Cynthia Rice on Voice

Final Reflection for Teaching and Assessing Writing with the 6-Traits by Cynthia Rice

As a reluctant yet aspiring writer, I approached this course with some ambivalent anticipation. My position as resource teacher requires me to know something about all academic areas, maybe quite a lot actually. My lack of experience in teaching writing with the 6-traits propelled me to take this course. My own schooling did not provide any inspiration for how writing could be taught so that students could discover their own creativity. I did have an excellent model, however, when I supported a child in the grade 2 class last year. The teacher implemented Writers’ Workshop with astounding results. This model gave me a vision of how writing could be taught and illuminated some excitement in me.

Our first trait, voice, was total immersion. Voice is the trait that I understood least. I was delighted to read Spandel’s chapter on voice. Her writing is a demonstration of how voice can be heard even in a textbook. Reading the chapters on voice was a refreshing change from texts that present material with a distinct lack of voice. I enjoyed reading her material; the examples illustrated clearly what she was conveying. Her writing drew me in and the pages seemed to turn themselves as I read. The quality of her writing did not diminish for me over the course and I now own three of her textbooks.

As the course progressed I realized that voice is supported by all of the other traits. The choice of ideas, the organization, the construction of sentences, the effectiveness of word choice, and the use of conventions all work to either produce and highlight the author’s voice or disguise voice. Even very young writers who have not mastered the alphabetic principle can write with strong voice. Indeed, their early voice is usually very loud and the distinct job of the educator is to nurture voice as the child grows. Struggling readers and children with limited skills with the mechanics of manipulating a pencil can have voice represented through the 6-traits. I work with a boy in grade 3 who has only begun to master the very basics of reading and writing. When he has authored a piece he writes his by-line “by Joey!” Nothing could be more demonstrative of Joey’s voice. He has to work ten times harder than any of his peers to write even one word. I smile everytime I see this exclamation.

The course as a whole has made me intensely aware of voice in all kinds of literature. On PEI our phone book is an excellent example. How could a phone book have voice? Well, ours did. All Islanders eagerly awaited the delivery of the newly published phone book each May. The cover was a main attraction. A particular aspect of Island life was always portrayed. One year there were images of about 50 kids engaged in various activities. People took great delight in trying to identify how many of the kids they knew and where they lived. In one community there are so many people with the same names that most people go by their nicknames. The nickname often pointed to an idiosyncrasy of the person. A phone book was published using nicknames so people could find them more easily. Eventually, the Island Telephone Company was swallowed by a larger company and then as the fish in the sea do, the larger was again swallowed by an ever-larger company. No one takes notice anymore of the publication of the phone book. Someone in Toronto designs it. Voiceless…

The other traits are tools to communicate what the author has to say. Rating each trait was an adventure in itself. I enjoyed discovering how each trait has potential to enhance or deaden the message. Through the reading and even more so through the ratings I found myself discovering the potential of each trait. The author has the power to shape the reader’s experience and perception through the traits. An artist uses form, color, composition, light, and line to communicate in a similar way that the writer uses ideas, sentence fluency, word choice, conventions and organization. Or the musician can use tempo, dynamics, phrasing, melody choice, instrumentation, and vocals to speak through music. The artist can vary brush strokes, use line in novel and unexpected ways to provide a visual experience. So the writer can use word choice and sentence fluency to take the reader on a journey. These tools have so much potential as part of a whole effect.

It was through rating students’ pieces that I gained the most insight into how these traits can be effectively used. When reading a master’s piece the elements are not as obvious to me. I experience the whole piece and its aftermath as a whole. When looking at developing writers it was easier to see how the individual traits can be used, sometimes when the young author neglected to use them. In examining how a piece could be improved, I was able to focus on the impact of a trait. I had never thought of the effects of sentence length on the attention and feelings of the reader. An abrupt change in sentence length can act to alert the reader, make them more attentive. Using long, descriptive sentences can lull the reader into feeling complacent. As for convention, I was aware of the effect of using proper conventions but now I am aware of how conventions can be used to make a piece explode with voice.

Last summer, I traveled to Toronto with 2 boys who happen to have autism to pick up 2 of my grandsons and drive back to Prince Edward Island to spend the summer together. We stopped in Kingston, a city known for its university and maximum-security prison. We stopped to meet up for the afternoon with one of my Canada World Youth participants whom we all knew and loved. He attends university in Kingston and had planned activities for us. To my surprise, he had planned to take us to the prison museum. We all approached with caution. The tour of the museum turned out to be one of the most meaningful events of a densely packed summer. In the museum there was a gallery displaying work of the inmates, mostly visual art. There was one piece of writing displayed. All of the traits carried a voice that pierced me. It was a full biography. Presentation, conventions, sentence fluency, idea, organization, and word choice combined to bear the weight of a powerful voice. The piece was displayed with dignity beside a wonderfully rendered drawing of birds in flight. The piece was written on a broken hunk of Styrofoam with paint that had dripped down the sides.  It read “I wish al parints had to aksept there children the way thay ar..”

The course has given me the tools to teach writing effectively and to evaluate students’ writing so that they grow as writers. No doubt, the main objectives of the course have been achieved. In addition, my desire to write has been awakened and now I am working writing into my day. Writing can give me moments of reflection within the current, even the rapids, of my life. The question was posed for discussion consideration: Must a teacher be a writer to be effective at teaching writing? Perhaps not. However, I think that any teacher who is truly inspired by teaching through the 6-traits will be compelled to be a writer.

Reference
Spandel, Vicki. (2012). Creating young writers. Boston: Pearson.

A Reflective Journal Margaret McKanna

Margaret McKanna
Teaching and Assessing Writing with the 6 Traits
Reflective Journal Summary
August 9, 2013

At the heart of Teaching and Assessing Writing with the 6 Traits, is a vision of students as assessors of their own writing. This approach is designed to maintain student control at every stage of the writing process. Teachers champion clarity of thought and celebrate the individuality of voice. This approach keeps the writing process whole while also enriching student writing with attention to the 6 Traits.

Teachers trained in 6 Traits writing have a genuine appreciation of student writing at all levels of development. They can clearly identify the qualities of strong writing as they emerge and move toward proficiency. Teachers use the language of the 6 Traits to explore and discuss authentic student writing with students and their parents. This language is used to establish a system of self- monitoring and personal goal setting that strengthen the quality of each trait in student writing. Teachers use the touchstones of the 6 Traits to create their own assessments that will determine what students already know, what they want them to learn and how they will know when students have learned.


Teaching the criteria and language of the 6 Traits to students creates opportunities for young authors to deepen their understanding of what gives writing its clarity and strength. Although the 6 Traits support a unified message, each trait is introduced in a separate lesson. Teachers build an understanding by relating the concepts of a trait in a way that is meaningful and age appropriate. The use of authentic writing samples gives students practice in hearing, identifying and discussing the strength of each trait in context. Mini lessons and strategies help students to identify each trait within their own writing. Teachers model ways to strengthen a specific trait in student writing. Reading aloud helps students to hear each trait in a variety of mentor text.


The practice of students reading their own writing aloud supports the integrity of the writer and ultimately the internal strength of the writing. Students hear their message the way other readers will hear it. They can determine for themselves if the message was accurately delivered. When students read their work aloud to their peers, they invite feedback to determine how the message was received. This focus on the clarity of the message, the way it was delivered and received, lends purpose to the effort of revision.


When teachers listen to students read their writing aloud, they share honest reactions that re-enforce the strengths in the writing while also making suggestions that will move the writing forward. Teachers can help students to hear the way one trait supports another. Sharing the tools of good writing in this context, contributes to writing growth in a way that following the revisions made by teachers does not. Students and teachers work together to define personal writing goals using the language of the 6 Traits.


6 Traits writing is not a formula to follow. It is an approach to writing that demands the full engagement of teachers within the writing process. Teachers must be writers themselves in order to fully appreciate and communicate the essential qualities of each trait. The most effective teachers of 6 Traits writing are seen as writers by their students. They demonstrate the safety of the space by sharing their honest efforts and by inviting student feedback. Teachers make the work of writing visible when they share their ideas aloud and model the thinking behind the decisions they make to support those ideas in their writing. When teachers model revisions of their own work based on student feedback, students realize that all authors must work to improve the organization, sentence fluency and word choices of their writing.   Teachers as writers model self-editing of conventions with regard to clarity of the ideas and integrity of voice or offer their writing to students as a sample for editing practice.


A strong writing program based on the writing process and including the criteria and language of the 6 Traits is the best preparation for success on standardized writing assessments. Students learn to write by writing. When teachers at every grade level build an appreciation of the 6 traits based on the common language of the traits, students deepen their understanding and develop their writing potential at every grade level. The support of student control of the writing process, honors individual voice, develops writer confidence and independence. Students see themselves as writers capable of making choices about their writing based on self-assessment. When teachers promote the integrity of the author, and the strength of written expression, they raise the human capital of their classrooms and prepare students to meet the challenges of outside assessments.


Erik Erickson used the term “generativity” to describe the mid-life choices we make to move forward in new direction, to connect in new ways; the opposite is stagnation. Generativity is a form of renewal based on “creativity in service to the young”. Generativity is a way elders serve not only the young, but also their own well being. As a member of this class, I have learned the importance of listening to the voices of children in their writing and honoring the thoughts they share on paper. I have also learned to trust young authors to control their own writing.  Guidance from that place of integrity will support writing growth at every stage of development. Eight weeks ago, Dennis suggested that I would find this class to be the right place at the right time. This class has generated waves of fresh ideas. More importantly, it has caused me to make meaningful connections to those ideas in a refreshing and invigorating way. I have grown as a writer and teacher as well.