6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide, Grades 3 and Up [Paperback]

Ruth Culham (Author), Beverly Ann Chin (Foreword)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

These powerful models give you everything you need to assess and teach young writers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The 6+1 Traits of Writing model is used throughout the United States and the world. It has become a highly respected, essential tool for evaluating student writing and planning instruction. Its primary author, Ruth Culham, is unit manager for the assessment program at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) in Portland, Oregon. As the recognized expert in 6+1 Traits of Writing model, she conducts workshops, designs institutes, writes extensively on the topic. Prior to joining NWREL, Ruth was a classroom teacher for 19 years.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Professional Books (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439280389
• ISBN-13: 978-0439280389
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

You never know what's brewing next with Ruth Culham, aka "The Trait Lady." She's either on a plane traveling to a school district or conference to present her latest thinking about how to use the six-trait model for assessment and instruction, or creating new Scholastic resources for writing teachers to use in the classroom.

Actually, she credits Delta airlines for completing the new middle school book and the books that go with it such as forms, mentor text, and comments. During those long flights between who-knows-where and Portland, Oregon (home base) she logged some serious writing hours. The new core book contains way, way cool new scoring guides, papers, lessons, and ideas to make a middle school writing teacher's life a happy place. Think that's impossible? Stay tuned. A writing revolution is underway.

Ruth spent 19 years in the classroom, the highlight of which was being named Montana's English/Language Arts teacher of the year. After classroom teaching, she worked as researcher and then Unit Manager for the Assessment Program at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. She finished her doctorate. She wrote her first book: 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for Grades 3 and Up. And the rest, they say, is history.

Check out this site for the many exciting and teacher-friendly trait-based writing resources now available to support teachers and students from Scholastic Press.

Her latest book, "Traits of Writing:The Complete Guide for Middle School" won the 2011 Teacher's Choice Award, a rarity for a professional book. When the Trait Crates for grades 3-5 won the award in 2008, she was thrilled. This year's recognition makes it even more special.

And there's much more coming in the months and years ahead⎯including a top-secret project bound to make K-8 teachers smile. There's always more-in her heart and on her mind. Her connections to teachers and students keep the work fresh. Her home office keeps her comfortable. Her friends keep her in wine. Her cats keep her company. Life is pretty good.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New english teacher found this book invaluable, April 18, 2004

By 

G. Poirier "educator, mountain biker, camper,... (Fontana, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide, Grades 3 and Up (Paperback)

I started teaching high school english this year and ordered this book because our district uses the 6 traits to asses the students' biannual writing tests. I decided I should teach them what they'd be tested on...

This book has really taught me a lot about using the traits. Each chapter is very in depth and has good examples. There are sample lesson plans and suggestions on ways to emphasize each of the traits.

I like the traits because it's a great way to break writing into manageable parts. I'm not just telling my students they got a "C" on a paper. Instead, I'm telling them they wrote a paper that has some strengths and some weaknesses. Further, I can tell them where the weaknesses are and what I think they should do to improve it.

But, maybe the best thing is that I am teaching them to score each other's papers and it guides their thinking and scoring. There's a companion book of worksheets and other reproducibles that is almost a must have because it includes rubrics and scoring sheets for students to use.

My only wish is that there was a separate book for secondary students. The standards for writing are different. But, even still, this book does cover secondary teaching and I find it very useful.

I highly recommend this book if you want to teach your students to be better writers.

56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous, must-have book!, December 30, 2002

By 

Jeff White (Prattville, AL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide, Grades 3 and Up (Paperback)

Any teacher, school employee, or a mother would greatly benefit from having this book on their resource shelf. This book is a fantastic guide to improving your writing instruction across ALL content areas. The wisdom and experience that Ruth Culham distills in her new book is invaluable. I knew, when I was first introduced to the 6+1 Trait Model, the impact it would have on my student's ability to write with confidence and precision. For the past fours years my students were ranked at the top of Delaware State's Writing Assessment. I owe it all to Ruth Culham! This book can help your students understand the qualities of good writing: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. Once they understand this common language teachers are able to provide their students with precise, complete feedback on their writing performance. Writing is a lifelong skill we all need. This book will help you and your children master it!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Have" for beginning writing instructors, December 12, 2003

By 

"malampi" (Sarasota, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide, Grades 3 and Up (Paperback)

Save the $1,000+ you'd spend on a workshop! This paperback has it all. And you get to keep it with you for future reference! I bought this wonderful resource, 6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide, on a whim. I implemented it in my classroom, and I just can't say enough about how well it has been received. My middle school students really enjoy the activities I've used nearly straight from the book. Other teachers who come through my room comment on what they see hanging from the walls, things the students created using the structures set forth in 6+1 Traits. The grading rubrics used in the system work extremely well with the Florida standardized writing test scoring system, making this an ideal choice for any Florida teacher. Still, anyone anywhere who wants an easy to remember system with affordable supplemental products should look into the 6+1 Traits system offered by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. While NWREL offers training, I've found this book needs no additional support to be a strong, effective foundation for teaching both the art and the science of fine writing.