3 Simple Truths and 6 Essential Traits of Powerful Writing

Foster confident and proficient student writers over the course of their academic careers.

Dramatically improve your students’ writing by providing them with clear, achievable goals. 3 Simple Truths and 6 Essential Traits of Powerful Writing is a comprehensive four-year writing course that focuses on strengthening your students’ core grammar and writing skills.

Each book in the series comes with clear and achievable objectives that provide immediate and ongoing feedback regarding how well each student is doing.

Examples and exercises help teachers show students why items like idea development, structure, word choice, and voice separate powerful writing from the merely acceptable.

A 14-point scoring rubric allows students to see exactly where they are in their writing journeys and exactly how they’re expected to advance from year to year.

Learn more about teaching with 3 Simple Truths and 6 Essential Traits of Powerful Writing.

Which grade level is this book series best suited for?

This writing course is geared for grades 9 (Novice) through 12 (Proficient), but the series can be adapted to begin as low as grade 7, depending on your students’ ability levels.

What are the “3 simple truths?”

1. Powerful writing really says something.
2. Powerful writing is understandable to others.
3. Powerful writing is painless to read.

What are the “6 essential traits?”

1. Development
2. Organization
3. Sentence Structure and Variety
4. Conventions of Written English
5. Word Choice
6. Voice

How is 3 Simple Truths and 6 Essential Traits of Powerful Writing organized?

Each book is divided into three sections that focus on one of the three truths. The sections are then divided into chapters focusing on one of the essential traits. For example, Development is an essential trait for Truth 1, Organization is an essential trait for Truth 2, etc.

Every chapter begins with showing students a flawed model paper that represents the lowest score for that trait and level. Annotations point out why the paper received that score. After seeing the model, students work on exercises related to the essential trait.

At the end of the chapter, students work on a writing exercise based on specific academic writing needs. These writing opportunities include a step-by-step guide to help students follow the writing process and suggestions for how much time they should spend on each step.

How is 3 Simple Truths and 6 Essential Traits of Powerful Writing different from other student writing programs?

First, this series is recursive. At the Novice level (Book One), students are taught the correct grammar of basic sentences. By the Advancing (Book Three) and Proficient (Book Four) levels, students are no longer being “drilled” in basic grammar. Instead, they’re taught the finer points of rhetoric and subtle uses of language.

Second, this is the only series that provides teachers all of the necessary tools to chart student growth and to communicate growth and expectations to students, parents, and administrators. The 14-point rubric identifies exactly where the student is in their journey as a writer and shows the next level they should aim to reach.

My school’s students are advanced. Should we start with the first book anyway?

Not necessarily. Students who have already mastered basic grammar and who are beginning to experiment with structures more complex than the 5-paragraph essay should be working at the level of the book that represents the quality of their writing. This can be diagnosed by comparing the students’ writing with the rubric descriptors at each level to make sure students are properly placed.

My school’s students are working below grade level. What should I do?

Just as with the case above, students who are struggling with basic grammar, syntax, and organizational patterns, regardless of how old they are or what grade they’re in, are novice writers and should be placed in the Novice level of the series (Book One) to ensure their growth.

Find tips for teaching grammar and writing
in the language arts classroom.