Creating Writers, Fourth Edition, is the most comprehensive exploration of the 6-trait approach to writing yet! Written by the pioneer of 6-trait writing, this Fourth Edition brings everything up to date, offering a comprehensive overview of the best education strategies and philosophies from the worlds of writing assessment and instruction. It provides clear guidelines on helping students draft, assess, and revise their writing, as well as explicit criteria to show students precisely what they must do to succeed as writers in virtually any situation. Widely used at the state level, school districts are incorporating the 6 traits into their state standards or assessments. This is the only book on the market that effectively helps teachers of writing prepare their students for success on state tests. New format and organization is designed to make the content clear and simple. New and revised checklists for genre-specific writing instruction to separate key elements in narrative writing, literary analysis, and persuasive writing. New and creative ways to use 6-trait writing in classrooms are explored - including adaptations for kinesthetic learners and second language learners. Ringing Endorsements for CREATING WRITERS! "Not only is Creating Writers the most comprehensive book ever on 6-trait writing instruction and assessment, it's also a practical, inspirational guide for any writing classroom. It's one of those rare professional books that both teachers and administrators read cover to cover, and you'll find the well-worn copies on their desks to prove it. This extensively revised edition, with voluminous examples from students and literature, draws the strongest link yet between writing assessment and instruction. No writing classroom should be without it." Barry Lane Author of After THE END: Teaching and Learning Creative Revision, The Reviser's Toolbox, and The Portfolio Sourcebook. "Spandel has done it again! In Creating Writers, Fourth Edition, she shares her current thought and unparalleled skill, framed around the traits of writing. The originator once again inspires us with practical, enriched instruction and assessment applicationspromising practices for teaching and learning at its zenith. On behalf of classroom teachers everywhere Thank you, Vicki!" Dr. Donna Flood Director of Staff Development and Instructional Improvement, Millard Public Schools, Omaha, NE "If you're only going to read one book about teaching writing this year, make it Creating Writers. It's lively and fast-paced, filled cover to cover with practical help on using the six traits to enrich writing instruction and assessment, from one-on-one writing conferences to building craft lessons. This book gives you and your students a shared language with which to talk about writing. No writing teacher in America has done more than Vicki Spandel to show how to actually make writing workshops work. Whether you're a new teacher or a veteran, you'll find both inspiration and how-to-do-it strategies in Creating Writers. As an added bonus, you will find that the strategies detailed in this book prepare students for success on state writing assessments as well as for their journey as life-long writers." Dr. Tommy Thomason, Head of Journalism Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, Texas For more information on this book and related books, visit

Author Biography

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Vicki Spandel is an adjunct faculty member at Seattle Pacific University, Washington State University and Utah State University.

Table of Contents

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Foreword	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. x
Creating a Vision	p. 1
Who Invented the Six Traits?	p. 2
Assessing to Learn: The Bridge to Revision	p. 4
Ten Reasons to Make Six-Trait Writing Part of the Vision	p. 6
Building a Personal Vision	p. 13
Chapter 1 in a Nutshell	p. 14
Extensions	p. 14
Looking Ahead	p. 15
Creating Assessment to Match the Vision	p. 16
Keys to Quality Assessment	p. 16
Making Assessment Support Instruction (not Vice Versa)	p. 27
Large-Scale and Classroom Assessment: Lessons Learned from Two Perspectives	p. 28
Large-Scale Writing Assessment: How It Looks	p. 28
Lessons Learned from Large-Scale Assessment	p. 30
Classroom Assessment: How Does It Look?	p. 34
Lessons Learned from Classroom Assessment	p. 36
Chapter 2 in a Nutshell	p. 38
Extensions	p. 39
Looking Ahead	p. 39
Coming Face to Face with the Six Traits	p. 40
Building a Community of Writers	p. 41
What Teachers Value in Writing	p. 44
War of the Rubrics	p. 49
Getting Ready to Score Papers	p. 54
Suggested Scores and Comments	p. 54
Making Your Scoring Consistent	p. 56
Chapter 3 in a Nutshell	p. 62
Extensions	p. 62
Looking Ahead	p. 63
Building a Foundation: Ideas and Organization	p. 64
Ideas: The Heart of It All	p. 64
Practice Papers	p. 65
"Making Decisions" (Expository, Grade 8)	p. 66
"Harder Than You Think" (Personal Essay, Grade 10)	p. 67
Organization: Showcasing It	p. 69
Practice Papers	p. 69
"Some Cartoons Are Violent" (Persuasive, Grade 3)	p. 70
"The Baseball" (Narrative, Grade 5)	p. 71
Looking at Additional Papers	p. 72
"Unscripted Television: Enjoy It While You Can" (Persuasive, Middle School)	p. 72
"Einstein" (Expository, Grade 5)	p. 74
"On Writing" (Memoir, Grade 12)	p. 76
"A Great Book" (Literary Analysis, Grade 8)	p. 78
"Writing Is Important" (Expository, Grade 11)	p. 79
"Under the Knife" (Expository, Grade 12)	p. 81
"Reading Is Fun" (Personal Essay, Grade 7)	p. 82
"Tobacco" (Persuasive, Grade 7)	p. 84
"The Funeral of My OREO" (Narrative, Grade 4)	p. 85
"Computing Batting Averages" (Expository, Grade 6)	p. 86
"Cats or Dogs" (Persuasive, Grade 6)	p. 88
Chapter 4 in a Nutshell	p. 89
Extensions	p. 89
Looking Ahead	p. 90
Adding Flavor: Voice, Word Choice, and Sentence Fluency	p. 91
Voice: Fingerprints on the Page	p. 92
Practice Papers	p. 92
"Why You Need a Job" (Persuasive, Grade 9)	p. 94
"Zeena and the Marshmallows" (Persuasive/Narrative, Grade 5)	p. 95
Word Choice: The Bridge from Message to Voice	p. 96
"Chad" (Descriptive, Grade 3)	p. 97
"Pets Are Forever: An Investigative Report" (Expository, Grade 8)	p. 98
Sentence Fluency: Variety and Rhythm	p. 100
"A Rescue" (Narrative, Grade 4)	p. 101
"The Joke" (Narrative/Expository, Grade 7)	p. 102
Looking at Additional Papers	p. 103
"A Sunflower Seed" (Expository/Reflective, Grade 5)	p. 104
"The Big Road" (Narrative, Grade 7)	p. 105
"Football and the 4.0s" (Persuasive, Grade 8)	p. 106
"Fishing" (Narrative/Expository, Grade 11)	p. 108
"Should High School Graduation Requirements Be Raised?" (Persuasive, Grade 9)	p. 109
"Sixth Grade" (Descriptive/Expository, Grade 6)	p. 111
"Cambiando Mundos: Changing Worlds" (Memoir/Narrative, Grade 9)	p. 112
"Why I Read" (Expository, Grade 7)	p. 115
"Why I Write" (Expository, Grade 7)	p. 117
Chapter 5 in a Nutshell	p. 118
Extensions	p. 118
Looking Ahead	p. 119
Framing the Picture: Conventions and Presentation	p. 120
Conventions and Presentation: Editing and Framing Practice Papers	p. 121
"Haircut from Hell" (Narrative/Imaginative, Grade 7)	p. 124
"The Ritual of Rocks and Sticks" (Imaginative, Grade 6)	p. 126
Examples of Presentation	p. 127
Putting All Traits Together	p. 130
"File Sharing Is Not the Spawn of Satan" (Persuasive/Expository, Grade 12)	p. 130
"A Beautiful Dream" (Memoir, Grade 12)	p. 132
"A Strange Visitor" (Narrative/Imaginative, Grade 5)	p. 134
"The Day My Grandfather Died" (Personal Narrative, Grade 4)	p. 135
"Should People Be Allowed to Go Barefoot?" (Persuasive, Grade 6)	p. 136
"Computer Blues" (Narrative, Grade 12)	p. 137
"The Frog Pond" (Narrative, Grade 6)	p. 139
"The Woman a.k.a. the P.B. and J." (Persuasive/Expository, Grade 12)	p. 140
"Gun Control" (Persuasive, Grade 8)	p. 141
"Verona Tribune: Early Edition" (Imaginative/Literary Analysis, Grade 9)	p. 143
The Next Step	p. 144
Chapter 6 in a Nutshell	p. 144
Extensions	p. 145
Looking Ahead	p. 145
Supporting Writing Process	p. 146
"For Monday ..."	p. 147
What Real Writers Do	p. 147
"Read All About It"	p. 148
We Need to Model It	p. 148
Process First, Then Traits, Then Modes	p. 149
Experience: The Well We Draw From	p. 151
Prewriting/Rehearsing: Giving Shape to the Instinct	p. 153
Drafting: Creating Substance	p. 155
Sharing: Playing to an Audience	p. 158
Revising: Remodeling the House	p. 158
Editing: Making the Reader "At Home" in Your Text	p. 160
Publishing: Honoring and Preserving Writing	p. 161
Assessing: A Partnership	p. 161
Endnote	p. 162
Chapter 7 in a Nutshell	p. 162
Extensions	p. 162
Looking Ahead	p. 163
Unlocking the Door to Revision	p. 164
Four Steps to Teaching Traits	p. 165
Focused Lessons for Ideas	p. 176
Focused Lessons for Organization	p. 182
Focused Lessons for Voice	p. 185
Focused Lessons for Word Choice	p. 189
Focused Lessons for Sentence Fluency	p. 192
Focused Lessons for Conventions	p. 197
What to Tell Parents about Conventions	p. 205
Chapter 8 in a Nutshell	p. 205
Extensions	p. 207
Looking Ahead	p. 207
Troubleshooting: Dealing with Common Writing Problems	p. 209
Ideas	p. 210
Organization	p. 213
Voice	p. 219
Word Choice	p. 224
Sentence Fluency	p. 227
Conventions	p. 230
Helping Challenged/Beginning Writers	p. 230
Helping students Who Know the Traits Well	p. 234
Chapter 9 in a Nutshell	p. 238
Extensions	p. 239
Looking Ahead	p. 239
Listening to Teachers' Voices	p. 240
In Elaine's Self-Contained Sixth Grade Classroom	p. 240
In Jim's High School Classroom	p. 242
In Billie's Seventh Grade Classroom	p. 244
In Ellen's AP English Classroom	p. 248
In Judy's Third Grade Classroom	p. 249
In Penny's Second Grade Classroom	p. 251
In Arlene's K-1 Classroom	p. 254
In Andrea's MultiAge Second-Language Classroom	p. 256
In Sammie's "Tiger Learning Center"	p. 259
Chapter 10 in a Nutshell	p. 260
Extensions	p. 260
Looking Ahead	p. 261
Adapting the Traits to Fit You	p. 262
The Simplest Adaptation: Being Selective	p. 262
Simplicity Itself: The Checklist	p. 263
A Scoring Guide for Informational and Research-Based Writing	p. 267
Sample Papers: An Invitation	p. 280
"Bears in the Wild" (Informational, Grade 4)	p. 280
"Driving Tests Should Be Harder" (Persuasive, Grade 7)	p. 281
"Interesting Facts About Smoking" (Informational, Grade 10)	p. 283
"Electric Eels" (Informational, Grade 6)	p. 284
"Humboldt Penguins" (Informational, Grade 9)	p. 286
"The Middle Ages" (Informational, Grade 7)	p. 288
"Life in the Middle Ages" (Informational, Grade 7)	p. 290
"Beautiful People" (Persuasive, Grade 12)	p. 292
"How to Be a Good Driver" (Expository, Grade 12)	p. 293
"Expanded Definition: Resonance" (Technical/Informational, College Freshman)	p. 295
"A Simple Phone Call" (Persuasive/Expository, Grade 12)	p. 297
"Ecto vs. Endo" (Informational, Grade 7)	p. 299
"Pablo Picasso" (Informational, Grade 7)	p. 300
"Desert Tortoise" (Informational, Grade 7)	p. 307
Adapting the Guide for Native Spanish Speakers	p. 307
Chapter 11 in a Nutshell	p. 309
Extensions	p. 309
Looking Ahead	p. 309
Exploring the World of Beginning Writers	p. 310
Teaching Ourselves What to Look For	p. 311
Helping Writers See Their Strengths	p. 311
How Traits Look Early On	p. 312
Ideas for Teaching Traits to Beginners	p. 314
Continuums for Charting Growth	p. 335
Give It Time	p. 335
Postscript	p. 342
Chapter 12 in a Nutshell	p. 343
Extensions	p. 344
Looking Ahead	p. 344
Communicating with Students: Comments, Conferences, Peer Review, Grades, and Bringing Parents In	p. 345
Comments	p. 346
Conferences	p. 350
Peer Response Groups	p. 353
Grading	p. 357
Communicating with Parents	p. 364
Chapter 13 in a Nutshell	p. 366
Extensions	p. 367
Looking Ahead	p. 367
Believing	p. 368
Appendices	p. 374
Correlations	p. 374
Millard Public Schools Rubrics for Six Traits of Oral Presentation	p. 377
Excerpt from CineLiteracy (The Video Rubric) by Chris Hazeltine	p. 378
The Pitcher: A Ranking Activity	p. 379
References Cited	p. 381
Index	p. 385
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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