What are the Six Traits of Writing?

Educational research states that all good writing includes six key ingredients: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions—the Six Traits of Writing.

But, as you’ve likely experienced, building stronger writers can seem overwhelming, regardless of the grade you teach. And since every classroom includes a broad range of students at varying writing levels, a canned writing curriculum will never meet the unique needs of every student.

That’s why our team believes so strongly in the 6 Traits of Writing. It’s not a program but a framework that uses the six qualities of “good” writing to guide every lesson, assignment, and assessment.

If you want to learn about the Six Traits of Writing, you’ve come to the right place! For more than a decade, we’ve been helping educators build stronger writers with the Six Traits. In this guide, you’ll find a comprehensive overview of the Six Traits of Writing with suggestions for implementation in your own classroom.

The Six Traits of Writing are rooted in more than 50 years of research. This research reveals that all “good” writing has six key ingredients—ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.

These key components provide teachers and students with a common understanding for how to compose, revise, and assess all types of writing. They are inherent in well-written essays, reports, blogs, poems, videos, and other genres.

All six traits should be taught throughout grades K-12. They are evident within the products of our youngest writers through pictures, labels, lists, etc. In the upper grades, the traits can be found in all types of writing that occurs in English-language arts but also in every other content area. When teachers utilize the Six Traits language across the K-12 spectrum it continuously reinforces a common understanding of what “good” writing is.

While many elementary educators have been tempted to divide the traits by grade level and teach only one trait per grade (e.g. First Grade: Ideas, Second Grade: Voice, etc.), it’s important to bundle all six traits together so that each trait can be reinforced at every grade level. What changes at each grade is not the traits that are taught, but the complexity of the skills and the standards by which they are assessed.

As students master skills within each trait, introduce new skills such as point of view, theme, imagery, simile, metaphor, personification, satire, hyperbole, etc. Even high school juniors and seniors can work toward mastery with new skills in each trait.
-Trait of Ideas: Develop a single topic to convey a clear message.
-Trait of Organization: Reveal ideas in a logical order, including a beginning, middle, and end.
-Trait of Voice: Increase reader engagement with intentional writer feeling, attitude, and emotion.
-Trait of Word Choice: Use the right word in the right place to convey just the right meaning.
-Trait of Sentence Fluency: Improve the readability of a piece with complete thoughts and sentence variety.
-Trait of Conventions: Make writing more correct by following the rules of spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.

Read the Ultimate Guide to the Six Traits of Writing:

CONNECT WITH SMEKENS EDUCATION

[lauragusoiu]

I am still wondering why I didn't found your excellent explained lesson before.
Congratulations is the best teacher ever.
Thank you very much.