The 6+1 Writing Traits

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I must say that The 6+1 Writing Traits seems to be a remarkable strategy to help students develop their writing. Reflecting on this strategy makes me wish I had it as guides when I was at the primary level. Although every writing trait is of equal importance, the voice among all the traits calls out to me the loudest and therefore caught my attention. I learned that Voice in a piece of writing represents the uniqueness and personal imprint of the writer. I particularly loved the illustrations that our lecturer used to help us understand what Voice in writing really meant. There was no way I would have guessed that one of the main characters in “The Love my Life” turned out to be what it was, as revealed near the end of the piece. The unique way that the author crafted his piece was really amazing. From this illustration, I have learned that Voice has power to compel the reader;  just like myself,  I was totally captivated by the Voice in this story. 

 I have also learned that the idea captures the major theme or can be considered as the core of a piece. It is basically the central theme that guides the process. Word choice on the other hand can make the central idea come alive; it is where the readers are reeled-in by the writer’s use of literary devices, as he uses the most appropriate choice of words to convey his message. Contrariwise, the writer may paint a dark, dull, lifeless  picture by choosing words that do not capture the interest of the reader. This happens, when his uses poor choice of words.

 Sentence fluency is the trait that makes the writing flow well as a bit of rhythm is added; creating a balance between long and short sentences and sensory details to add in some flavour to the writing.  I am so excited about sharing these findings with my students. I learned too that Organisation must be maintained: an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Organisation also entails smooth transition from one point to the other.

Writing is not considered complete if the Convensions are not right.  Conventions speaks of ensuring that the paragraphs are laid out well and  every word is in its correct place.  Ultimately, the rules of grammar and spelling are followed, capitalization and punctuation are fine, all I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed. This means that the overall presentation of the piece is fine. 

I certainly hope to introduce my students to the The 6+1 Writing Traits to help them develop in all the areas that the 6+1 features. I believe that if students understand how these traits are applicable to their writing they would be able to experience remarkable improvements to their writing. 

Here is a link that I have found on a video of certain aspects of the writing process that I felt very interesting and helpful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCqPPXIrQsI&t=90s

The checklist below might be used by both students and teachers to ensure that student have incorporated all the components of The 6+1 Writing Traits in their piece.

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The Stages of Writing Development: The Emergent Writer

 

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Emergent writing “means that children begin to understand that writing is a form of communication and their marks on paper convey a message” (Mayer, 2007)

 The information in the above quote from Mayer (2007) certainly suits the description of children within the emergent writing stage. At this stage they are not fully aware of all the techniques and behaviours of fluent writers but they are beginning to understand that writing serves as a mode of communicating messages; gradually,  they become aware that their markings means something. Despite the disorganization of writing done at this stage, the emergent writers are able to develop many core skill that necessary for their transition into the other stages of writing. Therefore, I am reminded that my response to a child’s scribbles, drawing or other piece, can either motivate and encourage future writing successes or demotivate and destroy what could be a potential author. This also tells me that I should teach the other children both at home and school to appreciate the written work of such writers, as children that a more advanced  tends to make fun of the efforts of others that are not on their  level. 

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The Stages of Writing Development was never considered during my past years working with students. I had encountered the stages previously but never did it occur to me how important they really were. Not only was I able to get an in depth understanding of the characteristics of the writers of each stage but I was privileged to have a bit of exposure to some strategies that can be used in assisting writers at each level. The discussion on the first stage which is known as the Emergent stage brought much clarity as to the reasons why my kids do some of the things that they do. Being a mom of three, I wondered why my kids could not focus for certain periods of time when given writing. I also realized that they were often tired and would constantly be standing while writing. From this session on the writing stages, I became aware that their limited attention span and underdeveloped fine muscles are responsible for some of these behaviours.   I also learned that the teaching of the alphabet, phonetic awareness, transcribing writing, drawing and oral presentation of their work are ways of helping the emergent writers to develop.

 One thing that stood out to me the most was the importance of reading to children at all stages. This shows that the connection between reading and writing is very important. Fostering that interest in books through interactive read aloud, as good reading behaviours are exhibited, can go a far way in helping students improve their art as proficient writers and readers also. Now,  I am able to not only diagnose writers’ levels but I am able to support writers at various stages. I certainly hope to share my knowledge with parent and my colleagues at work so they also gain that awareness. 

The Power of Persuasion

 

                                                                                                                                     

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  I certainly had some great "take-aways" from this week’s sessions on persuasive writing. The sessions were very informative and I therefore hope to use the information received to create better persuasive pieces since this has been an area of great challenge for me. Being able to review persuasive writing in term of its purpose, areas of importance and techniques that are involved was rather enlightening. 

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Persuasion! - The art of convincing. From what I have gathered, persuasive writing is the act of convincing readers to believe something which will ultimately change their way of thinking or behaving. 

The part that was most memorable about the sessions was the practical nature of one of the assignment which allowed us to bring to life the information that was in our notes. We were placed into small groups to come up with points for or against particular topics and was given a chance to apply as many techniques of persuasion to convince our audience.  During our presentation, the use of Authoritative Evidences leaped out, so were the Exaggerations in excess. The use of Rhetorical questions were ‘red hot and flaming’ all over the room and so was Mrs. Logical appeal. There was a whole lot of Alliteration, sufficient Contrast too and Opinions were bold enough to present themselves as facts; but the biggest marriage of all was between Ms. Emotive Language and Mr. Personal Appeal. Just before the party was all over, Brother Repetition  waltzed in right  in time to get the message across. Those combined and mixed in well did the job of convincing the audience to change their way of thinking based on the topics being presented.

I left the session with a clearer understanding of how persuasive techniques work in convincing an audience. This helped me to make the same connection when the opportunity presented itself for me to write my persuasive piece. Additionally, the lecture’ s clarity in presenting information and her use of the most incredible illustrations during the power point presentation really did the job of helping me to understand and remember what was discussed. An example of such was the title of one of the introductory slides said, “ The People’s Court: Honourable or Dishonourable” and it was paired with a matching picture.  By likening the days lecture on persuasive writing to that of a court’s proceeding helps me to always remember that persuasion is all about presenting convincing information similar to that of a court house. In the near future I hope to not only teach my students about the importance of persuasive writing but I hope also to be creative in selecting and incorporating strategies that will help my students remember and what was learned.   

The Writing Process

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"Rewriting is the essence of writing well: its where the game is won or lost. That idea is hard to accept. We all have an emotional equity in our first draft; we can’t believe that it wasn’t born perfect. But the odds are close to 100 percent that it wasn’t.” William Zinsser  ‘Writing Well’(p.83)

The statement above reveals that the author, William Zinsser had great confidence in the writing process. I recently came across the statement and totally agree it.  Writing a finished piece most definitely requires much patience. During my childhood years, writing was a constant challenge for me. I loved writing but lacked the organizational skills necessary to produce excellent pieces. I can not remember being ever introduced to the writing process while at the primary school level. Now I have an understanding of the writing process, I am better able to organize my writing. This five step process is magical. It includes: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing. 

    I was able to apply the principles of the writing process to my writing recently, and just like Mr. Zinsser, I found out that some of the emotional equities in my first draft certainly wasn’t born perfect. Much had to be cut, moved around and adjusted before tying up all the knots. Also there is no doubt in my mind that rewriting certainly is the essence of writing well. I will make use of the writing process during instruction since the student that I work with are deaf/hard of hearing and often struggle with language; writing in particular.  I will definitely introduce my students to the writing process.

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"Show and Not Tell"

 

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Wow! How amazing the thought of utilizing a field trip to guide emerging writers along a path that exposes them to strategies that will help develop their creativity in the craft. The field trip to The Botanical Gardens created an opportunity for us to capture various photo shots, which became instrumental in providing a clearer understanding about the importance of capturing different angles in writing a piece. 

Through this session I became aware that writers might use various strategies to paint a given picture. This depends entirely on what the writer seeks to achieve. A broad picture can be painted or he can choose to be specific with details by zooming- in. I always knew about “Show and Tell,” but from this session I gained a new appreciation for “Show and not tell; ” where the writer seeks to reel-in the reader by giving him an opportunity to see, smell, hear, taste or feel the emotions of the moment through the use of imagery. I will definitely share this strategy with my students and being equipped this knowledge, I envision a remarkable improvement in my writing and my students likewise.     

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