Writing Instruction Videos
Watch best practices by model teachers and listen to experts in the field of teaching writing. The videos tackle many facets of the writing process, whether it is encouraging students to seeing themselves as “authors” or viewing conventions and revision with positive attitudes.
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.
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Traits of Writing: A Professional Development Video Series on DVD
The Teacher Store 
Traits of Writing: A Professional Development Video Series on DVD
by Ruth CulhamThis powerful series from Ruth Culham provides teachers with essential information they need to assess and teach student writing. Available on both DVD and video, this set takes you inside third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms as teachers use scoring guides to evaluate children's writing, model each of the 6+1 traits in classroom lessons, and reflect on their students' learning s
$395.00
DVD | Grades 3-Up
Grades 3-Up $395.00
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Traits of Writing for the Primary Grades: A Professional Development Series on DVD
The Teacher Store 
Traits of Writing for the Primary Grades: A Professional Development Series on DVD
by Ruth CulhamLooking for specific, classroom-tested ways to build the skills of the youngest writers? Look no further than this exciting new DVD series from Ruth Culham, expert on writing assessment and instruction.
Step inside real primary classrooms to see how this powerful, research-based model helps teachers assess student work and plan instruction using the seven traits--ideas, organization,
$395.00
DVD | Grades K-2
Grades K-2 $395.00
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