Meet the Trait Mates! A Fresh Approach to Six Trait ... - GSSD Blogs

Meet the Trait Mates!A Fresh Approach to Six Trait WritingBy Lori JamisonThe “Trait Mates” were developed by Lori Jamison as “buddies” whopersonify the six traits and help young writers understand the elements ofgood writing.Just as Ideas, Organization, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Voice andConventions are the six traits, Donna Details, Ollie Order, Willie WordChoice, Sammy Sounds Good, Vicki Voice and Charlie Conventions are thebuddies that help us understand those traits.For training or consultation on Six Trait Writing or other aspects ofwriting instruction, please contact Lori Jamison atljamison@sasktel.net.Graphics from iCLIPART.com.© Lori Jamisonwww.lorijamison.com

TRAIT: IDEASDonna Details is a detective. Justas clues are important to adetective, details are important toa writer. The trait of Ideas is abouton generating details on a topic.Donna Details encourages writers tochoose topics that they know andcare about, and to add rich detailsthat will be interesting to a reader.And just like a detective is alwaysdigging deeper for important clues,a writer must “dig deeper” toelaborate and extend the details they write. Somemini lessons for the trait of Ideas include:- Finding Topics for Writing- Surprising Details and Elaboration- Revising by pushing in detailsDonna Details says: Did you choose a topic for writing that you care about andthat you think your readers will be interested in? Did you write lots of interesting details on your topic? Did you elaborate on the most important details?© Lori Jamisonwww.lorijamison.com

TRAIT: ORGANIZATIONOllie Order is a traffic cop. Just like apolice officer keeps traffic moving in asafe and orderly way, a writer needs tokeep the details in writing moving in anorderly way that will make sense to areader. Ollie Order teaches students tothink about how they put their writingtogether. Just like a traffic light tellspeople when to stop and go, writers musthave a beginning that grabs the reader’sattention and makes the reader want to get started and an endingthat wraps the piece up neatly. Some mini lessons forOrganization include:- Storm and Sort- Super Ways to Start- “Bow on the Present” endings- Try a different Text FormOllie Order says: Did you start with a plan? Does your beginning grab the reader’s attention? Did you put the details in an order that makes sense? Does your ending wrap the piece up neatly?© Lori Jamisonwww.lorijamison.com

TRAIT: WORD CHOICEWilly Word Choice is an artist.Just like as an artist paintspictures with paint, a writerpaints pictures with words. Willysometimes uses colors like red,blue and green, but he also useschartreuse, and crimson, andcerulean. In the same way,writers use plain words and fancywords. Willy Word Choicereminds writers that they mustuse just the right words to tell a story and paint a picture in thereader’s mind. Some mini lessons for word choice include:- Trading Words- Energize with Vivid Verbs- Notice it, Name it, Try itWilly Word Choice says: Did you specially pick the words you used? Did you use some WOW words? Do your words paint pictures in the reader’s mind? Did you use some writer’s techniques?© Lori Jamisonwww.lorijamison.com

TRAIT: SENTENCE FLUENCYSammy Sounds Good is one cool dude.Sometimes he plays long, smooth, slownotes and sometimes he plays short,sharp, quick notes. The most importantthing to Sammy is that his music soundsgood to a listener’s ear. Sammy SoundsGood reminds writers that their writingshould also sound good to a reader’s ear.He teaches them to use different kindsof sentences – some long and fluid, someshort and snappy – to make writing soundrhythmical. He also encourages writersthink about how they put words together to maketheir writing sound good. Some mini lessons forfluency include:- Sentence Stretching- The VSS – Very Short Sentence- Same Sound WordsSammy Sounds Good says: Does your writing sound smooth to read out loud? Did you use some long sentences and some short sentences? Did you think putting your words together in ways that soundgood? Did you read your writing out loud to hear how it sounds?© Lori Jamisonwww.lorijamison.com

TRAIT: VOICEVoice is the hardest trait to define,but the easiest to identify in goodwriting. Writing with voice haspersonality, tone, style, mood andsometimes emotion. Most importantly,it speaks to a reader. Vicki Voice is asinger who uses her voice to send amessage to her listeners. Sometimesher music is bright and cheery,sometimes it is dark and angry, andsometimes it is soft and mysterious.Vicki teaches writers to think abouttheir reader and their purpose for writing. If they want to maketheir reader laugh, or to persuade the reader to think a certainway, or ask a question or favor of the reader, the writer’s voiceshould help send the message. Some mini lessons for voiceinclude:- Point of view writing- Dabble in dialogue- Gems to make writing sparkleVicki Voice says: Does your writing talk to a reader? Does your voice match your purpose for writing? Did you try to make your reader feel something from yourwriting?© Lori Jamisonwww.lorijamison.com

TRAIT: CONVENTIONSCharlie Conventions is a carpenter whouses tools like a hammer, saw, nails andwood to build things. Writers also needtools to build writing for someone else toread. The mechanics of writing – capitalletters, punctuation, grammar andconventional spelling – are the tools thatenable a reader to access the writing.Some mini lessons for conventions include:- Bubble Gum Writing- Noisy Punctuation- 5 P’s of paragraphingCharlie Convention says: Do you have capital letters on names and at the beginning ofsentences? Did you use words that sound right? Did you put the right punctuation at the end of sentences? Did you spell the words as well as you could? Do you have spaghetti spaces between the words and meatballspaces between the letters? Does your work look neat on the page?© Lori Jamisonwww.lorijamison.com