French project rubric Name: ______

Score: ______

4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Visual component /
Shows evidence of considerable time and effort.
/ Shows evidence of some time and thought with few errors. / Shows evidence of some time and effort with some errors. / Shows little evidence of time and effort with many errors.
Research component / Thoroughly covers assigned topic. / Covers topic well and gives some elaboration and detail. / Covers topic adequately with little elaboration and detail. / Delivers only a bare sketch of information.
Follows directions component / All directions followed completely. / One or two directions not followed. / Three or four directions not followed. / Five or more directions not followed.
On time component / Handed in on time.
/ Handed in 1 day late.
/
Handed in 2 days late. / Handed in 3 days late.
Presentation component / Thorough and prepared presentation. / Presentation prepared but a little choppy. / Presentation very choppy. / Presentation given but not prepared.

Rubric Ideas and Explanation

The Categories

When designing the categories, our goal is to cover all aspects of “what makes a good essay”. In attempting to do so, I use the following categories, placing their names down the left column of the rubric:

  1. Analysis & Explanation – This covers analysis of text, originality of thought, development/explanation of ideas, etc. This is a useful category because often the preceding aspects of an essay differentiate an “A” from a “B”. The category then becomes helpful in explaining to students why they may not have achieved an “A” even though they have all of the requirements met.
  2. Thesis & Support – This covers the strength, originality, etc. of the thesis itself; to what extent the thesis dominates the essay; and the support of the thesis. One can work in quote requirements, etc. to this category.
  3. Structure & Organization – This section covers the intro, conclusion, transitions, paragraphing, and general logical order.
  4. Writing & Style – This includes fluidity, style, voice, tone, audience, word choice, sentence variety, etc.
  5. Grammar & Mechanics

An Optional Category

If you decide to use some or all of the preceding categories, you may also want to consider including a 6th row/category, which will fluctuate according to assignment particulars. This category may sometimes include research, a particular writing skill you’d been working on, or anything particular to the readings or the assignment.

Ideas For Using the Rubric in Class

As I mentioned during Orientation, it’s often useful to include students in the whole grading conversation, so they can become more aware of what they’re doing in their writing, and what they still need to do to reach a more sophisticated level of written communication. To try to meet some of these ends, I use the rubric in the following ways:

  1. Take the empty template to class on an overhead and create the rubric together.
  2. Have students hand in a copied rubric and highlight where they think their essay is at – once per row of bullets. That is, they won’t just highlight the entire “B” area for “Structure & Organization,” but rather will highlight the first bullet in the “A” column, the second bullet in the “C”, etc.
  3. Ask students to write an explanation of where they think their essay is at in each major category. You can ask them to place checkmarks in a blank rubric, and then write explanations for each, or they could just use a piece of paper and write a sentence discussing each category.
  4. Pass back highlighted rubrics with returned papers.
  5. Make mini-rubrics (blank) which you can pass back with every essay, checking boxes as appropriate and explaining.