The Six Traits of Writing:Ideas and Content

EN27 Notes

Ideas and ContentOrganizationWord ChoiceVoiceSentence FluencyConventions

What are the Six Traits?

The Six Traits provide you with the tools needed to write well.

By using the Six Traits in your writing you “step up” the quality of your work.

The Six Traits are the evaluation tool for both the District CRT and the AIMS test.

Why should I use the Six Traits?

Ideas and Content

Ideas and Content

Ideas are the heart of the message.

Reflect the purpose, the theme, the primary content, the main point, or the main story line of the

piece.

Ideas and Content

When ideas are strong, the writing is: rich with detail,original and thoughtful,

highly focused and clear,

and substantive.

Ideas and Content

Ideas and ContentWhen you have strong ideas, your work says something; it doesn’t just meander or list ideas randomly. It doesn’t bore the reader with trivia, repetition, or unnecessary information.

What does

“Show me, don’t tell me”

really mean?

Ideas and Content

?

TellingThe first day of school was really hectic.

Showing I say this every year – I’m getting too old for this!

Glazed-eyed kids running, stumbling, frantically searching for their lockers and often close to tears when their fingers don’t respond to the number sequence printed neatly on the 3X5 index card. What they don’t know yet is that learning to open a locker in middle school is one of the greatest challenges they will face all year. As I run from student to student, assuring each that it WILL get easier – automatic even, I can’t help noticing that their small motor coordination is something akin to tying flies while wearing woolen mittens. At least for this first day, everyone is equal. No jocks, no nerds, no bullies, no victims – just a bunch of anxious, sweaty-palmed adolescents struggling to gain access to the only private space they can call their own for the next nine months.Ruth Culham

TellingThe room was a mess.

Showing As I stepped into the room I tripped over

a collection of Tonka trucks and fell to the floor. Splat! My right hand smooshed a partially eaten PB&J sandwich. Climbing to my feet I surveyed the damage done to the room. Sofa cushions were tossed in a corner, a stuffed frog dangled from the ceiling fan, and sweat rings from soda cans marred the once pristine surface of the coffee table. With the evidence before me I knew that once again my five-year-old twins had managed to hog-tie their sitter and wreak havoc throughout the house.

Telling It was boring.

I felt my head nod onto my chest as the speaker droned on. A sharp jab in my ribs caused me to jerk upright. “You fell asleep,” my mother hissed, wiping drool from my chin. I flushed and furtively glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed my faux pas. Fortunately for me, it appeared that everyone else was as zoned out as I was. A glance at the clock showed me that this torture would soon be coming to an end. I settled back into my seat and once again drifted off – only to be awakened by the opening chords of the closing hymn.

Showing

Turn one of these Telling statements into a Showing example.

The room was a mess. It was really hard. I liked it a lot. We had fun. It was boring.

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