After they have finished their initial drafts and checked grammar and spelling, students often complain when asked to invest more time in upgrading the quality of their written work. To guide their thinking, the Six Traits of Effective Writing suggests categories worthy of consideration, using an approach much like the Idea Box and Slice-and-Dice but specifically focussed on effective writing.

• Ideas and Content
• Organization
• Voice
• Word Choice
• Sentence Fluency
• Conventions

Take a look at these questions designed to accompany the Six Traits. How could such questions improve your students' synthesis capacity? How might you modify the questions (improve or adjust them) to use with your students?

To learn more about The 6+1 Trait Writing framework, visit the official Web site of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory at http://www.nwrel.org/assessment/department.php?d=1

You will find SCAMPER on pages 71-108 of Thinkertoys.

Please do not move to next module until instructed to do so by the facilitator.

© Jamie McKenzie, 2008, all rights reserved. No copies can be made or distributed in any format without the express written permission of the author.