Curriculum Associates' Topic in Education on Six Traits of Writing consists of six lessons.
Lesson 1 Where it all begins: Developing Strong Ideas. Developing a solid idea is the first step in producing a quality piece of writing. In this lesson, you will learn the importance of a solid idea; as well as suggestions and guidelines for helping your students develop ideas for their writing.
Time to complete: approximately 10 minutes.
Lesson 2 Organization: Bringing Ideas Together. Strong organization allows a writer to stay focused and have a plan for the beginning, the middle, and the end of a text. In this lesson, you will learn the importance of organization in writing and where to look for good organization. You will also learn some guidelines for helping students use organization in their own writing.
Time to complete: approximately 10 minutes.
Lesson 3 Word Choice: Getting the Words Right. When you hear creative word choice, a piece of text sounds pleasant, natural, and interesting. In this lesson, you will learn why word choice is important in writing. You will learn where to look for good word choice, as well as some guidelines to help students find and make good word choice.
Time to complete: approximately 10 minutes.
Lesson 4 Fluency: Constructing Smart Sentences: Good sentence fluency allows a piece of writing to be comprehended accurately. In this lesson, you will learn some helpful tools to help your students identify smart sentences, as well as how to construct smart sentences to ensure fluency in their own writing.
Time to complete: approximately 10 minutes.
Lesson 5 Voice: Giving Voice to Writing. When a text has effective voice, readers can practically “hear” the author speak in their minds. In this lesson you will learn why giving voice to writing is so important. You will learn how to help students find examples of strong voice and how to develop strong voice in their writing.
Time to complete: approximately 10 minutes.
Lesson 6 Conventions: The Finishing Touch. Proper use of conventions ensures that a reader can understand a text. In this final lesson, you will learn the importance of using proper conventions, where to look for proper convention, and how to give students the right tools they'll need to make sure his or her writing looks and sounds correct.
Time to complete: approximately 10 minutes.
To complete the entire topic, with readings and downloads, takes approximately 1 hour.
