6 Trait Power Write Friendly Letter

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1 6 Trait Power Write Friendly Letter Table of Contents Writing Process Choose a Topic...2 Evaluate Your Topic...3 Prewrite Organize (Friendly Letter)...4 Write Sloppy Copy...5 Evaluate 6 Traits Revise Wait Read Aloud Input and Feedback...9 Tackle Final Flaws End with a Perfect Copy...10 Assess Your Writing Process...11 Additional Brainstorming Activities 5 W s and How...12 Describe an Event...13 Describe a Person...14 Describe a Place...15 Describe a Thing...16 Freewrite...17 Sensory Details...18 Print only the pages you need. Select File Print. Type the page number(s) and/or page ranges separated by commas in the Pages field. Example: Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved.

2 Review the Power Write Process Prewrite Organize Write Sloppy Copy Evaluate 6 Traits Revise Brainstorm ideas Put ideas in order Focus on ideas Consider changes Make changes Wait Read Aloud Input and Feedback Tackle Final Flaws End with a Perfect Copy! Set writing aside Read to an audience Discuss and suggest Make final corrections Present your writing Choose a Topic Friends and family who live far away enjoy getting letters in the mail. Well-written letters with meaningful content can be kept and treasured for many years. Friendly letters are also a great way to introduce yourself to someone new in your life. Another way to use letter writing is to write a letter to a character in a story or book. This is a fun way to think about what you would like to say to the character if you could exchange letters. Instructions: Brainstorm a list of people you would like to write to. My choice: Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 2

3 Instructions: Evaluate Your Topic The questions below will help you think about your Assignment, Self, and Knowledge (ASK). Your topic may need to change if you answer No to any of the questions. My choice: Assignment 1. Will I be writing to someone I have not talked to recently? If possible, choose someone you do not talk to daily. inform/explain entertain/create persuade/argue express/reflect 2. Who will I be writing for? Think about what your audience expects, needs, or wants as you develop your writing. classmates young children elderly teacher teens business family adults other special interest group Self 3. Is this a person I am excited about writing to? yes no consider changing topic Knowledge 4. Do I know this person well enough to write about things we both know? yes no consider changing topic Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 3

4 Prewrite Organize (Friendly Letter) A friendly letter is an informal letter that you write to a friend or relative. It could also be a pretend letter that you are writing to a character in a book. Use the topics below to help you brainstorm ideas to share in your letter. Write the keywords below the topics. You do not have to write something in every section. When you have finished brainstorming ideas, think about your organization. Number your topics in the order you think will work best for your letter. After you complete the brainstorming activity below, use your ideas to help develop your first draft. Family # Friends # School # Community # World # Sports # Hobbies # Events # Pets # Books, Jokes, Songs # Movies, TV Shows # Other # Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 4

5 Write Sloppy Copy Your first draft can be called a sloppy copy because you are not expected to write perfectly on this step. This is your time to focus on developing your ideas. You will be able to perfect your writing later as you work through the writing process. Write your first draft below. Refer to your prewriting and organizing ideas to help guide you as you write. Skip lines so you have space to evaluate and revise your writing. Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 5

6 Evaluate 6 Traits Revise Instructions for Evaluate 6 Traits: Arrange your first draft so you can see it as you read the Evaluate 6 Traits questions. This will allow you to read the question, look at your writing, and decide if revisions are needed. Some sections have an activity to help you see where you can improve your writing. Mark the Skip box only if your teacher has told you to skip an activity or question. Read a question and then look at your writing. Spend 5-30 seconds deciding whether you need to revise. Check the Yes box if your writing meets the expectations. If you need to make changes, check the Revise box. Repeat the process until you have finished all assigned questions and activities. Instructions for Revise: When you are finished evaluating your writing, go back to any questions you marked to revise. Reread the question and revise your writing. Yes Revise Skip Trait 1: Organization --- Identify the main idea of each paragraph. You may find that you need to divide your writing into paragraphs if you have more than one main idea in a paragraph. Write your main ideas in the margin to help you evaluate the order of your ideas. Check the Yes box when finished. Heading and Greeting 1.1 Did I write my street address or post office box for the first line of my heading? Example: 4382 Shady Grove 1.2 Did I write my city, state, and zip? Example: New York, NY Did I write the current date? Example: May 14, Did I write a greeting such as Dear, followed by a comma? Body 1.1 Does my opening paragraph sound like the beginning of a conversation? 1.2 Does the order of my ideas make my letter easy to understand? Mark any text that needs to be moved. 1.3 Do I use transitions to connect my thoughts and keep my reader focused? Highlight transitions. Consider places where transitions are needed. 1.4 Do my ideas and details move along at a good pace? Do not spend too much time on one idea and not enough on another. Add or delete details as needed. 1.5 Do my paragraph breaks clearly separate my main ideas and make my writing easy to understand? 1.6 Does my final paragraph sound like I am ending a conversation and saying good-bye? Closing and Signature 1.7 Do I end with a personal closing such as Sincerely, Love, or Your friend followed by a comma? 1.8 Do I leave enough room to sign my name below the closing when I print a copy to send? 1.9 If I have used a P.S., is it an afterthought, or should it be included in my letter? Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 6

7 Evaluate 6 Traits Revise (continued) Yes Revise Skip Trait 2: Ideas and Content 2.1 Do my ideas focus on what my reader will find interesting? Will my reader want to write me back? Delete unrelated, repeated, or uninteresting details. 2.2 Do I share specific experiences, descriptions, information, or stories that will interest my reader? Add details as needed. 2.3 Is my letter easy to understand? Change, add, or delete details to make your letter clear. Yes Revise Skip Trait 3: Word Choice --- Identify nouns, verbs, and descriptive words in your writing to help you evaluate your word choice. Mark each part of speech differently. Yes Revise Skip Trait 4: Voice 3.1 Will some of my words or phrases make my reader want to remember how I said them? 3.2 Have I chosen words that are correct and appropriate for my reader and my purpose? Change or define words that might not be understood. 3.3 Does my letter sound natural? Avoid thesaurus overkill! If you cannot find a word that fits naturally, try rewriting the sentence. 3.4 Do I use specific nouns, lively verbs, and vivid descriptions to make my letter enjoyable to read? Revise general nouns and verbs. Add detailed descriptions. 3.5 Do I avoid repeated words, unnecessary wordiness, or overused words? Change repeated or overused words. Revise wordiness. 4.1 Does my letter relate to my reader's age and reflect my relationship with this person? A letter to a friend might have a different tone than a letter to a grandparent. 4.2 Does my letter meet the expectations of my audience and purpose? 4.3 Will my letter cause my reader to experience emotions such as feeling happy, sad, excited, or surprised? Think about what will make your reader feel something. 4.4 Does my letter sound like me? Revise your letter if you did not write in a way that shows your unique personality. Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 7

8 Evaluate 6 Traits Revise (continued) Yes Revise Skip Trait 5: Sentence Fluency --- Circle the first word of each sentence so you can easily see the lengths and beginnings of your sentences. This will help you quickly evaluate your writing as you work through the questions below. 5.1 Do my sentence structures make my main ideas clear and show how my ideas connect? Revise sentences as needed to make ideas and details easy to understand. 5.2 Do I have long and short sentences to make my writing flow like a natural conversation would? Read your letter aloud to hear the flow of your writing. 5.3 Have I used a variety of sentence structures or patterns that make my writing easy to read aloud? Check your sentence variety. Label your sentences as simple (s), compound (cd), complex (cx), and compound-complex (cc). Revise sentences as needed. 5.4 Do I avoid beginning my sentences with the same word or pattern of words? Do not begin sentences with the words and, but, or so unless they are used for style. Try not to begin more than two sentences with the same word in the same paragraph. 5.5 Do I avoid awkward run-on sentences? Find where one thought ends and another begins. 5.6 Do I avoid choppy or fragmented sentences, unless they are used occasionally to add style? Combine choppy or fragmented sentences, or add more details to a short sentence if needed. 5.7 If I use dialogue to show what someone actually said, does it sound natural? Yes Revise Skip Trait 6: Conventions 6.1 Do I have correct capital letters and abbreviations? 6.2 Do I have correct end punctuation, commas, apostrophes, quotation marks, colons, semicolons, dashes, and parentheses? 6.3 Do I spell each word correctly? Correct any misspellings that are identified. 6.4 Have I checked carefully for missing words? Example: We went the store. The word "to" is missing. 6.5 Are my sentences free of errors in grammar and usage? Check verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, degrees of comparison, and easily confused words. 6.6 Do I indent paragraphs five spaces? Do I have correct spacing between words and sentences? Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 8

9 Instructions for Wait: Wait Read Aloud Input and Feedback Congratulations! You have completed most of the hard work of writing. It is time to take a break. Even a five-minute break will help you see things you may have missed when revising. Instructions for Read Aloud/Input and Feedback: Before reading aloud, pretend you have an audience and read your writing quietly to yourself. This will help you identify things that could improve your writing. Make changes if needed. Your audience could be one person, a small group, or the class. Read your writing quietly to your audience or have your audience read it to you. You and your audience should be able to look at your writing during the Read Aloud. If your audience has questions or seems confused, stop and discuss. Mark any changes that need to be made. After you finish reading your writing aloud, ask your audience the Input and Feedback questions below and record the responses. Read Aloud audience: 1. Does my opening paragraph sound like the beginning of a conversation? 2. Do I share interesting information and ask questions? 3. Does my last paragraph sound like the end of a conversation? 4. Can you think of any other questions, comments, or suggestions to help me improve my writing? 5. What was the most interesting part of my letter? Why? Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 9

10 Tackle Final Flaws End with a Perfect Copy A flaw is something that is not quite perfect. When you Tackle Final Flaws, you are looking for any remaining errors. Many writers call this the polishing edit. Read one sentence at a time in your revised Sloppy Copy. Look for any remaining flaws or errors in punctuation, capitalization, spelling, verb tense, correct word usage, etc. Correct any mistakes you find. Neatly copy your final draft on the lines below to End with a Perfect Copy. Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 10

11 Assess Your Process Assess how well you used the strategies in the writing process to improve your writing. Use the Process Rating Rubric below to determine a rating for each of the steps listed in the process. Circle your rating for each of the steps below. Writing Process Steps My Rating Prewrite / Organize Write Sloppy Copy Evaluate 6 Traits / Revise Read Aloud / Input & Feedback Tackle Final Flaws / End with a Perfect Copy Reflect: Process Rating Rubric 5 I spent a perfect amount of time and effort on this step. 4 I spent an appropriate amount of time and effort on this step. 3 I could have spent more time and/or effort on this step. 2 I needed to spend more time and/or effort on this step. 1 I barely spent any time or effort on this step. Describe how well you think you did on this assignment. Did you discover or learn anything about yourself as a writer or about your topic? Did you meet any previously set writing goals? Set Goals: Could you improve the amount of time and effort you spent on any of the writing process steps? Could you improve your writing for any of the six traits of writing organization, ideas and content, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, and conventions? Write goals for improvement. Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 11

12 5 W s and How One way to explore a topic is to ask questions beginning with the words who, what, when, where, why, and how. Examples: Who discovered acid rain? What causes acid rain? What are the effects of this type of pollution? What is the definition of acid rain pollution? Brainstorm as many questions as you can for each question word. When you write your first draft, focus on writing details that answer the questions. Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 12

13 Describe an Event Because events have a beginning, a middle, and an end, the most logical organization for describing an event is in the order the events occur. This is called chronological order. Write a brief description of the main events in the boxes below. You do not have to complete all of the boxes. After you complete the brainstorming activity below, use your ideas to help develop your first draft. Event 1 t 1 Event 2 t 2 Event Even3 Event 4 t 3 t 4 Event Even5 Event 6 t 5 Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 13

14 Describe a Person As a writer of description, you can decide the direction in which you want to lead your reader's eye. There are four commonly used directions when describing things in spatial order: near to far (or reverse) top to bottom (or reverse) side to side inside to outside (or reverse) One way to create a powerful description of a person is to describe a person's character and personality while describing what the person looks like. Use the following strategies to describe a person: use dialogue or quotes to reveal personality and character through what the person says describe a memory involving the person while describing physical traits, personality traits, actions, and anecdotes work personality and physical traits into actions and anecdotes Brainstorm details that will help describe this person. After completing the brainstorming activity below, use your ideas to help develop your first draft. Personality traits: Physical traits: Actions that reveal personality: Anecdotes or brief stories that show the person's character and personality: Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 14

15 Describe a Place Every good descriptive paragraph has an overall impression that it leaves with the reader. This impression may be scary, peaceful, funny, sad, or any other feeling or mood. When specific details are used to show rather than tell, the writing comes to life. Brainstorm details about a place. Include as many sensory details as possible about what you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. After completing the brainstorming activity below, use your ideas to help develop your first draft. Describe what is in front: Describe what is behind: Describe what is to the left: Describe what is to the right: Describe what is below: Describe what is above: Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 15

16 Describe a Thing When writing a description, you cannot include every detail about the subject. Instead, decide on the overall feeling you want your reader to experience. Focus your description on things that will help create that feeling in your reader. Write your topic and brainstorm subtopics and related descriptions. Add as many details as possible to each section. After you finish brainstorming, think about the best order for the subtopics. Number the subtopics in the order that would make the most sense when describing the topic. Then think about the descriptive details, and number the details in the best order for describing the subtopics. After you complete the brainstorming activity below, use your ideas to help develop your first draft. My topic: Detail # Subtopic # Detail # Subtopic # Detail # Subtopic # Detail # Subtopic # Detail # Subtopic # Detail # Subtopic # Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 16

17 Freewrite Freewriting is a powerful strategy for discovering and developing ideas. Think about your topic and try to write without stopping for five to ten minutes. Do not worry about writing information you might not need or about making mistakes. The important thing is to discover what you think. After you complete your brainstorming, use your ideas to help develop your first draft. Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 17

18 Sensory Details If a description contains only vague ideas and general words, readers will soon lose interest. Specific details and words that appeal to the senses are the sparks that activate the reader's imagination. Example: Vague or general words: Specific details and words: Josie felt sad. Josie slumped in the big, overstuffed chair, resting her downcast head on her fist and sighing. Brainstorm words or phrases that will help your audience experience what they are reading. After you finish the brainstorming activity below, use your ideas to help you write your first draft. Sights Sounds Smells Tastes Feel (External) Feel (Internal) Copyright 2009 Step Up 4 Learning Systems, Inc. Reproduction limited to 6 Trait Power Write licensed users. All rights reserved. 18