Name _______________ Number ____
Response to Literature Rubric
Content
Organizational
Structure
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
Ideas/Evidence
Exceptional
Advanced
Proficiency
Proficiency
6 (100%)
5 (95%)
 Clearly has all
 Clearly has all
required content
required
content
 Written
 Written above
significantly
above grade level
grade level
 Essay effectively
organized in
logical pattern
(may be
different than
taught)
 Highly relevant
ideas that
connect to real
life
 Essay
organized in
logical pattern,
including
within each
paragraph
 Relevant ideas
that require
critical
thinking
 Effective
arguments
supported by
strong evidence
 Arguments
supported by
strong
evidence
 Convincingly
communicates
opinion about
the book
 Clearly
communicates
opinion about
the book with
strong reasons
 Advanced,
interesting
language
 Varied,
appropriate
language

Developing
Proficient
Proficiency
4 (85%)
3 (75%)
Has all required  Does not have 
content
all required
content
Limited
Proficiency
2 (65%)
Missing many
parts of the
required
content

Minimal
Proficiency
1 (55%)
Has little of
the required
content
 Essay follows
organization
taught correctly
 Some
organization,
but not all
clear

 Relevant ideas
 Some relevant
ideas
 Confusing
ideas
 Ideas lacks
logic
 Argument(s)
supported by
ineffective
evidence
 Vague and
confusing
argument(s)
 No
argument(s)
 Gives an
opinion, but
reasons
backing it up
are not strong
 Vaguely gives
an opinion and
reasons
 Fails to give an
opinion or
support for it
 Grade-level,
repetitive
language
 Limited
language
 Inaccurate
language
 Arguments
supported by
evidence
 Gives
reasonable
opinion and
reasons to back
it up
 Grade-level
appropriate
language
Incorrectly
organized
essay
 Little or no
evidence of
organization in
essay
Sentence
Structure
Conventions
(Punctuation,
Capitalization,
Paragraphing,
Verb Tenses,
Verb/ Subject
Agreement)
Introduction
 Background
 Thesis
 Blueprint
Exceptional
Proficiency
6 (100%)
Uses a variety of
well-crafted, above
grade level
sentence
structures; uses
transitions and
conjunctions to
connect ideas
 Uses and spells
above grade
level words
correctly
Advanced
Proficiency
5 (95%)
Uses well-crafted
sentence
structures; uses
transitions and
conjunctions to
connect ideas; no
errors

No errors in
above gradelevel
conventions


Essay is easy
to read


Uses above

grade level
words
correctly but
some may be
misspelled or
misused
Minimal,

infrequent
errors in above
grade-level
conventions
Essay is easy
to read
Developing
Proficiency
3 (75%)
Correct use of
simple or
repetitive
sentences
Limited
Proficiency
2 (65%)
Some fragments
or run- on
sentences with
some simple
sentences
Minimal
Proficiency
1 (55%)
Many fragments
and run-on
sentences
High
frequency and
grade level
words used
and spelled
with no errors
 Some errors in
use and
spelling of
high frequency
and grade level
words
 Frequent errors
in use of high
frequency and
grade-level
words
 Severe spelling
and grammar
errors
Minimal,
infrequent
errors in grade
level
conventions
 Some errors in
conventions
 Frequent errors  Severe errors in
in conventions
conventions
Proficient
4 (85%)
Uses a variety of
sentence structures
with minimal,
infrequent errors
 Errors do not
affect
readability

Errors
minimally
affect
readability
Missing Content (highlighted below)
Body Paragraphs




topic sentence
introduction to the quote
a quote from the book
3 sentence explanation of the quote
 Errors affect
readability
 Errors severely
affect
readability
Conclusion
 Re-state the thesis
 Either summarize, convince, challenge,
or connect

Exceptional
Proficiency
Content
Organizational
Structure
Ideas/Evidence
Sentence
Structure
Conventions
(Punctuation,
Capitalization,
Paragraphing,
Verb Tenses,
Verb/ Subject
Agreement)
 Clearly has all
required content
 Written
significantly
above grade level
Content effectively
organized in logical
pattern
 Highly relevant
ideas that
connect to real
life
 Effective
arguments
supported by
strong evidence
a transition sentence to next paragraph
Developing
Advanced
Proficient
Proficiency
Proficiency
Limited
Proficiency
Missing many
parts of the
required
content
Minimal
Proficiency
Has little of
the required
content
 Clearly has all  Has all required  Does not have 

required
content, some
all required
content
may not be
content
obvious
 Written above
grade level
Content organized Content in essay
Some organized
Incorrectly
Little or no
in logical pattern
adequately
content
organized content evidence of
organized
organized content
 Relevant ideas  Mostly relevant  Some relevant  Confusing
 Ideas lacks
ideas
ideas
ideas
logic
 Arguments
supported by
 Arguments
 Argument(s)
 Vague and
 No
strong
supported by
supported by
confusing
argument(s)
evidence
evidence
ineffective
argument(s)
 Fails to give an
evidence
 Strong reasons  Reasonable
 Vaguely gives
opinion or
 Reasons
opinion and
an opinion and
support for it
reasons
backing it up
reasons

are not strong
Uses a variety of
Uses well-crafted
Uses a variety of
Correct use of
Some fragments
Many fragments
well-crafted, above
sentence
sentence structures simple or
or run- on
and run-on
grade level sentence structures; uses
with minimal,
repetitive
sentences with
sentences
structures; uses
transitions and
infrequent errors
sentences
some simple
transitions and
conjunctions to
sentences
conjunctions to
connect ideas; no
connect ideas
errors
 Uses and spells  Uses above
 High frequency  Some errors in  Frequent errors  Severe spelling
above grade
grade level
and grade level
use and
in use of high
and grammar
level words
words
words used and
spelling of
frequency and
errors
correctly
correctly, some
spelled with no
high
grade-level
 Severe errors in
may be
error
frequency and
words
 No errors in
conventions
misspelled
grade level
above grade Minimal,
 Frequent errors
words
 Minimal errors
level
infrequent
in conventions
 Some errors in
conventions
in above
errors in grade
Exceptional
Proficiency
Advanced
Proficiency
grade-level
conventions
Proficient
level
conventions
Developing
Proficiency
conventions
Limited
Proficiency
Minimal
Proficiency