IN CLASS WRITING RUBRIC

Student______________________Teacher____________________Score______________
Writing Prompt: Narrative Descriptive Expository Persuasive
Score Traits Comments
___4
(Excellent)
___3
(Acceptable)
___2
(Below Average)
___1
(Unacceptable)
CLEAR, WELL ORGANIZED, WELL DEVELOPED IDEAS
o Main idea (thesis) in introductory paragraph is clear.
o Topic sentences in body paragraphs are clear and
support main idea.
o Strong details are used to support topic sentences.
o Support sentences show elaboration and extension.
o Transitions are used to connect paragraphs.
o Introduction, body, conclusion provide logical
sequencing of ideas.
PREWRITE
___4
(Excellent)
___3
(Acceptable)
___2
(Below Average)
___1
(Unacceptable)
SENTENCE VARIATION IN PARAGRAPHS
o Lead sentence captures the readers attention!
o Intro. participial phrase (Running with great speed, she won.)
(Surprised by the party, she.)
o 2 independent clauses separated by semicolon
(Sam won the race; he is an excellent runner.)
o Compound sentence (Marti won the race, and Sam came in third.)
o Appositive phrase (Marti, the best sprinter on the team, won.)
o Intro. prepositional phrase ( With a burst of speed, Sam)
When you revise
make sure you use at
least 2 or 3 of these
sentence types in
each paragraph.
Avoid starting with
The.
___4
(Excellent)
___3
(Acceptable)
___2
(Below Average)
___1
(Unacceptable)
WORD CHOICE
o Vivid, lively verbs are used.
o Precise, accurate nouns are used.
o Imaginative, unusual adjectives are used.
o No vague, overused, repetitive language is used (a lot,
great, very, really, there is, there are, super, like).
o Word choice gives the writer a personality, or voice.
REVISED!!
___4
(Excellent)
___3
(Acceptable)
___2
(Below Average)
___1
(Unacceptable)
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
o Metaphor (The math test was a monster.)
o Simile (Taking the science test was like wrestling an
alligator.)
o Personification (My Spanish test said to me, Hola!
You are the piata, and I am the baseball bat!)
o Word choice invites the reader to visualize a mental
image or picture.
REVISED!!
___4
(Excellent)
___3
(Acceptable)
___2
(Below Average)
___1
(Unacceptable)
GRAMMAR, USAGE, MECHANICS
o No run-on sentences
o No sentence fragments
o Subject/verb agreement
o Correct verb tense usage
o Punctuation is correct
o Capitalization is correct
o Spelling is correct
EDIT!!