Student Name:

Date:                                            

Trait

1- Not Yet

2-Emerging

3-Developing

4-Competent

5-Strong

Score

Sound Ideas

The main point or storyline; awareness of details; knowing what’s important or interesting, clarity, focus, sense of purpose

·Writing has no main idea.

·None of it is clear.

·Main idea is hard to figure out.

·There is not much detail.

·Readers can tell what the main idea is.

·Writing has some interesting details but could use more

·Writing makes sense from beginning to end.

·It contains many interesting details.

·Main idea is clear.

·Writing has many interesting and unusual details.

·It is very interesting and will keep the reader’s attention.

Organization

 The internal structure of the piece; beginning, middle and ending; ability to organize and group; good sense of sequence

·The writing is hard to follow.

·There is no beginning and/or conclusion.

·The writing is hard to follow.

·There is no beginning and/or conclusion.

·The writing is pretty easy to follow, but the writer wanders off the topic.

·The organization fits the topic—most of the time.

·The beginning and conclusion are OK.

·Writing stays to one topic—most of the time.

·The beginning and conclusion are good.

·The organization fits the topic and audience.

·Writing is easy to follow.

·The beginning and conclusion are very interesting.

·The organization fits the topic and audience.

Voice

Evidence of the writer behind the message; enthusiasm for writing; individuality, personality, charm; tailoring communication to an audience; evokes an emotional response

·There is no voice in the writing.

The reader would not want to share the paper aloud.

The reader cannot find a purpose for the writing.

·There is no energy in the writing.

·The paper is not ready to share aloud.

·There is not much voice or purpose in the writing.

·The writing has some energy.

·The reader may want to share some parts of the writing.

·The voice seems OK.

·A lot of energy comes through.

·The reader may want to share the writing aloud.

·The voice fits the purpose well.

·Much enthusiasm and energy comes through.

·The reader will definitely want to share the writing aloud with someone.

·The voice is perfect for the writing.

Word Choice

Evidence of precision in the use of words; awareness of language; understanding that there are different ways to say things; stretching to use new words

·Writing and words are very hard to understand.

·Readers can’t picture what the writing is about.

·Word choice is unclear in many parts.

·Readers might be able to tell what the writing is about, but it’s hard.

·Writer just wrote and did not think about word choice.

·Some strong verbs are used, but there could be more.

·Some of the words paint a picture, but some are not clear.

·Words are clear most of the time.

·Many strong verbs are used.

·Words paint a picture and readers can tell what is said.

·Every word makes the meaning clear.

·Writing is original.

·Verbs are powerful and lively.

·Words paint a clear picture in the reader’s mind.

Sentence Fluency

The rhythm and flow of the language, how it plays to the ear; sentence sense; an ear for language patterns; use of more complex sentences; a variety of sentence lengths

·The reader can’t tell one sentence from the other.

·It is very hard to read aloud.

·Writing has choppy sentences and run-ons.

·Many of the sentences begin the same.

·The writing is hard to read aloud.

·Some of the writing is smooth, but it needs work.

·Some, but not very many sentences begin in different ways.

·Reading the writing aloud takes a little work.

·Writing is clear and smooth most of the time.

·Most sentences begin in different ways.

·Readers will like reading it aloud.

·Writing is clear, smooth, and easy to read.

·Sentences begin in different ways.

·Readers will love reading it aloud with lots of expression.

Conventions

The mechanical correctness of the piece; awareness of writing conventions:  spelling, punctuation, grammar and usage, paragraphing and capitalization

·There are very many mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and, grammar.

·It is very hard to read the message.

·It almost needs to be edited word by word.

·There are many errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

·Writing needs to be edited almost line by line before it is published.

·There are some errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar, but most are correct.

·The writing needs careful editing before it is published.

·Spelling, punctuation, and grammar are very good, with very few mistakes.

·It’s almost ready to publish.

·All spelling, punctuation, and grammar are correct.

·Writing is ready to publish.