Student Writing Rubrics

Below you will find the two rubrics I will use to grade your child’s writing. These rubrics were created to mirror the rubrics that the state LEAPtest uses. This will help guide your child and better prepare him/her for the assessment they will take at the end of the school year.

It is important to understand that there are two kinds of writing your child will be graded on.

  • The constructed response is a response that your child will write to a question based on text. He or she will have to compose an answer and justify that answer using evidence from the text. You will find constructed responses at the bottom of almost every test your child takes in my class. The reason is that there are now extended responses on every part of the LEAP test, including the Math, Science, and Social Studies tests.
  • The second type of writing is an essay. The essays are lengthy responses of 3-5 paragraphs, written by your child based on one, two, or three passages. Again, your child will have to justify his or her thinking by using evidence from the passage(s).

Constructed Response Rubric

Category / Points
Capitalization / 0 1
Punctuation / 0 1
Spelling (3+) / 0 1
Grammar / 0 1
R-restate / 0 1
A-answer / 0 1
P-prove / 0 1

Constructed Response Questions Examples

Below you will find examples of my expectations for writing each week on the constructed responses answers.

Question: How is a wood rat’s home different than a woodpecker’s home?

Response / Comments
One builds in a cactus and one builds on the ground. / The answer is correct, but there was no restate, no text quoted, and the answer was not specific enough since the student used “one” and did not use the animal name.
A wood rat’s home is different than a woodpecker’s home because it is on the ground. / This answer is correct, but they did not cite their evidence, nor did they tell information about the woodpecker. The answer asked for a comparison so both animals should be included.
A wood rat’s home is different than a woodpecker’s home because it is made of sticks, rocks, and leaves. A wood rat’s home is made in the side of a cactus. / This answer is correct, but is missing the evidence statement that lets me know they pulled from the text, which is a requirement in fourth grade.
A wood rat’s home is different than a woodpecker’s home. According to the text on page 54, a wood rat’s nest is made of sticks, rocks, leaves, and cactus spines. The picture on page 52 shows the woodpecker’s home in the side of a cactus. / This is a complete answer. It includes the restate, answer, and an evidence statement. It would receive full credit on the test.
According to the picture on page 53, a woodpecker’s home is inside a cactus. This is different than a wood rat’s home, on page 54, which is made of sticks, rocks, leaves, and cactus spines. / This is a complete answer. It includes the restate, answer, and an evidence statement. It would receive full credit on the test.

Essay Rubric

Attached is the rubric I will use to grade your child’s essay writing. It is adapted from what the state uses. You can assess the rubrics used by the state for PARCC at the following URL:

**If you do not have Internet assess and are interested in obtaining a copy, please let me know and I will get you a set.

Essay Writing Rubric

Content: 8 points
___ Central Idea (on topic/matches prompt)
___ Organization (clear beginning, middle, end)
___ Paragraphs only have ONE main idea
___ Specific details used to prove my answer
___ Evidence from passage cited (told which
passage I used – TEXT TALKER)
___ Evidence from both passages
___ If needed, I explained why I used each detail
___ Answered all parts of the prompt correctly
Style: 6 points
___ Strong introduction (hook and preview)
___ Strong conclusion (summary)
___ Transition Words in each paragraph
___ Vocabulary (at least 3 advanced words)
___ Used specific verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
___ Sentence structure (different types of
sentences)
Conventions
Sentence Formation: 4 points
___ Writes using complete sentences
-no run on sentences
-no fragments
___ Indented paragraphs
___ Correct heading on paper
___ Skipped lines on final draft
Usage: 1 point
___ Subject/verb agreement
Verb tenses (past, present, future)
Word meaning (homophones: to, too, two)
Word endings
Mechanics: 2 points
___ Punctuation (commas, quotations, correct punctuation at the end)
___ Capitalization (first word of sentence, proper nouns)
Spelling: 1 point
___ Spelling (use a dictionary)
Grammar: 1 point
___ Does it make sense?

WORTH 23 TOTAL POINTS