Using Models to Support Writing Instruction: Analyzing
Watch a teacher contextualize the book Tar Beach by encouraging students to pay attention to details.

Teaching Vocabulary
A READ 180 teacher demonstrates an instructional routine to explain the meaning of words.

Lester Laminack: Cracking Open the Author's Craft
Laminack prefaces a reading by instructing his audience to listen for imagery and ideas that resonate.

• • • Lester Laminack Reads Saturdays and Teacakes
      Laminack reads from his book Saturdays and Teacakes while highlighting his writing decisions as an author.

Traits of Writing: Introduction to the Traits
Ruth Culham discusses the advantages of using the traits to teach primary grades.

Traits of Writing: Teachers Talk About the Traits
Teachers stress the importance of using shared vocabulary to describe "good" writing.

Traits of Writing: A Study Group on Sentence Fluency
A group of teachers explains how to achieve sentence fluency based on the progress shown in their students' portfolios.

Traits of Writing: A Lesson on Ideas
A model teacher demonstrates an accessible lesson that introduces ideas for writing to younger grades.

Traits of Writing: A Lesson on Organization
A master teacher introduces the trait of organization by asking students to recall the order of events from a familiar story.

Traits of Writing: Teacher-Led Conferences
During a student conference, a teacher asks the student about his word choice and gives constructive suggestions sensitively.

Traits of Writing: Practical Tips for Teaching Writing
Teachers share their ideas for effectively integrating the traits of writing into their classroom routines.

Janet Angelillo: Revision Is Not Punishment
By being positive and enthusiastic, teachers can imbue writing with the same excitement that students feel for play.

• • • Study the Greats to Discover Great Writing Strategies
      Angelillo encourages students to examine great authors to "learn the nuances of what they do as perfectionists in their field."
    • Give Students Ownership of Their Writing
      If students believe that their writing is their own, revision won't be such a painful chore.
    • Write With Your Students
      In order to model and emphasize the importance of revision, teachers should write alongside their students and offer their own work for editing.
    • Punctuation Is More Than Just Details
      Teachers should examine their own attitudes about conventions and view them as inseparable units of composition.

Ruth Culham: A Writer's Vocabulary: Traits Are a Foundation for Young Learners
Even as early as kindergarten, young writers can benefit from being familiar with the terminology of the traits.

• • • Understanding What "Good" Looks Like
      After internalizing the traits, students become better at recognizing good writing and asking pointed questions.
    • Developmental Scoring Guide
      Ruth Culham discusses the difference between the developmental scoring guide and the scoring guide for grades 3 & up.
    • The Traits in Action at the Primary Level
      Watch what the writing process looks like in a writing workshop at the primary level.
    • Empowering Young Writers
      Using the traits with primary writers empowers them to believe that they are writers and to understand what writers do.

Linda Rief: What Motivates Students to Write
To become confident writers, students must feel that they have something to say and have an audience that wants to hear it.

• • • Revision Shouldn't Be the Most Difficult Part of the Writing Process
      Once students develop their own tastes and opinions about their own writing, revising becomes easier.