by Kay Davidson
Kindergarten - no longer an environment of Readiness but rather
Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic - and the Primary
grades have higher academic expectations because of the emphasis on state and
national standards.
Writing Standards in the Primary grades revolve around the writing process,
listening and speaking, and language conventions. In surveying the states,
Davidson found no single standard for exemplary writing. The assessment rubrics
ranged from 4 to 6 points, only sometimes including conventions. Thus Kay
developed her Simple 6� design based upon the numerous standards and
standardized assessments from the states across the country. The Simple 6� is a
student-friendly, simple, analytic rubric for becoming a successful writer. The
high 2006 state writing scores of students in schools using The Simple 6� prove
the program works.
For Primary students the program first involves the integration of picture
books from which writing ideas come and which model great writing components.
The Simple 6� are found in all picture books, and simply by designing questions
based on the 6 components of The Simple 6� students come to understand the
program. Students then include The Simple 6� components in drawings from ideas
based on read alouds. This naturally leads to including The Simple 6� in writing
pieces. Each component of The Simple 6� builds on the next, allowing students to
master skills as they cumulatively review and work together to take control of
their own writing.
Davidson presents prompts with assessed anchor papers as well as prompts for
student writing experiences.
Teachers find scoring student writing easy with The Simple 6� because
students and teachers understand it. The language is clear, the order is
developmentally progressive, and the scoring is relatively uncomplicated.
