scores?
• Will it help teaching?
• What about parents’ perceptions?
• What if ALL teachers don’t agree?
– Looking at Student Work
• Support

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