Potlatch Elementary Writing Handbook
Aiming For Excellence in Our Students
And
Ourselves
Writing at Potlatch Elementary
Dear Parents and Students,
Over the past few years, in conjunction with the school board, administration, and staff, writing
at Potlatch Elementary has been a unified focus. State testing (ISAT) formats will change in the
year 2014-2015 to reflect the importance of writing and Potlatch Elementary is aligned to meet
the new challenges on the horizon in the upcoming years.
It is our hope that this writing handbook will be a useful tool for both our students and parents
to help ensure that our students of today build the skills to successfully communicate through
written word as to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
Writing is an integral part of the educational process. This process begins before kindergarten
and continues through life. Understanding how to communicate in writing is an essential
component of the educational process as well as an essential life skill.
Students are involved in a variety of writing experiences throughout their K-12 education. We
write in our daily lives for a variety of reasons and we write every day, both formally and
informally. Our writing addresses different audiences and purposes. It is our belief that
students will be involved in the following forms of writing throughout their lives and that the
Six Traits of Effective Writing will lead to successful writing in each of these forms.
The Types of Writing at Potlatch Elementary
Narrative Writing: tells a personal experience or story and always includes characters, setting,
and plot (examples: short stories, journals)
Descriptive Writing: creates a vivid image in the reader’s mind and uses precise details to paint
“word pictures” for the reader (example: menu, travel brochure, poster)
Expository Writing: informs, explains, clarifies, or defines (example: research paper, essay,
report)
Persuasive Writing: informs and attempts to convince the reader to take the same stand
(examples: movie review, restaurant critique, letter to the editor, editorial)
The Six Traits of Effective Writing
Potlatch Elementary employs the Six Traits of Effective Writing to better prepare
our students for the challenges of the future. The following is a brief overview of
the Six Traits and how they relate to the foundations of successful student
writing.
Six Traits for Student Success
Ideas
Ideas and content are the heart of the message, what the piece says; the main idea and the
details that enrich, support and develop that idea.
Organization
Organization is the structure, the order in which the ideas are presented, the logical and
sometimes intriguing pattern of the ideas in a piece of writing.
Voice
Voice is the wit, the magic, the feeling, the involvement and conviction of the individual writer
coming out in the writing. Voice must be appropriate for the topic, purpose and audience.
Word Choice
Word choice is the use of rich, colorful, precise, specific language that moves and enlightens the reader
and is appropriate for the intended audience and purpose.
Sentence Fluency
Sentence fluency is the rhythm and flow of the language, the sound of word patterns, the way in which
the writing plays to the ear. It incorporates sentence variety and length.
Conventions
Conventions are the mechanics of the piece—spelling, paragraphing, grammar and usage, punctuation,
capitalization.
How To Use This Manual
There are three basic sections to this manual.
1. The first six pages are user friendly “trait” pages that break the traits down
for better understanding for the student and the parent.
2. The next three pages describe the process of writing for our students.
3. The last series of pages contain parent information that is grade specific
with ideas to help you help your student to blossom in their writing as well
as examples of scoring rubrics used to assess student writing.
Through the next six pages, the traits are broken into a useable format for both
students and parents. Each trait is listed at the top of the page and some general
guidelines or what the student is “going for” in their writing.
Also, there are a series of reflective questions that a student might ask
themselves to ensure coverage of that trait in their writing. The questions may
also be posed from an adult perspective to help a struggling writer.
Please be aware that writing is an individual process and our students are at
different levels in their writing depending on their ages as well as the grades in
which they are enrolled. A kindergartener, first grader, or second grader may
not have had exposure to all of the Six Traits as they are in the developmental
points in their process. Third through sixth graders are also developing but will
have a better grasp on these traits and the use of these tools. Under the “Tips
For Parents” section of this manual, the writing process and leveled
expectations are more clearly defined.
IDEAS
What the writer is going for…
A paper with good Ideas and content is clear and focused. It holds the reader’s
attention.
Ideas are the heart of the message in the writing. To write well, it is important for
us to really know about our subject. It is either connected with our own
experience or else we have researched the topic thoroughly.
Some questions we can ask ourselves or have adults ask about the writing to help
direct the Ideas are:
•
•
•
•
•
Is my message clear?
Do I know enough about my topic?
Did I make the topic interesting with details?
Is my topic the right focus? (not too large or too small)
Did I show what was happening rather than just tell?
ORGANIZATION
What the writer is going for…
Organization gives direction to our writing. It is the internal structure that
provides the backbone to which all pieces are connected. The Organization helps
enhance and showcase the central theme or story line. The order, structure and
presentation of information move the reader through the text.
Some questions we can ask ourselves or have adults ask about the writing to help
Organize and direct the ideas are:
•
•
•
•
Does my paper have a good opening that gets the reader’s attention?
Did I tell events or details in the best order?
Are my details linked together?
Does my paper have a good ending?
VOICE
What the writer is going for…
Voice gives our writing personality, flavor, and style. Through Voice, the reader
understands what we care about. When a writer creates a paper with good
Voice, the words speak directly to the reader in a style that is individualistic,
expressive, and engaging. The writing demonstrates sensitivity to the needs of
the audience.
Some questions we can ask ourselves or have adults ask about the writing to help
develop Voice and direct the ideas are:
•
•
•
•
Does this writing sound like me?
Did I say what I think and feel?
Does my writing have energy and passion?
Is my writing appropriate for my audience and purpose?
WORD CHOICE
What the writer is going for…
Word Choice enriches and enlivens our writing. Using the right words in a precise
manner adds energy and clarity to our work. Writing with strong Word Choice
conveys the intended message in a precise, interesting, and natural way. As we
choose words for our writing we use language to “paint a picture” for the reader.
Some questions we can ask ourselves or have adults ask about the writing to help
develop Word Choice and direct the ideas are:
•
•
•
•
Will my reader understand my words?
Did I use words that sound natural to my style?
Were my words accurate, original, and appropriate?
Did I use strong, energetic verbs and adjectives?
SENTENCE FLUENCY
What the writer is going for…
Sentence Fluency gives your writing a sense of rhythm and grace. The writing has
an easy flow when read aloud. Sentences are well built with varied structures
that invite expressive oral reading. Sentences need to be clear and powerful,
creating just the right meaning. This is accomplished through logic, creative
phrasing, parallel constructions, alliterations and a variety of sentence length and
structure.
Some questions we can ask ourselves or have adults ask about the writing to help
develop Sentence Fluency and direct the ideas are:
•
•
•
•
Do my sentences begin in different ways?
Are some sentences long and some short?
Is it easy to read my work out loud with expression?
Have I used transitions to help my sentences fit together?
CONVENTIONS
What the writer is going for…
Once our writing is complete, we are ready to edit and proofread. It is time to
prepare our writing so others can read it and enjoy it. The writer who uses
Conventions correctly and effectively demonstrates an understanding of
grammar, capitalization, punctuation, usage, spelling, and paragraphing.
Some questions we can ask ourselves or have adults ask about the writing to help
develop Conventions and direct the ideas are:
•
•
•
•
Did I use enough paragraphing?
Is my spelling correct?
Did I use end marks correctly?
Did I use capital letters in the right place?
The Writing Process in 5 Steps incorporating The Six
Traits of Effective Writing
Writing, like any other skill, takes practice; however, there is a process which
makes writing easier and, hopefully, better.
Step 1—Prewriting: (Ideas and Organization)
The first stage or step of the process is called prewriting. In this step, the writer
explores ideas in order to select a topic, determines a purpose and focus or point
relating to that topic, identifies the audience and gathers information about the
topic. Prewriting can take many forms, such as:
• Brainstorming
• Mapping
• Researching
• Outlining
• Asking questions
The more attention a writer pays to prewriting, the less trouble one will have
during the writing or drafting stage.
Step 2—Drafting: (Voice, Word Choice, and Sentence Fluency)
The drafting stage is when you put your ideas on paper and develop them. Since a
topic and focus were decided on in the prewriting stage and information was
gathered, drafting becomes simply a matter of writing that information in a clear,
interesting format using voice, word choice, and sentence fluency.
Step 3—Revising: (Ideas, Organization, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency)
Once the first draft is written, set it aside for awhile. When you return to your
paper, you will need to think about making it better, or revising it.
First, revise for content by asking yourself:
• Is my message clear?
• Have I shown what happened instead of told?
• Is it interesting?
If you are not satisfied with the answers to these questions, you have work to do.
You may need to clarify, find more or stronger details to support your point, and/or
delete confusing ideas.
Next, revise for structure by asking yourself:
•
•
•
•
Is the writing clear?
Is the flow of sentences and ideas smooth and logical?
Do I help the reader see the relationships between ideas?
Do I have adequate sentence variety to make the writing
interesting?
• Is my verb and adjective choice precise and appropriate for the
purpose and audience?
Step 4—Editing, often called proofreading: (Conventions)
At this point, you have your ideas presented in a clear, logical manner with
adequate supporting details to make your reader understand your point. Now it’s
time to look at conventions. Look for mistakes in spelling, punctuation, usage,
capitalization, subject/verb agreement, and all those details that can hurt your grade
and irritate your reader by making your ideas hard to follow. You may want to do
this several times. It is also a good idea to seek help from other people. If you
know you have problems with spelling, find someone who is good at it to help you.
Step 5—Publishing: Put you paper into final form to share with your reader.
Tips For Parents To Encourage Student Writing
Coach-don’t write- for your child. Question, listen, and talk about writing
together. Students need to do their own drafting, revising, and editing with you at
the sidelines encouraging.
Look first what is done well in the writing and offer praise. Writing is a
challenging task. Children need encouragement to be successful.
When working with your child, focus on the ideas and content first. Save the
editing until the ideas are clear, complete, and focused.
Listen attentively as your child reads writing to you. Encourage even the
youngest writers to “read” their writing aloud whether it is scribbles, drawings, or
strings of letters. Talk about their story.
Read aloud to your children, no matter the age. Discuss good examples of
writing from newspapers, magazines, poetry, instructions on toys and games etc.
Read from fiction and non-fiction.
Let your child see you write.
Share your own writing with your child. Ask for their feedback on your effort.
READ, READ, READ! Better readers make better writers.
Kindergarten Tips For Parents
1. There are many stages to writing and students develop at a different
pace.
2. Kindergarteners write phonetically as they learn the rules of writing and
spelling.
3. Kids who are stifled by constantly being corrected in their spelling will
not use “big” words, they will use easy words. They will use “big”
instead of “enormous”.
4. Correct (conventional) spelling WILL develop as the child develops.
5. Encourage all writing.
First Grade Tips For Parents
1. Choose personal experiences as a topic for your child’s writing. Writing
becomes more authentic at this level if it is meaningful.
2. Encourage your child to use inventive spelling (we call this “best guess”).
Your child will develop a motivation to write if they are not preoccupied
with trying to use conventional spelling. Focus on ideas at this level.
3. Encourage your child to use finger spaces between their words so that a
reader can understand the writing piece.
4. Write together! Students are motivated to write when they see people in
their lives value the writing experience.
5. Encourage your child to write a story based on personal experiences that
include a beginning, middle, and an end.
6. Provide a frame sentence to help your child begin their story i.e. “The best
vacation I ever had was…”.
7. Give your child many compliments and praise during their writing process.
Make them feel like authors.
8. Publish their stories. Incorporate illustrations, book covers, etc.
Second Grade Tips For Parents
1. Ask your child to tell more about their story. Details, details, details! How
did you come up with the idea? Did it remind you of anything? What might
happen next?
2. Children need to see writing modeled at home. Just like learning to read,
children need to be given time and ample opportunities to write in a way
that is meaningful to them. One example may be writing a letter to a friend
or family member. They need accessibility to an assortment of paper,
pencils, markers etc. to write with.
3. Encourage variety. Steer clear of then, then, then… Suggest things such as
At first…You won’t believe what happened next…
4. Expect good handwriting. It needs to be easy to read with finger space
between each word. The great ideas and facts get lost if it is messy and
can’t be read.
5. Remember to give lots of praise for the hard work and the risks they have
taken in their writing.
Third Grade Tips For Parents
1. Work on beginnings, middle, and endings. Start to develop paragraphs.
2. Conventions; focus on spelling third grade words correctly as well as capital
letters and end punctuation.
3. Eliminate the use of “The End”.
4. Focus on showing in the writing instead of telling.
5. Read your child’s stories aloud with them.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Tips For Parents
1. Be student driven. Know the kind of feedback your child wants before you
look at a piece of writing. Try to stay away from “correcting or evaluating”
all Six Traits. Have them pick an area to focus on and add to it with each
piece. Try reading your student’s paper out loud to them, asking them to
listen for the parts that they would like to change/correct.
2. Don’t do it for them. Ask specific questions that you had as a reader rather
than tell your child how to change a piece of writing. If they have made
simple, basic mistakes, give it back to them and have them go through it
again.
3. Be positive and supportive. Look for at least one thing your child did well.
Make writing easier and enjoyable for your child with encouragement, time
to express themselves in written form, and recognition that they are great
writers whether it is a grocery list, a thank you note, or a report or writing
piece for school. Many children have “stories in their heads” but need time
to think them through and write them down. It is important that your child
not feel rushed when writing, but it is also important that you be there to
help and encourage when “writer’s block” is keeping them from feeling
successful.
4. Enrich the writer. Play word games with your child. Scrabble, Balderdash,
Word Thief, Taboo, Scattegories are good games to promote the command
of written words. Making lists is a great way for children to learn about
organization. Take time to share examples of good writing with your kids
that you come across in your own reading. Encourage your child to keep a
journal and write in it as often as possible.
Rubric Scoring Examples
Scoring rubrics are used at Potlatch Elementary to assess student writing. Rubrics
allow teachers to quickly assess a student’s progress toward proficient writing as
well as prescribe the needed remedies to keep the student progressing toward
grade level writing proficiencies.
Due to the individualized nature of writing as well as the changing ability levels of
the kindergarten through sixth grade writers, grade level rubrics are available
from your child’s teacher.
In many cases, the purpose or reason for student writing dictates the type of
rubric assessment used to score student writing. The following are examples of
the types of rubrics that may be used to assess writing at Potlatch Elementary at
the higher grades. As each level of student writing is assessed at grade level,
please check with your child’s teacher for their specific scoring rubric.
6-Trait Writing Rubric
Ideas:
Approaches
1 pts
Approaches
This paper doesn't focus
on one topic or subject.
(The ideas do not relate
to each other.)
Organization:
Approaches
This paper lacks a clear
sense of direction. The
ideas, details, or events
are strung together in a
loose or random fashion.
Voice:
Approaches
This author tried to
relate to the topic of
paper, but did not
succeed. The author
does not put any of his
own personality into this
paper.
Word Choice:
Approaches
The author of this paper
used one or two
sentence starters on a
couple of sentences, but
then forgot to use them
anywhere else. The
author of this paper used
one or two vivid words.
Sentence Fluency:
Approaches
These simple sentences
are choppy and the
reader/audience can not
follow the ideas with
fluency.
Conventions:
Approaches
The errors in spelling,
punctuation,
capitalization, grammar
& usage; make this
paper difficult to read.
Meets
2 pts
Exceeds
3 pts
Meets
This paper focuses on
one topic and uses a lot
of great details, but
some details don't
belong .
Meets
This paper has a
beginning, middle and
end with transitions. It is
smooth to read, but may
not always be that
interesting.
There is an introduction
and conclusion
Meets
The author engages the
reader in this paper. But
the paper feels like
anyone could have
written it.
Meets
The author of this paper
used many different
sentence starters, but
some may be used
incorrectly or may seem
to stiff in this paper. The
author used many vivid
words to make the paper
seem more interesting.
Meets
The author started to
use sentences of
different lengths but
they are not well built.
(The subjects and verbs
may not agree. There
may be incomplete
sentences or run-ons)
Meets
The author of this paper
wrote using conventions
which enhance
readability; There are
only a 3-4 errors in this
paper, but they do not
detract from the
meaning of the paper.
Exceeds
This paper holds the
readers' attention. The
ideas focus on one topic
or subject and there are
several examples to
support these ideas.
Exceeds
This paper is organized
so it highlights its ideas
and subjects. (The
organization in this
paper makes it even
more interesting.)
Introduction sets up the
paper and conclusion
sums up paper.
Exceeds
The author of this paper
speaks directly to the
reader/audience. (This
paper is interesting,
compelling, and
engaging.)
Exceeds
The author of this paper
used sentence starters
and vivid words
correctly. The words the
author used help to
convey the intended
message in a precise,
and natural way.
(Reader picks up the
energy and is interested)
Exceeds
The author wrote a
paper with good rhythm.
Sentences are well built,
and of varying lengths.
Exceeds
The author of this paper
wrote using conventions
which enhance
readability; There are
only a 1-2 errors in this
paper, but they do not
detract from the
meaning of the paper.
6 Traits of Writing
1 pts
Ideas
2 pts
1
No main idea
yet
Organization
1
Random,
unconnected
thoughts
jotted on
paper
Voice
1
Missing or
inappropriate
for topic or
audience
Word Choice
1
Vague,
confusing;
uses clichés
or first
thoughts
Sentences
1
Many
problems
with
incomplete
sentences;
challenging
to untangle
sentences
Conventions
1
Numerous
errors; needs
word-byword editing
3 pts
2
Main idea
just coming
together, still
fuzzy
2
Either too
formulaic or
confusing
and hard to
follow
2
Faint, hard to
"hear"; does
not fit
audience
and/or
purpose
2
Vague,
inaccurate,
needs strong
verbs and
adjectives
2
Tough to
read aloud,
even with
rehearsal
2
Strong
moments
hard to spot,
needs lineby-line
editing
4 pts
3
Main idea not
always clear,
reader left
with
questions
3
Sometimes
confusing,
formulaic, or
tough to
follow
3
Functional,
sincere, but
not ready to
share aloud
3
Vague
language
outweighs
strong verbs
and
adjectives,
originality,
and precision
3
Choppy
and/or runon
sentences,
will need to
be rehearsed
before
reading
aloud
3
Errors slow
reader down
5 pts
4
Main idea
clear, but
needs detail
4
Mostly on
track, but
has some
wandering
off topic
4
Distinctive,
has sharealoud
moments
4
Strong verbs,
original
phrasing
outweigh
vague
language
4
Mostly
smooth,
some bumpy
moments
4
Many
strengths,
but needs
editing
6 pts
5
Main idea
clear and
detailed
5
Works with
topic,
purpose,
audience
5
Can tell who
wrote the
piece, ready
to share
aloud
5
Clear,
original;
filled with
lively verbs
and colorful
adjectives
5
Smooth,
easy to read,
full of variety
5
Mostly
correct, only
needs minor
touch-ups
6
Main idea
clear,
focused,
detailed, and
interesting
6
A perfect fit
with topic,
purpose,
audience
6
Can easily
identify the
writer, lively
and
energetic, as
individual as
fingerprints
6
Accurate,
striking,
original;
sometimes
quotable
6
Smooth,
easy to read
with
expression
6
Correct,
controlled;
no editing
needed