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Creating Writers: 6 Traits, Process, Workshop, and Literature
Creating 6 Traits, Process, Workshop, and Literature, 6/e, truly puts the six traits of writing in context, showing how they are best taught―within writing workshop and as a way of enriching writing process by combining the elements of traits, literature, workshop, and process. Written by the pioneer of 6-trait writing, this edition organizes all materials by trait, features new one-page writing guides, and offers an increased emphasis on literature, connecting writing to reading as never before. It also provides a clear link between the six traits and the Common Core Standards for Writing and presents new lessons, engaging classroom activities, suggestions for using technology, and an expanded collection of student writing sure to promote lively discussions. New to the Sixth Easy-to-follow organizational design groups all papers, writing guides, literature, and lessons pertaining to a given trait in one chapter. Expanded discussion of writing workshop and process (Chapter 2) shows how to teach the six writing traits within a meaningful context. Increased emphasis on literature truly connects reading and writing with more titles, expanded annotations, and a list of exemplary trade books ideal for teaching informational writing. New one-page writing guides simplify assessment, encourage self-evaluation, and display traits in a flexible yet consistent way across a variety of formats, including Teacher Writing Guides, Informational Writing Guides, Early Guides (for primary writers) , and Leap-the-River Writing Guides for Students. Improved collection of student writing samples includes over 80 exemplary samples that span a variety of grade levels, abilities, and genres (such as narrative, informational, and persuasive). New lessons that emphasize modeling show teachers how and what to model (including many examples of revision). Clear links between the six traits and the Common Core Standards for Writing provide teachers assurance that their instruction is in alignment with these standards. An extensive discussion of technology (Chapter 8) expands our twenty-first century definition of writing to include communication forms like PowerPoint, audio, and video. Revised chapter on quality assessment (Chapter 12) details ways to make both large-scale and classroom writing assessment more quality-driven, student-centered, and useful. A closer look at genre (Chapter 9) examines Purpose and Audience, showing how and why genre might be considered an additional trait of successful writing. Expanded interactive Questions & Activities expand teachers’ skills, stimulate their thinking, and build a strong sense of community when used in a study group or teacher preparation classroom. New Author's Notes throughout the text speak directly to readers, citing additional resources, and suggesting lesson adaptations, book recommendations, and ways of differentiating instruction.
460 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2012
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October 22, 2020
Spandel Chapter 1:
In chapter 1, it mainly focused on getting familiar with the 6 traits and the different reasons for teaching students them. The 6 traits start off with ideas, and this is where the writer thinks of their main message and all the details that support it. Organization comes next, and this is how the writing is structured. The third trait is voice, the book described voice as the writer’s fingerprints, that makes the reader want to keep reading. Next comes word choice, and this is always the part that I use in my writing when I want to create a image in the readers head. Sentence fluency is the fifth trait and this is when the writer shows flow in their writing. Lastly is conventions and presentation, which results in the grammar and punctuation that is used within the writing as well as paragraphing. I think that the 6 traits are super important for students to understand so that they can effectively use them when they are building their writing pieces.
Spandel Chapter 2:
In chapter 2, the main focus was talking about the writing process and every step that goes into it. I remember in school growing up, when we would write papers the writing process only usually consisted of a prewrite, then a draft, and then a final draft. It was very laid back and we normally never had anyone edit our papers before we finished our final draft. As I read through this chapter, I see that there are many different steps that my school didn’t have us do. If I followed this writing process, I feel that my writing could have been much stronger rather than what it was. It states in this chapter that writing shouldn’t just begin with a prewrite, but with our own life experiences, which I couldn’t agree more on. I liked how they touched on sharing your writing with an audience in between the first draft and revisions. I feel like this could give the student an oppurtunity to receive positive feedback on what they could improve on while they edit and revise for their final draft.
Spandel Chapter 3:
In chapter 3, it talks about what making meaning with specific ideas can look like in writing. It starts off by telling you how to begin writing even before introducing ideas, and that is to brainstorm and list off ideas that will make the writing work. This will start off the six traits of writing in your own words. The reading provides an example of a students work charting all six of the traits and their thoughts that align with them and their own personal definition of what each trait means. Throughout this chapter, it provides you with 8 different papers that have all different example types of writing and the scores for ideas. This is a great tool because it shows the score they got on each specific trait and why they got the score they did. This provides clear insight on what to look for in writing and how to improve on all six traits.
Spandel Chapter 4:
In chapter 4, it mainly focuses on the overall organization and structure of your writing. They mentioned the structure and design of your paper is like the “good bones”, and it’s what holds all the writing together to make it flow properly. In the beginning of this chapter it talks about warming up with literature. This will make the reader have a captivating lead and will urge them to want to keep going. It mentions looking out for effective design and informational flow that is easy to follow. Which is important in writing to make sure it isn’t choppy and that the thoughts and details provided flow easily with one another. There is a section in this chapter that talks about just giving a taste of the writing, in order to put an effective lead or hook that makes the reader want to keep reading more. I really liked the tool they included in the end of the chapter which was the trait “shortie” for organization. It lists off all the keys to organization and design and the specific pieces a writer should be incorporating into their writing.
Spandel Chapter 5:
In chapter 5, the main focus is talking about specific word choice and adding “flavor” to your writing in order to make it more interesting. It talks about the importance of choosing the right words that create an image in the readers head and builds a big meaning of what they are reading. In the reading, they gave an idea to pretend that you have a highlighter and you are going to highlight every word or phrase in a student’s paper that strikes you or captures your attention. This can be encouraging to put more of a word choice within your paper that will draw the reader in even more.
Spandel Chapter 6:
In chapter 6, the main focus of this chapter focuses on conventions and the presentation aspects of your paper. This chapter goes into detail about presentation and what should be included. It lists things like use of title or main heading to capture the essential message, as well as use of subheads to mark sections. It also says that you shouldn’t use no more than two or three font styles per page. Later in the chapter, it gives different examples of all sorts of different papers and what their suggested scores they were given were. It also shows lessons that were learned from each paper. For example, one paper was about a pirate ship, and some of the lessons that were learned read, “verbs really do make a difference”, and “careful word choice not only creates pictures but also creates mood.’
Spandel Chapter 7:
In chapter 7 of Spandel, the main focus is on using traits to support the writing process. It talks about how to get started when teaching your students about writing. It mentions starting out with having students write for time so they can accumulate many different drafts and they can revise their work. By the time the students write all these drafts, they will be ready to use the six traits. In this chapter, it goes over prewrite ideas which I really liked. It offers an example of the webbing prewrite, which was one of my favorite things to do to help me in writing when I was learning. The webbing prewrite basically is a web of all your thoughts which helps bring ideas when writing your paper.
Spandel Chapter 8:
In chapter 8 of Spandel, the main topic focus is about unlocking the door to revision. Spandel touches on the topic of making a plan to introduce the six traits. It says when you first introduce them to your students, make sure you do them all at once. This helps the students be able to see the big picture and not just one trait at a time. Spending some time and talking about each individual trait will really help the students understand them more. I really like how in this chapter they discuss the four keys to success in writing. Which are to surround students with writer’s language, teach students to assess writing, call on literacy mentors for examples, and lastly to use focused lessons and strategies to build skills. These are all very beneficial and I feel like they should be taught to every student.
Spandel Chapter 9:
In chapter 9 of Spandel, the main topic focus is about troubleshooting and dealing with common writing problems. It goes into detail about problems with ideas. One of the biggest problems it touches on is about the information in the writing being to skimpy, and not having enough added detail. It suggests that instead of students just writing lots of information they find, which is great, but it mentioned to also have students add their own voice and their own opinions. The other problem this chapter talked about was about how there can sometimes be too much information. It needs to be a happy medium, in between too much and too little.
Spandel Chapter 10:
In chapter 10 of Spandel, it touches on the topic of listening to teacher’s voices. This chapter is unique because it gives many different scenarios of different classrooms and different grades. One of the scenarios that stuck out to me was “In Elaine’s Self Contained Sixth Grade Classroom”. This was about a veteran classroom teacher who has taught for almost 20 years. The grades she mostly taught were 4th and 6th grade. I really liked Elaine’s teaching style because she had her students do 3 hours of writing every single week. The students are allowed to write about anything they want in regard to, science, math, art, music and so on. This gives the students the oppurtunity to learn how to use their student voice, which is what many students need practice with. After they write papers, she allows the class to score and discuss a anonymous paper. This teacher’s students how to be critics and help learn the writing and editing process.
Spandel Chapter 11:
In chapter 11 of Spandel, the main topic they focus on is about going informational. Informational writing is different from creative writing in many different ways. This chapter gives many different tips like taking ideas. They mention that research writing is more so to teach rather than to entertain the reader. They mention that organization in an informational piece of writing is necessary in order to have a smooth paper that the reader can read in an organized way. Word choice and sentence fluency are also a key component in informational writing because our word choice helps with the way we imagine specific scenarios and sensory appeal.
Spandel Chapter 12:
in this chapter, the main topic of focus is about assessing our students and how we can assess them in a beneficial way. This chapter gives a list of steps 1-12 on how we as educators can make large scale writing assessments beneficial and help students become successful from taking them. I really thought that step 5, which is “be thoughtful about prompts” was a great step in the assessment process. No student will want to write about a boring prompt that they have to think about forever on where to even begin. Giving students options on what they want their prompt to be is a great idea, as well as giving a very broad prompt that students can work with and make their own in a way.
In chapter 1, it mainly focused on getting familiar with the 6 traits and the different reasons for teaching students them. The 6 traits start off with ideas, and this is where the writer thinks of their main message and all the details that support it. Organization comes next, and this is how the writing is structured. The third trait is voice, the book described voice as the writer’s fingerprints, that makes the reader want to keep reading. Next comes word choice, and this is always the part that I use in my writing when I want to create a image in the readers head. Sentence fluency is the fifth trait and this is when the writer shows flow in their writing. Lastly is conventions and presentation, which results in the grammar and punctuation that is used within the writing as well as paragraphing. I think that the 6 traits are super important for students to understand so that they can effectively use them when they are building their writing pieces.
Spandel Chapter 2:
In chapter 2, the main focus was talking about the writing process and every step that goes into it. I remember in school growing up, when we would write papers the writing process only usually consisted of a prewrite, then a draft, and then a final draft. It was very laid back and we normally never had anyone edit our papers before we finished our final draft. As I read through this chapter, I see that there are many different steps that my school didn’t have us do. If I followed this writing process, I feel that my writing could have been much stronger rather than what it was. It states in this chapter that writing shouldn’t just begin with a prewrite, but with our own life experiences, which I couldn’t agree more on. I liked how they touched on sharing your writing with an audience in between the first draft and revisions. I feel like this could give the student an oppurtunity to receive positive feedback on what they could improve on while they edit and revise for their final draft.
Spandel Chapter 3:
In chapter 3, it talks about what making meaning with specific ideas can look like in writing. It starts off by telling you how to begin writing even before introducing ideas, and that is to brainstorm and list off ideas that will make the writing work. This will start off the six traits of writing in your own words. The reading provides an example of a students work charting all six of the traits and their thoughts that align with them and their own personal definition of what each trait means. Throughout this chapter, it provides you with 8 different papers that have all different example types of writing and the scores for ideas. This is a great tool because it shows the score they got on each specific trait and why they got the score they did. This provides clear insight on what to look for in writing and how to improve on all six traits.
Spandel Chapter 4:
In chapter 4, it mainly focuses on the overall organization and structure of your writing. They mentioned the structure and design of your paper is like the “good bones”, and it’s what holds all the writing together to make it flow properly. In the beginning of this chapter it talks about warming up with literature. This will make the reader have a captivating lead and will urge them to want to keep going. It mentions looking out for effective design and informational flow that is easy to follow. Which is important in writing to make sure it isn’t choppy and that the thoughts and details provided flow easily with one another. There is a section in this chapter that talks about just giving a taste of the writing, in order to put an effective lead or hook that makes the reader want to keep reading more. I really liked the tool they included in the end of the chapter which was the trait “shortie” for organization. It lists off all the keys to organization and design and the specific pieces a writer should be incorporating into their writing.
Spandel Chapter 5:
In chapter 5, the main focus is talking about specific word choice and adding “flavor” to your writing in order to make it more interesting. It talks about the importance of choosing the right words that create an image in the readers head and builds a big meaning of what they are reading. In the reading, they gave an idea to pretend that you have a highlighter and you are going to highlight every word or phrase in a student’s paper that strikes you or captures your attention. This can be encouraging to put more of a word choice within your paper that will draw the reader in even more.
Spandel Chapter 6:
In chapter 6, the main focus of this chapter focuses on conventions and the presentation aspects of your paper. This chapter goes into detail about presentation and what should be included. It lists things like use of title or main heading to capture the essential message, as well as use of subheads to mark sections. It also says that you shouldn’t use no more than two or three font styles per page. Later in the chapter, it gives different examples of all sorts of different papers and what their suggested scores they were given were. It also shows lessons that were learned from each paper. For example, one paper was about a pirate ship, and some of the lessons that were learned read, “verbs really do make a difference”, and “careful word choice not only creates pictures but also creates mood.’
Spandel Chapter 7:
In chapter 7 of Spandel, the main focus is on using traits to support the writing process. It talks about how to get started when teaching your students about writing. It mentions starting out with having students write for time so they can accumulate many different drafts and they can revise their work. By the time the students write all these drafts, they will be ready to use the six traits. In this chapter, it goes over prewrite ideas which I really liked. It offers an example of the webbing prewrite, which was one of my favorite things to do to help me in writing when I was learning. The webbing prewrite basically is a web of all your thoughts which helps bring ideas when writing your paper.
Spandel Chapter 8:
In chapter 8 of Spandel, the main topic focus is about unlocking the door to revision. Spandel touches on the topic of making a plan to introduce the six traits. It says when you first introduce them to your students, make sure you do them all at once. This helps the students be able to see the big picture and not just one trait at a time. Spending some time and talking about each individual trait will really help the students understand them more. I really like how in this chapter they discuss the four keys to success in writing. Which are to surround students with writer’s language, teach students to assess writing, call on literacy mentors for examples, and lastly to use focused lessons and strategies to build skills. These are all very beneficial and I feel like they should be taught to every student.
Spandel Chapter 9:
In chapter 9 of Spandel, the main topic focus is about troubleshooting and dealing with common writing problems. It goes into detail about problems with ideas. One of the biggest problems it touches on is about the information in the writing being to skimpy, and not having enough added detail. It suggests that instead of students just writing lots of information they find, which is great, but it mentioned to also have students add their own voice and their own opinions. The other problem this chapter talked about was about how there can sometimes be too much information. It needs to be a happy medium, in between too much and too little.
Spandel Chapter 10:
In chapter 10 of Spandel, it touches on the topic of listening to teacher’s voices. This chapter is unique because it gives many different scenarios of different classrooms and different grades. One of the scenarios that stuck out to me was “In Elaine’s Self Contained Sixth Grade Classroom”. This was about a veteran classroom teacher who has taught for almost 20 years. The grades she mostly taught were 4th and 6th grade. I really liked Elaine’s teaching style because she had her students do 3 hours of writing every single week. The students are allowed to write about anything they want in regard to, science, math, art, music and so on. This gives the students the oppurtunity to learn how to use their student voice, which is what many students need practice with. After they write papers, she allows the class to score and discuss a anonymous paper. This teacher’s students how to be critics and help learn the writing and editing process.
Spandel Chapter 11:
In chapter 11 of Spandel, the main topic they focus on is about going informational. Informational writing is different from creative writing in many different ways. This chapter gives many different tips like taking ideas. They mention that research writing is more so to teach rather than to entertain the reader. They mention that organization in an informational piece of writing is necessary in order to have a smooth paper that the reader can read in an organized way. Word choice and sentence fluency are also a key component in informational writing because our word choice helps with the way we imagine specific scenarios and sensory appeal.
Spandel Chapter 12:
in this chapter, the main topic of focus is about assessing our students and how we can assess them in a beneficial way. This chapter gives a list of steps 1-12 on how we as educators can make large scale writing assessments beneficial and help students become successful from taking them. I really thought that step 5, which is “be thoughtful about prompts” was a great step in the assessment process. No student will want to write about a boring prompt that they have to think about forever on where to even begin. Giving students options on what they want their prompt to be is a great idea, as well as giving a very broad prompt that students can work with and make their own in a way.
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