Modeling Writing with 6-Traits + Podcast Sharing

I love to get email from graduates of my online 6-traits class. I get a glimpse of their classrooms and the fun and excitement of teaching writing with the six traits. Here's news from Karen's 5th grade class!

I've done 3 traits so far this term and have never received such overall great writing from a class. The three or four that really shine have become 17 and 18. I am truly impressed with the improvement and excitement about their writing (and honestly - I'd put a lot of energy into my writing program BEFORE 6 Traits!).

I really think the key changes for me in my teaching were including a lot of modeling of my own work with the students. When they see the time and effort I've put into my samples for sharing (of both good and bad writing!) they know I'm looking at specific features of their own writing very thoroughly. The very methodical coverage of key points for each trait helps students see, in a tangible way, what they need to address when they are writing.

Inspiration diagrams of each trait (simplified) help the children check their work for each of the significant points of the trait. I'm having them color in their own diagram, and I color one as I'm marking. We have a mini conference to compare and discuss our evaluations.

I came up with a rather neat plan. Using GarageBand ( a Mac program that allows one to create a podcast very easily), I had the children each rehearse and make an aural podcast of themselves reading their stories. They put them into our classroom public folder where anyone in the class can listen to them. Not only are they working on their reading fluency and expression, they have a whole class audience. I get to listen to everyone's aural reading at my leisure, and can choose samples of exceptional work to use as examples for the rest of the class.

My next challenge is to figure out how I can get the students to email their file home. How wonderful for a parent to be able to listen to their child reading their own story!

Gotta love this technology!

Karen (Grade 5 teacher, 31 years experience)

Conferenceing for conventions

Be specific about what is working:

• "You've used some lower case letters."
• "I can see that you know that there are spaces between words."
• "You remembered that I is always capitalized."
• "Look at the capitals at the beginning of each sentence!
• "You ended each sentence with a punctuation mark. That tells me how to read your writing."
• "Wow! Quotation marks! Now I know when someone is speaking."
• "Look at this word. You heard the beginning, middle and ending sound."
• "These words are all spelled correctly."

As questions to extend meaning:

• "What mark would you like to place at the end of this sentence?"
• "How would this sentence change if you placed an exclamation mark here?"
• "Do you know the marks we use to show that someone is speaking?"
• "Which words do you think you spelled close to the dictionary spelling?"
• "Listen as I say this word. What sounds do you hear?"