Beginning Writers

Noting that primary-school writers are imaginative, and that their writing often reflects a mixture of creative, highly individual styles, this book places teaching ideas and students' writing and drawings in perspective and views the experimentations and playfulness of students as ways of learning. The Six-Trait Analytical Model for Assessing Writing is employed as a basis for teaching and assessing primary students' writing. Chapters in the book are (1) Lessons from the Classroom; (2) How the Traits Show Themselves at Primary Level; (3) Rubrics, Stages of Growth and Developmental Continuums; (4) Sample Student Papers; (5) Primary Process (which discusses the primary version of the writing process); (6) Teaching Traits to Primary Writers; (7) Teacher Talk: Answers to 10 Questions; (8) Using Reading to Teach Writing; (9) Writing with Purpose: More Than Stories; and (10) The Joy of Portfolios. Contains 21 references. A list of "writing do's and don'ts," goals for primary writers and teachers, and a description of the Six-Trait Model are attached.