A basic tenet of trait-based writing is that good writing starts with original ideas accompanied by specific details. The reader should learn something new. To help generate workable ideas, have students brainstorm a list of topics under the heading “Things I Like to Do” and then select one high-interest idea. Young writers often have a hard time narrowing down their topic, so work as a group to help focus each students’ topics. For example, “swimming” could include details about the beach, who was first in the water and what the weather was like.
Trait-based writing teaches students to organize their material in a clear and logical way that helps the reader understand the information and follow the writer’s ideas. Components of organization include an introduction, body and conclusion accompanied by suitable transition phrases. Some activities that help develop this skill include writing directions in sequential order, using chronological order to describe events in a narrative, practice connecting details by cause and effect and generating and using lists of transitional and signal phrases.
Another component of good writing is a careful selection of words that help the reader “see” what the writer is talking about and clearly convey ideas. Word choice encompasses things like strong verbs and modifiers, figurative language, sensory details, audience appropriateness and thoughtful and precise language. Developing this type of language awareness takes time, but you can get your students started with journals. Have them record adverbs and adjectives taken from their reading and speaking experiences throughout the day, and then share some favorites with the entire class. On occasion, bring in a compelling photograph and have your students write descriptions using some of the words from their journals.
Sentence fluency makes writing easy to follow through the use of a variety of sentence types. Sentences are complete, yet vary in structure and length. It is the opposite of choppy and flat writing and the true test of fluency is the sound of the language when it’s read aloud. To develop this skill, have students work in teams to read their pieces to one another. When the language seems stilted, unclear or jumps from one topic to another without a transitional bridge, have them stop and make the necessary edits.
Trait-based writing values voice -- teaching students to let their personality come through in their writing. Voice helps readers care about content because it is engaging and audience-appropriate. You can use poetry to illustrate this idea to your students; poets use specific words, images and rhythm/rhyme to lend voice to their work. Select works from children's writers like Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein or Sandra Boynton and have the students analyze them for the ways word choice, imagery and rhyme provide humorous, spooky, silly or other types of voice.
Correct grammar, spelling, capitalization and punctuation are last on most trait-based writing lists, because conventions are carefully attended to after content has been fully developed. They are often best taught as mini-lessons created in response to a group of students who lack information regarding a particular convention. For instance, when a group of children are all struggling with homophones such as "they’re," "their" and "there," review the meanings with the entire class and practice correctly using each in sentences.