The opening paragraph of Teaching the Characteristics of Effective Writing suggests that writing more is not necessarily writing better. In today’s era, students are increasingly being tested on their ability to convey their knowledge across the curriculum through essays, short answers, and various other forms of writing. Composing a piece of written communication demands an understanding of the content, knowledge of the audience and context, and the ability to use appropriate conventions for that audience and context, an idea that many students have never been taught (Bowen and Cali ). Also, many teachers are not familiar with the proper techniques for teaching effective writing. In North Carolina, the state now assesses writing with the Five Traits of Effective Writing.

The first characteristic is the focus, the main idea, or the theme that a writer must respond to in a writing assignment. Teachers instruct that if the student strays from focus, her writing will weaken. If the reader is confused on the topic, the focus will again weaken. This feature is closely linked to the second feature of effective writing, which is Organization. Too often, teachers assume that students understand how to effectively organize a piece of writing. By teaching this technique to students, you will inevitably help them stay focused as well!

The third feature, a two part feature, is Support and Crafting. Support is important to strengthen the thesis of any article and confirms that the student has adequately researched his approach. Elaboration helps make the document clearer to the audience. The writer must present her ideas with enough force and clarity so that the support is sufficient. The effective use of concrete and specific details strengthens the power of the answer.

Style, the fourth characteristic of the group, asks students to really look at the audience they are writing for and adapt their writing appropriately. Skillful use of accurate and useful vocabulary enhances the effectiveness of composition through the use of appropriate words, phrases, and descriptions that engage the audience (Bowen and Cali). This feature is closely related to the fifth and final feature, Conventions. This focuses on the use of proper grammar, word usage, and encourages students to check their work.

The article then addresses the origin of The Features, explaining that, since 1999, several other states have adopted their own version into their own curriculum. After this short section, the article provides several points for teachers and students to review. He instructs teachers on how to incorporate features into planning and offers students tips on how to use features to become a better writer.

Overall the article is well written and very informative. The article would serve as a strong reference for educators, since it was written as part of a larger scholarly journal for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Additional references on similar topics are available on the same website.

References:

Cali, Kathleen, and Kim Bowen. “Teaching the characteristics of effective writing”. 2010. Learn NC Editions. Nov 28, 2010 – learnnc(dot)org/lp/editions/few.