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40 Reproducible Forms for the Writing Traits Classroom Scholostic Teoching Resources

Four-Point Rubric
Scoring
I 2 5 4
Experimenting Developing Effective Strong

for a topic to definetopic

* Beginning e Topicdefinedbut broad * Narrowand manageable topic
ldeas w Searching
limitedor missing
s Information s Lacksspecificinformatron * Contentclearbut readerstillleft e Coesbevondthe obviousor
the meaningand
e No meaningful details * Vaguedetails with ouestions oredictable
developmentof the
* Disconnectedthoughts s Climmerof mainpoint w Detailsupportattempted * Relevant,
accurate
details
messaSe
mBeginsto developtheme w Showsconnections/insights

O r g a ni z a t i o n ;ili;;;;;;;;;ffi; s lneffective
leadand conclusion e Routineleadand conclusion e Invitingintroductionand
e Sequencing and pacingnot present e Sequencing and pacingconfusing w Mostlylogicalsequencingand satisfyingconclusion
the internalstructureof
e Connections or not
are confusing * Connections awkward PaclnS o Effectivesequencing and pacing
the oiece
Presenr mFormulaic detracts
structure from e Predictable
connections * Thoughtful transitions
q Hardto follow content * Basicbeginning,middle,ending w Smoothorganization

intrigues
the reader e Reader/writer present
connection * Effectiveand strongreader/writer
Voice w No concernfor audrence
w Lifelessand mechanical
s
c
Occasionally
Generally"riskfree" but not strong connection
the way the writerbrings
* Flator inappropriate s Sitson the surface e Pleasing yet "safe" * Takesrisks
the tooicto life
e Purposenot present * Purposelacksconviction e Energylevelinconsistent w Reflectsinterestin and
w Purposeis crediblebut not commitmentto topic
powerful i9 pgv^ve
e.Pup g-s.9.. g:I g ..
rful_9n9 .."_ngg

Word Choice . u"..Cri.,y

L"ri''*a mCenerallycorrectwords;no spice e Someactiveverbsand precise p Powerfuland engaging words
* Simplewordsusedincorrectly * Languageis functional NOUNS w Wordingaccurate/specific/precise
the specificvocabulary
the
No figurative
language * Attemptat figurativelanguage w Momentsof sparklehereand there w Arffuluse of figurative
language
writerusesto conveymeaning e
e Wordsdo not conveymeaning eWordsconveygeneralmeaning * Effective
use of figurative
language w Words/lanBUage createsmeaningful
s Wordsenhance the meanins prctures

w Choppy,rambling, or incomplete mPhrasing effectsreadability more mechanical

* Sentences than * Easyflow and rhythm
Sentence s No "sentencesense" * Sentence structureimpairs fluid w Strongand variedsentence
Fluency e Oralreadingdifficult understanding usuallyhangtogether
w Sentences structure
the way the wordsand phrases * Repetitive
beginnings * Partsinviteoralreading * Canbe readaloudeasily w lnvitesexpressivereading
flow throughoutthe text * Too manysentences beginthe begindifferently
s Sentences e Overallsentencestructure
SAMC WAV : gqrllng.
.._en|r._apces."T
!
i * Spellingerrorsimpedereadability * Spellingcorrecton commonwords * Spellinggenerally
correct w Spellingcorrectevenon more
Conventions i r Incorrect and
ounctuation e Endpunctuation and easy e Punctuationand capitalization difficultwords
the mechanicalcorrectness punctuation
and capitalization
i caoitalization mostlycorrect
capitalization usuallycorrect w Accurate
of the piece to
i * Manyusageand grammarerrors c Crammarerrorsnot serious o Grammarand usageare correct mCrammarand usagecontribute
i s Lackof paragraphing o Paragraphingirregular * Paragraphingcorrect clarity
*'P"ulu-s13p| a19-esJyl.e--
1ns".e-nI
i srHandwritingunreadable o Handwritingpoor mostlylegible
o Handwriting w Handwriting is consistentand uniform
Presentation i * Randomor lackof spacing e Somethoughtgivento spacing * Spacingimprovesclarity w Cood balanceof spaceandtext
of
the overallappearance integrates
* Effectively graphicelements
e Marginsand headerseffective
it"
t,.I''t
the work
i c Pooruse of white space
t^
' * Overallappearance is unacceptable
* Attemptsat marginsand headers
s Overallappearanceis distracting i is acceptable
s Overallappearance * Overallappearance is pleasing
;
i
I
I
1
N
I
I *-."6*.*
*
""d
I

f Frl
Five-Point Rubric
Scoring
rJ-S-l 2 , 4 5
Experimenting Emerging Developing Effective Strong

r for a topic r Hintsat topic I Ceneraltopic defined a Topicfairlynanowec I Narrowand manageable

ldeas r
Searching
Limitedinformatiorr I Readerleft with many I Reasonably clearideas t Newwap of thinkingabout topic
the meaningand
developmentof the t Vaguedetails unansweredquestions I Detailspresentbut not topic attempted r Clear,focused,and
messaSe I Randomthoughts r Sporadicdetails precise r Credibledetailswith some answersreaders'questions
r Climmerof main point I Showssome specifics support a Relevant,accuratedetails
a Writerunderstands topic I Showsinsightinto topic
* 4 * a * 4 q 4
n f

I r N ol e a do rc o n cl usi on I r Ineffective
leadand r Routineleadandcondusion o Effectiveleadandconclusion r Invitingintroduction
and
O f ganiZ
.
at i On -_,- -- conclusion c Mainlylogical satisiying conclusion
,; 9-:_;-_---_- {: e Sequencrng
' not present I sequencing effective
me tnternal$rucure or I a -. r Masterful sequencing
., . No awarenessof pacing 1 e Somesequencing apparent e Pacinggenerallyunder r Sequencing workswell
Ine Prece r Artfulpacingusedfor
i r Hard to follow i r Pacingawkward control pacing
r Well-controlled
I i r Someattemptat structure t Commonstructures detract r Smoothflow stylisticeffect
I from content r Structureshowcases the
--i-;;;;ffi;;; centralideasor theme
I r Occasionallyintrigues
the r Interesting
and informative r Compelling andengaging
., ., .. , .^-- .L^ | r Lifelessand mechanical ! audience I reader e Pleasing;
takesrisks r Takeseffectiverisks
me way me wnler DrrnRS Ine i _ -, .
I r Flat or inappropriate I e ceneral statementsrequire ! r Pleasing yet "safe" r Engagesreadermostof the r Reflectsinterestin and
topic to life
: r Purpose not present ; readerinterpretation ] r Writer/reader connection time commitment to topic
i r Triesto engagereader i fadesin andout I PurDoseconsistent r Purpose is clearand
i I Hintsat purpose I r Purpose inconsistent powerful

r Vocabularyis limited i r Cenerally

correctwords;
Word Choice c Simplewordsused ; no sPrce
I r Someactiveverbsand
I '

; Preqse nouns
r Effectiveand creative verbs
and nouns
r Powerfulandengaging
r Wordingis accurate
words
andprecise
vocabulary
the specific the
inconectly I r Languageis functional I r A moment or two of sparkle
e Wording mostly correct r Artfuluse of figurativelanguage
writerusesto conveymeaning t . Attemptsinteresting
r No figurative
language words I . Experimentswith figurative o Figurativelanguageis e Words/languagecreate
r Wordsdo not convey i r Wordsconveygeneral r language t effective meaningful pictures
r rTl€dfll0$ I e woidsbeginto enhancemeaninglr Words and phraseswork well
TI

r .choppy,rambling r rAttempts
SgntenCe or I rfome simple
sentences compound and o Beginsto haveeasyflow r Polishedrhythm,cadence,
;;:l:1::=
El..^--r, rI incomplete
Incomplete ;I rOccasionalconnectingword
r occasionai
connecting word iI compler s,
complersentences and rhythm andflow
flUgnGy
rtUgncy "
:I rNo"sentencesense"
.No"sentencesense" I use !I rSentencesusuallyconnect
lSentences : r Strongandvariedstructure r Creativeuseof sentence
the waythe wordsand --
; e Oralreadingnot possible I I Oralreadingdifficult ! e Partsinviteoralreading ; r Oralreadingencourages lengthand structure
phrasei
now throughout
the i ; ;+t ii"fi'"ing' i ;;#;il"i'i.;"" r" i ;;;;";;;u"ei"i. ;iiF.** i expression in places r Invitesexpressive
reading
r Sentences well crafted r Sentences enhancemeaning

rS pe.l l i nggeneral l ycor r ect

i rS p e l l i n g ,e rro rsi mpede l rS pel l i ngerorsoneasyw,iords on spellingerrorsevenon
e Few r Spellingcorrectevenon
CO nV gnt iO n S
- w l l t t b l r t a w l a l r r r i . r . | - - . I r I
moredifficultwords
i readablilty i o Enorson basicpunctuation
and i basicwords moredifficultwords
the mechanical
mechanicat
conectrie'ss
of I Accurateand creativeuseof
Inconectrpunctuation
:I ro Inconect and I caphalization ! r Routinepunctuationand useof punctuation
r Consistent
the piece punctuation andcapialization
! capitalization I r Someusageandgrammar I capitalization andcapitalization
o Manygrammarerrors ! erors r e Crammarerors infrequent I Grammar and usageconect I Crammarand usage
r Lack'oiparagraphing I r Occasional
useof paragraphingI r Consistentparagraphing I Pamgmphings$isticalty
effedile contributeto clarityand style
p_lo_udgtd_gqalye_pqtqglaphing
r Handwritingunreadable I Handwriting poor r Consistent and uniform
Presentation r Randomspacing or lackof l Somethoughtgivento
r Handwritingmostlyreadable
but inconsistent
r Legiblehandwriting
r Spacingimprovesclarity handwriting
the overallappearance
of the r Goodbalanceof spaceandtext
spacing spacing I Attemptsconsistentspacing r Experimentswithgraphic
work r Effectivelyintegrates
r Pooruse of whitespace . Aftempbat margins/headers r Marginsand headerseffeaive elements
r Overallappearance r Overallappearanceis r Oremllappearance is r Overallappearanceshows graphicelements
unacceptable distracting acceptable balanceand proportion I Overallappearance is pleasing
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40 Reproducible Forms for the Writing Traits Classroom Scholosticfeaching Resources

40 Reproducible
Formsfor the WritingTraitsClassroomScho/ostrc
Teoching6esources
 40 Reproducible Forms for the Writing Traits Classroom ScholosticTeoching Fesources

Six-Point
Scoring
Rubric
r;2i5ialsis
*i!1"s i Developing i tffecive i strong i Exceprion
iEP"1T:::11!i -
ldeas
themeaninS
and,
".- iliJ:,i',ff1i*,"*, i:["sj:f,i':9"Jffi:,i :l"g*:*rnffi, ; .r"run--a'"una""or"-l-.uniqu
i::ff1*",9,:",'.""FJ;' 'lfiod;nt''"a""tnaintot
i;v;;;;il i-;;;;il;;i,il*#. pre'sent
I r oetairs butnor ; r oiu rd fm;ed;arwues
''Rdndomthoushts "1""i6i,i."tt"'pt"a I
; 'Gedibredetakwiths"'"i I
'[{'igg,**0.r""
fl?."Sfl""t"t*" iilii{"".11Xffi5"*"'i.tffi,o.",p*iri., | 5uPPUrt i .ffffi"lffL*r*
o Ketevanl, accurate OeIattS Ii the ObviOUS
j * writer understandstopic enrich
1 lh"l,".
. I: .o Makes
MdKes connections;
connedon shares
: ; ; ' ShowsinsiShtinto loPic i insight etfecrively
i i

Olganization iI :i;"',":Llffi:if,'J::",.g*il';:read
Ineffective and
leadand i *Routine
r".a.'a j *rffective
bJ;;J" j";ffiffi;;..,d;;ffi;
notpresent ij conclusion
t-:'r r 'I
i;ffi,;;;;;j';;;-
::-E:--'i'-'-:.:-: . sequencing conclusion t
conclusion j
; satrsfiing conch,sion unique
COnCIUSiOn I
conclttsion rnnrlrrcinn
br.rt ceticfirina
conneoed rnnrh rcinn t r rniar ra k,,+ -^--^--,

ii:;:"JJ""'*'""' irsome:equencing
*)omesequenclng
i:ll*:*:::rr*rg
i slMoreloSlcal
:
sequenong I eSequenctngworkswell r *Effectivesequencing i rMasterfulsequencing
i i
ii:ilffTi',T*"t*"g
e Hardto follow aPparent l * P a c i n g S e n--'-* :;:ff-":"Tqy'sx
e r a l l y u n d e rl a W ell-controlledpacingf
::t*if::i:i".1*
* P a c i n g i s c r e a t i v e ' , t*r*41;"lrs
-iviiiili*""'"
lcArtful p a c i n g i -i s e J f o r
:' e Pacingawkward
loeii:ingawi<waro r; control
.;;;- iI *;i;il;il-.tffifi"*
Commonstructures liave i; sIiiiiiiiiJiil,l",","""a
beginsto reveal Ii
Struct-ure stylisticetfe&--
;. someattemptat slrudure ; . commonstructures I snoothflow ; nheme " :.srircturestrowcases."n
t detractirom content

t:l:l9l",le i r occasionally
awareof : . writerbeSins
to connect ,I rrwriter occasionatty i r* i l Interestjng and
t i l l o informarive;
s.compelinSand
VOiCg
- v . - - I : l:^:::"ll ;-"".'."*:,uL6ilrJrvLvrilrslr
yvvilrsr u LLo>tultdily ! ttete5ult8dno rrndllvet LomPelllngandengagng
audience i with the reader
:!: y:Lthewriterbringsthe i ;ii::ffi#riffi:il* i intriguesthe reader I
e Ceneralstatemenbrequire j o Pleasing,yet "safe"
r Takeseffictiverisks i * writeisour'ort on uji*U
.;."iri"...'.''"''''"..''"i:y]^"-:1p.t,-"|.l1t.1|.ceneJa|sEErrEnt€qui|e|.P|ed5in&}€t"$ie"i.P|ea1in8;tasnsk
. apuroose
1otpresent , €a(E,r
ntepreGton i . \i\lhier/reader
colnection ; .Engages
reader
moslol . commitment
in topic i topic'
sTriesto engage I fadesin and out i the time : * Purposeshowsclarityand I o powerfulpurposeshows
eHintsatpurpose iePurp
'
o s e i n c o n s i s t e n t i o P u r p, o s e c o n s i s t e n t i u" n- i- "- ' i" t' -t"i' no ; ; ! - - - - ' - - l - ; ; ; i t r " ' " ; ;
I I r

- - - - - - : " " - : - - : " "- - - - - : - - - " ^ " : - --. - -: . - " - - --i--- - - : - -- - - -- - - - - 1 " - 1 - - - - - - - - r - - - : - - . i - - - " - - - ----------"i .
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' r t r , r l | !ChOiCe
WOfd ||l,|Lti.sim o t " * l r a s u i e J i ;';.i cenerally
: :pj1?-,1:1_it-l'.TiEd ; ; , * . *cortect * : - i ; "j ' ri ;Some
. - . "words; ; " "active
- . ; -verbs ' . i #i] ioaEfiective
" l , ,and " " " "and . ' . i . ; f :i. *r precision
, ' #creative ] ' ' * . ' "with
, , words
i . i : tand
# ' ii" r* eowerfut,
g ? ' engagingand
writeiusestoconvey'me*'"'i:*i^''l'..ii'::]..l,.::q::]f'"Jjiii"i.#i"i:|"i#ifj'it'.i'fl},""llii?,.l'jlETi#i!niI""|:Hf"'fJff*fT
if|f:;"::jyJi"""i.n:*.--'joLan8uageisIunctiona|i.i*i*i?lLcr'r+j.r,ioiji,'g.'o'try.on".t;.wordir8!\,ofeffc1ivev:eWor(ting.sacclIla
W o l ddos dnot
* Words on o t c o n V eI y words
convey :wordsl]9r.]"c"'':l9|8Yu8 ",,|effective
-begin
meaning i . woids to enhance i r woidsind phraseswort i r woras
I o wordsconveySeneral phrasescreate
andphrases
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o wordsand phrases
andphrasescreate
create
meanrngimeaningiwell picture i lingeringimages

'*5'fi#1"*easvnow I rR\dmandnowfeer
:fltJ:l9e !'fr[o#iJi'o''""' ri E
sense" i:3?I:;[i::ffi*ilT'
l'i;;.T,*,:ff#:o*o i *:gxull;,ir#ig'*
gnd rhythm r natural Exquisitely
constructed
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use I
* Sentences
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tthe
h eway
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y t hw5rds
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r d sphrases 5 e reading
s : . o r is
a |not
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n o tread
:.ora|readin8'difcuh|rPansinvite'ora|ieadingi1i,ai"_l|en8thandstruc1Urei.Readin8a|oUdis
flow throughoutthe text ' . Anemp6
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vanationIn
in 'r a
. sentences
sentences
beSinin
beSin '; . Oral
oral reading
readingencoural€s
encourages ;i .lnvhes
: P9:tli.l9 , . - o Invh-es
exprersive
readrngi .osenten;es
exoreisive
readrnc enhance
Senten;esenhance
. KepemNeDeSrnnrn8s ; sentencebeSinnin8s ; differentwq6 in places
expression
i| | r* Sentences
sentenceirelateand build
bu]idII meaning
meanins
I o Sentenceswell crafted i uDonone another N

Conventionsi.5P€||in8erro6impede:.sPe||in8erroEe\,enon|.spe||in88eneralvcorred|.f€al/sPe||in8e|rrsevenjrSpe||ingcorrectelenon|euses
*,1.Ji"*i."-.iJ"-"-"r
i.lii;.illno_"*,."_o
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andglammar usage ..
enors
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9rr9l5. .. :; ero6 I Consistent nrr:oh^hino
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useol i us€Rle are-under control I . paracraDhinc
- is itvlistical
. Lac(ol para8rapnrn8 ' . 9no's.
U@sonduseoi Para8rdPirl8 paragraphin8 ; o Sdjij ad oegliEpdr4Gptr8; effe;;
:

P r e s e n t a t i o n i : 5 : : j : Ij '*]R^a 8
r I Y'Yrrrurtwrr "1i'.*j1?]:^.i:!::1T1F-P.Tji.HandwIitin8most|y|.Le8ib|ehandwriin8|rHandwritin6isconsi5ter|t:.|
";t;; n d o m -s p a c i n g o lra c k o f l c s o m e t h o u g h t g i v e n t o readablebut inconsistent| * Spacingimprovesilarity ! e Cood balariceof space
the overall appearance of the i r snAc,no I sp.".& un?M"rfonr"tion
l^n-T-^,..,^.-"^""- i^ifjjl-._^_,-- __, i:lF!ry*fi'ETspadns' . Eperim€ntswithsraphic ; andtext. 1 orarc$rearter',rut
/'':1 ;i-"-*'*"*-'- I'ruqrtse
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of white sPdLE ir.4rqrPbdtlrri,rSrnsano
t Attemptsat marginsand I. .t Margins
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and headeE
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unaccePtlDe
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i . oveollaPPearance
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,
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