Grade 8 Instructional Writing Rubric* (Last Revised 11/1/2012)
Aligned to Next Generation West Virginia Content Standards and Objectives for English Language Arts and Literacy
Smarter Balanced Claim 2: Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences.
Development:
Elaboration of Narrative
Organization
Statement of
Purpose/Focus
NARRATIVE
4
Exemplary – Exceeds Standard
3
Proficient – Meets Standard
2
Partial – Approaches Standard
1
Minimal – Begins Standard
The writer
 clearly focuses and maintains the
narrative, real or imagined,
throughout
 effectively engages and orients the
reader by
o establishing a context and point
of view
o introducing a narrator and/or
characters
The writer
 adequately focuses and generally
maintains the narrative, real or
imagined, throughout
 adequately engages and orients the
reader by
o establishing a context and point
of view
o introducing a narrator and/or
characters
The writer
 somewhat maintains the narrative,
real or imagined, throughout with
some minor drift in focus
 somewhat engages the reader by
o establishing a context and point
of view
o introducing a narrator and/or
characters
The writer
 effectively creates a sequence of
events, real or imagined, that
unfolds naturally and logically from
beginning to end
 effectively and consistently
incorporates a variety of transition
words, phrases and clauses to:
o convey sequence
o signal shifts from one time
frame or setting to another
o show relationships among
experiences and events
 provides an effective opening
The writer
 adequately creates a sequence of
events, real or imagined, that
unfolds naturally and logically from
beginning to end
 adequately incorporates a variety of
transition words, phrases and
clauses to:
o convey sequence
o signal shifts form one time
frame or setting to another
o show relationships among
experiences and events
 provides an adequate opening
The writer
 creates an inconsistent and uneven
sequence of events, real or
imagined, that unfolds from
beginning to end
 inconsistently incorporates basic
transition words, phrases and
clauses with little variety to:
o convey sequence
o signal shifts from one time
frame or setting to another
o show relationships among
experiences and events
 provides a weak opening
The writer
 shows an attempt to maintain the
narrative, real or imagined, but may
provide little or no focus
 may show an attempt to
o establish a context and point of
view
o introduce a narrator and/or
characters
but the response may be very brief,
have major drift or be confusing or
ambiguous
The writer
 uses little or no discernible
sequence of events, real or
imagined, to convey the narrative



provides a powerful conclusion that
follows from and reflects on the
narrated experiences or events
The writer
 provides thorough and effective
elaboration:
o vivid details
o engaging dialogue
o exciting pacing
o Interesting description
o deep and detailed reflection
 effectively uses a variety of
narrative techniques that advance
the story or illustrate the experience
provides an adequate conclusion
that follows from and reflects on the
narrated experiences or events
The writer
 provides adequate elaboration:
o sufficient details
o appropriate dialogue
o acceptable pacing
o adequate description
o detailed reflection

adequately uses a variety of
narrative techniques that generally
advance the story or illustrate the
experience
provides a weak conclusion that
partially follows from the narrated
experiences or events
The writer
 provides uneven and cursory
elaboration:
o uneven details
o limited dialogue
o inconsistent pacing
o simplistic description
o ineffective reflection
 uses uneven and inconsistent
narrative techniques that partially
advance the story or illustrate the
experience


incorporates few or no transition
words, phrases and clauses
provides little or no opening with
extraneous ideas that may intrude
 does not provide a conclusion that
follows from the narrated
experiences or events
The writer
 provides minimal elaboration, using
little or no:
o details
o dialogue
o pacing
o description
o reflection
 uses little or no narrative techniques
that advance the story or illustrate
the experience
Language and
Vocabulary
Conventions
The writer
 clearly and effectively expresses
experiences or events
 effectively uses
o precise words and phrases
o vivid descriptive details
o engaging sensory language
to convey a vivid picture of the
experiences and events
The writer
 adequately expresses experiences
or events
 adequately uses
o precise words and phrases
o relevant descriptive details
o appropriate sensory language
to convey a clear picture of the
experiences and events
The writer
 unevenly expresses experiences or
events
 uses
o simplistic words and phrases
o inconsistent descriptive details
o limited sensory language
to convey a partial picture of the
experiences and events
The writer
 demonstrates an effective
command of conventions:
o demonstrates effective use of
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling, with insignificant errors
that need little or no editing:
 comma, ellipsis and dash
to indicate a pause or
break
 an ellipsis to indicate an
omission
o demonstrates few, if any, errors
in grammar and usage:
 verbals (gerunds,
participles, infinitives)
 verbs in active and passive
voice
 verbs in the indicative,
imperative, interrogative,
conditional and subjunctive
mood
o effectively recognizes and
corrects inappropriate shifts in
verb voice and mood
o demonstrates few, if any, errors
in sentence formation
The writer
 demonstrates an adequate
command of conventions:
o demonstrates adequate use of
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling, with few errors that
need editing but do not detract
from the narrative:
 comma, ellipsis and dash
to indicate a pause or
break
 an ellipsis to indicate an
omission
o demonstrates some minor
errors in grammar and usage:
 verbals (gerunds,
participles, infinitives)
 verbs in active and passive
voice
 verbs in the indicative,
imperative, interrogative,
conditional and subjunctive
mood
o adequately recognizes and
corrects inappropriate shifts in
verb voice and mood
o demonstrates some minor
errors in sentence formation
that do not obscure meaning
The writer
 demonstrates a partial command of
conventions:
o demonstrates inconsistent use
of capitalization, punctuation,
and spelling, with frequent
errors that need editing to
clarify the narrative:
 comma, ellipsis and dash
to indicate a pause or
break
 an ellipsis to indicate an
omission
o demonstrates frequent errors in
grammar and usage:
 verbals (gerunds,
participles, infinitives)
 verbs in active and passive
voice
 verbs in the indicative,
imperative, interrogative,
conditional and subjunctive
mood
o partially recognizes and
corrects some inappropriate
shifts in verb voice and mood
o demonstrates frequent errors in
sentence formation that may
obscure meaning
The writer
 vaguely expresses experiences or
events
 uses
o confusing or incorrect words
and phrases
o little or no descriptive details
o little or no sensory language
to convey an unclear or confusing
picture of the experiences and
events
The writer
 demonstrates a lack of command of
conventions
o demonstrates incorrect use of
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling, with frequent and
severe errors that need editing
to convey the narrative:
 comma, ellipsis and dash to
indicate a pause or break
 an ellipsis to indicate an
omission
o demonstrates frequent and
severe errors in grammar and
usage:
 verbals (gerunds,
participles, infinitives)
 verbs in the active and
passive voice
 verbs in the indicative,
imperative, interrogative,
conditional and subjunctive
mood
o does not recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb
voice and mood
o demonstrates frequent and
severe errors in usage and
sentence formation that often
obscure meaning
*This instructional writing rubric is designed as an instructional tool for teachers and students to use as they begin implementation of the Next Generation WV Content Standards and Objectives in
the classroom. The existing WV Writing Rubric, aligned to the 21st Century WV Content Standards and Objectives, will continue to be used to assess student writing produced for WESTEST 2 Online
Writing, a component of WESTEST 2, through 2014. Classroom teachers, schools and school systems implementing the Next Generation Content Standards prior to 2014 should use this instructional
rubric to assess student growth in writing relevant to the expectations set forth in the Next Generation Standards prior to 2014-15 when the SMARTER Balanced Assessment is scheduled to be
administered as the state summative assessment.