Six Traits of Writing
Sean Pitlik
Ideas
The topic should always be interesting so that the reader will enjoy what they are reading. Things such as thoughts, facts, and examples should be included in your writing to give it some extra depth.
Organization
- Paragraphs/essays should always be neat and organized
- Topic Sentence (Green)
- Main Ideas (Yellow)
- Tell Me More (Red)
- Conclusion (Reflection of the topic sentence)
Voice
Speak in an engaging way to show that you are passionate about your writing. Try to show the reader emotions or movements to keep things interesting.
Word Choice
- Use specific nouns and verbs
- Use exciting adverbs and adjectives
- If you have trouble with word choice try to use a thesaurus
Sentence Fluency
Use a variety of sentence lengths. Try to use transitions (also, finally, first, however, etc.) so that the sentences don't sound choppy. Make sure you have simple, compound, and complex sentences.
Conventions
- Use a revaluation sheet
- Use the COPS method (Capitalization, Overall Appearance, Punctuation, and Spelling
Core 4 Topic Sentences
- Declaritive/Simple sentence
- Question
- Situation/Stance
- Number statement (sentence with a number word)
4 topic sentences
Writing Process
- Brainstorm- Come up with possible topics for your writing.
- Prewriting- Come up with details for your main ideas using a T-table.
- Compose- Write your rough draft/sloppy copy.
- Revision- Look over your work and improve your vocabulary/word choice.
- Editing- Make corrections using the COPS method.
- Publish- Present your final draft of your writing.
T-Table
- Topic sentence, Green
- Main Ideas, Yellow
- Tell Me More, Red
- Conclusion, Green