Student-Friendly Guide to Writing With Traits

You may use the checklist below to help you revise your rough draft. The six areas below are those that will be used to score your paper.

Ideas and Content

• My paper has a clear purpose or makes a point.
• I choose clear details and examples to help the reader understand my message
• I stick to the main idea. I leave out details that do not matter.
• I am writing about something I know.

Organization

• My introduction would make a reader want to keep reading.
• I tell things in an order that makes sense.
• Details in my paper go together.
• My paper ends in a good spot. It doesn’t stop suddenly or drag on too long.

Voice

• My writing shows what I really think and feel.
• I like what I’ve written.
• My writing sounds like me and not like someone else.
• I have thought about my reader. I have tried to make my writing clear to the reader.

Word Choice

• I choose words that will help make my meaning clear.
• My words paint a picture in the reader’s mind.
• I have tried to find my own way to say things.
• Sometimes I have tried to say something in a new or different way.

Sentence Fluency

• My sentences make sense. They are clear.
• Some sentences are longer than others.
• Sentences begin in different ways. They do not all begin with the same words.
• My paper would be easy to read out loud.

Conventions or Mechanics

• My paragraphs begin in the right spots.
• My punctuation is correct.
• I use capital letters on proper names of people, places, or things.
• My spelling is correct.
• I have proofread my paper.