This book has really taught me a lot about using the traits. Each chapter is very in depth and has good examples. There are sample lesson plans and suggestions on ways to emphasize each of the traits.

I like the traits because it's a great way to break writing into manageable parts. I'm not just telling my students they got a "C" on a paper. Instead, I'm telling them they wrote a paper that has some strengths and some weaknesses. Further, I can tell them where the weaknesses are and what I think they should do to improve it.

But, maybe the best thing is that I am teaching them to score each other's papers and it guides their thinking and scoring. There's a companion book of worksheets and other reproducibles that is almost a must have because it includes rubrics and scoring sheets for students to use.

My only wish is that there was a separate book for secondary students. The standards for writing are different. But, even still, this book does cover secondary teaching and I find it very useful.

I highly recommend this book if you want to teach your students to be better writers.