6 5 4 3 2 1 Exemplary Strong Proficient Developing Emerging Beginning Ideas & Content Exceptionally clear, Clear, focused, Evident main idea Main idea is cloudy Purpose and main Lacks central idea; focused, engaging interesting ideas with with some support because supporting idea may be unclear development is main theme with relevant, strong appropriate detail which may be general detail is too general and cluttered by minimal or supporting details supporting detail or limited or off-topic irrelevant detail Organization Effectively organized Strong order and Organization is Attempts at Lack of structure; Lack of coherence; in logical and creative structure appropriate, but organization; may be disorganized and confusing structure manner conventional a “list” of events hard to follow introduction Inviting intro and No identifiable conclusion Creative and satisfying closure Attempt at Beginning and Missing or weak intro introduction or engaging intro and introduction and ending not developed and conclusion conclusion conclusion conclusion Voice Expressive, engaging, Appropriate to Evident commitment Voice may be Writing tends to be Writing is lifeless sincere audience and purpose to topic inappropriate or flat or stiff personality No hint of the writer sense of audience Strong sense of Writer behind the Inconsistent or dull Little or no hint of audience words comes through personality Writing may seem writer behind words mechanical Shows emotion: humour, honesty, suspense or life Word Choice Precise, carefully Descriptive, broad Language is Words may be Monotonous, often Limited range of chosen range of words functional and correct but mundane repetitious, words precision appropriate sometimes effectiveness Strong, fresh, vivid Word choice No attempt at Some vocabulary inappropriate imagery images energizes writing Descriptions may be deliberate choice misused overdone at times Sentence Fluency High degree of Easy flow and Generally in control Some awkward Often choppy Difficult to follow or craftsmanship rhythm constructions read aloud rhythm, flow Lack variety in length Monotonous variety Effective variation in Good variety in and structure Many similar patterns sentence patterns Disjointed, confusing, sentence patterns length and structure and beginnings rambling Frequent run-on sentences Conventions Exceptionally strong Strong control of Control of most Limited control of Frequent significant Numerous errors control of standard conventions; errors writing conventions; conventions; frequent errors may impede distract the reader age appropriate, spelling, conventions of are few and minor occasional errors with errors do not readability and make the text caps, punctuation, writing high risks interfere with difficult to read grammar understanding
6 Exemplary 5 Strong 4 Proficient 3 Developing 2 Emerging 1 Beginning Ideas & Content main theme supporting details Exceptionally clear, focused, engaging with relevant, strong supporting detail Clear, focused, interesting ideas with appropriate detail Evident main idea with some support which may be general or limited Main idea is cloudy because supporting detail is too general or off-topic Purpose and main idea may be unclear and cluttered by irrelevant detail Lacks central idea; development is minimal or Organization structure introduction conclusion Effectively organized in logical and creative manner Creative and engaging intro and conclusion Strong order and structure Inviting intro and satisfying closure Organization is appropriate, but conventional Attempt at introduction and conclusion Attempts at organization; may be a “list” of events Beginning and ending not developed Lack of structure; disorganized and hard to follow Missing or weak intro and conclusion Lack of coherence; confusing No identifiable introduction or conclusion Voice personality sense of audience Expressive, engaging, sincere Strong sense of audience Shows emotion: humour, honesty, suspense or life Appropriate to audience and purpose Writer behind the words comes through Evident commitment to topic Inconsistent or dull personality Voice may be inappropriate or Writing may seem mechanical Writing tends to be flat or stiff Little or no hint of writer behind words Writing is lifeless No hint of the writer Word Choice precision effectiveness imagery Precise, carefully chosen Strong, fresh, vivid images Descriptive, broad range of words Word choice energizes writing Language is functional and appropriate Descriptions may be overdone at times Words may be correct but mundane No attempt at deliberate choice Monotonous, often repetitious, sometimes inappropriate Limited range of words Some vocabulary misused Sentence Fluency rhythm, flow variety High degree of craftsmanship Effective variation in sentence patterns Easy flow and rhythm Good variety in length and structure Generally in control Lack variety in length and structure Some awkward constructions Many similar patterns and beginnings Often choppy Monotonous sentence patterns Frequent run-on sentences Difficult to follow or read aloud Disjointed, confusing, rambling Conventions age appropriate, spelling, caps, punctuation, grammar Exceptionally strong control of standard conventions of writing Strong control of conventions; errors are few and minor Control of most writing conventions; occasional errors with high risks Limited control of conventions; frequent errors do not interfere with understanding Frequent significant errors may impede readability Numerous errors distract the reader and make the text difficult to read
Formal_Writing_RubricWord.docx