Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126373 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Review

"As a teacher-leader, I recommend Vicki Spandel's materials to fellow teachers, local, county, and state administrators, college professors, and student teachers. Her books, teaching guides, and podcasts never fail to impress educators from a wide variety of backgrounds and experience. Most importantly, her materials show students of all grade levels how to become stronger authentic writers."

- Barbara Andrews, A.C.Stelle Middle School, Calabasas, CA

From the Back Cover

Vicki Spandel

Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing: Assessment and Instruction, 5/e

From Vicki Spandel, the pioneer of 6-trait writing, this fifth edition of our market-leading resource brings everything up to date, offering a comprehensive overview of the best education strategies and philosophies 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. With its new lessons, updated rubrics, and inclusion of diverse learners, this book prepares teachers to guide their students to success on state tests and beyond. Give students the preparation they need to become writers for life!

Now teachers have access to a new multi-level, research-based series written for the second grade through eighth grade classroom that shows revision in action. Creating 6-Trait Revisers and Editors is the perfect complement to Vicki’s classic text, Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing! To learn more about the new series see the inside front cover.

“I cannot name another book that provides such relevant material that is so easy to incorporate into classroom teaching. This text delivers what it promises–it actually surpasses what it promises. A precious jewel for writing teachers!”

–Donna Horton, Hillcrest Middle School, Simpsonville, South Carolina

“Vicki Spandel has an authentic voice that speaks to people in the profession. [She] is the strongest part about the text: here is a teacher who really knows her stuff and is, above all, realistic and practical.”

–Tamara Doehring, Melbourne High School, Melbourne, Florida

Vicki Spandel has worked as a language arts teacher, editor, journalist, technical writer, and award winning video producer. Since her work developing the original, internationally recognized 6-Trait Model for writing assessment and instruction, she has served as scoring director for more than 75 state, county, and district writing assessments. Vicki is a frequent visitor in writing classrooms, providing coaching on writing, revision, and editing.  Her books include Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing and Creating Young Writers (Allyn & Bacon); The 9 Rights of Every Writer (Heinemann); and The Write Traits series (Great Source Education Group).

About the Author

Vicki Spandel has worked as a language arts teacher, editor, journalist, technical writer, and award winning video producer. In 1984, Vicki coordinated the 17-member teacher team out of Beaverton, Oregon who developed the original, internationally recognized 6-trait model for writing assessment and instruction. Since that time, she has served as scoring director for more than 75 state, county, and district writing assessments, and has developed instructional writing materials for students K through college. She is a frequent visitor in writing classrooms, providing coaching on writing, revision, and editing. Vicki is the author or co-author (with Jeff Hicks) of more than 30 books for teachers and students, including Creating Young Writers, second edition (Allyn and Bacon), The 9 Rights of Every Writer (2005, Heinemann), The Write Traits Classroom Kits, Grades 1 through 8, Write Traits Advanced, Grades 9 through 12, and most recently, Write Traits Kindergarten: Bringing the Traits to Kinderwriters (all of Great Source). She lives with her family in the beautiful Three Sisters Wilderness area of Central Oregon.

Customer Reviews

6-Trait Assessment is a Winner!
This book was written for writing teachers struggling to find a way to help their students improve, and veterans looking for a new approach. The 6 traits are ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. Any characteristic of writing can be placed under one of these traits. The traits provide a common terminology for writing conferences, and help students focus on a specific area that can vastly improve their writing.

This practical, application-based book is filled with instructional techniques, rubrics, guidelines, sample essays, trouble-shooting solutions, mini-lessons, great ideas, and so much more. This was a required text in one of my graduate courses and is now my favorite book on writing instruction. If I could give it six stars, one for each trait, I certainly would.

Great info, inconvenient format
Creating Writers got me charged up and well-prepared for teaching sriting/revision using the 6 Trait model. Spandel writes well, using a combination of research-based information and personal anecdotes to keep the reader's attention. I appreciate the number and variety of samples she included for practice revision/assessment. The samples were, however, not very easy to duplicate for classroom use. The print is too small and there are often two samples on one page, or one sample on several pages. The layout is difficult to work with. Overall, though, the book is excellent. I have been to two training sessions about 6 Traits, but it took Spandel's book to get me hooked and enthusiastic, and made me confident about using the 6 Traits in the classroom.The information deserves a 5 star rating. The format deserves a 2.

Creating Writers Through 6-Trait Writing Assessment and Instruction (4th Ed)
This book gives so many examples of the qualities to look for and teach in writing instruction. I especially like the fact that this edition is more inclusive of secondary ideas and samples.

With this book as a guide, it is hard to miss what is important to the writing instructional process. The information is comprehensive and user friendly.