Visible Revision

NEW IDEA: I recently participated in the Maine Writing Project. There, a colleague shared a way of examining the characteristics of memoir by using a color-coding revision technique. Although I have not yet taught a memoir unit, I have adapted this activity to my students' use of the Six Trait model for writing. Before students conference with me during our Writing Workshop, I expect that they apply the revision strategies that they learned during whole or small-group instruction in their own writing. Using colored pencils is a way for students to work with one trait or skill at time... and the colors show evidence of (independent) revision.

I believe in the use of Vicki Spandel's Six-Trait analytical model for teaching writing. This model is not a new curriculum. It's a vision. It's a way of using common language to identify the characteristics of good writing. Writers have considered these traits for years. They are a shared vision for writing- a way of seeing and talking about writing that helps us to understand what makes it work.

I also believe that students are conditioned to see assessment as grading. This usually takes place at the end of the writing process where it is the least powerful. Assess comes from the Latin word assidire, which means "to sit beside." By using rubrics, students are their first primary assessors for their own work early in the process. It's difficult to strive for something if you don't know what it looks like. The rubrics show what the traits look like at different levels of performance. For my students, they are not used solely for the purpose of grading but are a framework for revision.