Creating Writers: Using the Six-Trait Scoring Guide

As a Teaching Tool


Course Syllabus

                                                           

Course Description and Objectives:

In this course participants will learn to use the six-trait writing scoring guide to improve all aspects of student writing, from idea generation to editing.  At the conclusion of the sessions, participants will know:

  • How to prepare students for writing required on all parts of the WASL


·        How to assess writing fairly and quickly

·        Seven strategies for teaching the characteristics of good writing to students

·        Ways to help students discover their own ideas

·        How to get students to revise so they truly produce better writing

·        How to make revision a joyful and productive stage of the writing process

·        How to transfer the responsibility and skill of editing to the student.

 

Materials include a year’s worth of teaching ideas.

 

The introduction provides an overview of the six-trait writing scoring guide. It also shows the links among the six traits, the Washington State Writing Essential Academic Learning Requirements, and the writing scoring guide used on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

 

Teachers will then practice scoring student work for each of the six traits and participate in activities designed to help students improve in each trait.  The majority of time is spent in active learning.

 

Teachers will also take part in demonstrations that clarify the connection between the six traits and the writing process.

 

Student Expectations:

Participants will

1.        Keep a daily journal noting their responses to in-class activities;

2.        Read articles about writing instruction and assessment, noting their responses to the articles in the daily journal;

3.        Participate in class discussions and activities;

4.        Plan lessons to be used with students.

 

 

Methods of Instruction:

Participants will learn through lecture, reading, discussion, and participation in activities designed to elicit reflection about the nature of thinking and writing.  They will work independently, with partners, in small groups, and as a large group over the three days to learn and apply the knowledge we create together.

 


Creating Writers: Using the Six-Trait Scoring Guide As
a Teaching Tool
Requirements for Course

 

 

Pass/No Credit Requirements

 

·        Attend and participate in all class sessions.

 

·        Keep a daily journal noting your responses to in-class activities.  Two format requirements for your journal: 1) the instructor can understand what idea you are responding to, and 2) you can easily use your notes to remember what you thought of the activities

 

·        Develop a plan for introducing the traits to students and a plan for
teaching each trait.

 

 

Letter Grade Requirements

 

Grade of A

·        Complete the three assignments listed in the Pass/No Credit option, above.

·        Read three articles about writing instruction and assessment; note your responses to the articles in your journal, using the response journal format explained on the reverse of this page.

·        Create three lessons to teach to the trait(s) of your choice.

Grade of B

·        Complete the three assignments listed in the Pass/No Credit option, above.

·        Create two lessons to teach to the trait(s) of your choice.

 

Grade of C

·        Complete the three assignments listed in the Pass/No Credit option, above.

·        Create one lesson to teach to one trait.

 

 

 


 

Response Journal Format Requirements

 

 

A response journal is a log of a reader’s inner dialogue with a text. It functions as a systematic way to capture the reader’s thoughts while reading. Keeping a response journal can help the reader maintain a critical and reflective stance to text. Journal entry styles vary according to the preferences of the writer.

The list below gives you suggestions for the kinds of entries you may want to experiment with, if you are not familiar with response journals.

 

·        Why? Ask questions about an idea from the reading.

·        I wonder...Speculate about meaning; look for connections to what you know.

·        I think...Offer your opinion about what is being stated.

·        I understand...Share how you would feel if you were in this situation.

·        I remember...Write about an experience of your own connected to the reading.

·        I’m bothered...Explain what confuses or frustrates you.

·        I believe...Reveal what is important to you as you draw from the text.

·        I see, hear, smell, taste, feel...  Describe your sensory reaction.

·        I have created...Express your response in an imaginative way:  a drawing, poem, dialogue, letter, news bulletin, comic strip, or advertisement.

 

Please include the date, the title of the text, the page number you are responding to, and your response. Here is an example of what a response journal entry might look like:


December 3, 1996

Student-Centered Classroom Assessment Chapter 2, “Purposes”

 

Page             My Response

22        I’m not sure I ‘d have people set up in debate teams to argue the merits of  classroom vs. large-scale assessment 

 

30               What are the reliability numbers for the CTBS?

 

37        A better question would be, can I think of a time I wasn’t in the dark? The effect of not knowing what I’m being tested on is a sinking feeling--lack of control--therefore why study--no clue where to begin...resisted reading the whole quarter’s notes and material over again.