Grade 9 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.
NARRATIVE
Development: Elaboration
of Narrative
Organization
Statement of Purpose/Focus
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 setting
o setting out a problem, situation,
or observation and its
significance
o establishing one or multiple
point(s) 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 setting
o setting out a problem, situation,
or observation and its
significance
o establishing one or multiple
point(s) 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 setting
o setting out a problem, situation,
or observation and its
significance
o establishing a point of view
o introducing a narrator and/or
characters
The writer
 effectively creates a well-executed
progression of experiences or events,
real or imagined, from beginning to
end, so that they build on one another
to create a coherent whole that leads
to a particular outcome (e.g., a sense
of mystery, suspense, growth or
resolution)
 effectively and consistently
incorporates a variety of transitional
strategies
 provides an effective opening
The writer
 adequately creates a smooth
progression of experiences or events,
real or imagined, from beginning to
end, so that they build on one another
to create a coherent whole that leads
to a particular outcome (e.g., a sense
of mystery, suspense, growth or
resolution)
 adequately incorporates a variety of
transitional strategies
The writer
 creates an inconsistent and uneven
progression of experiences or events,
real or imagined, from beginning to
end with evident flaws that create only
a partial sense of unity or
completeness

inconsistently incorporates basic
transitional strategies with little variety


provides an adequate opening

provides a weak opening



provides an adequate ending that
follows from and reflects on what is
experienced, observed or resolved
over the course of the narrative
The writer
 provides adequate elaboration:
o details
o dialogue
o pacing
o description
o reflection
o multiple plot lines

provides a powerful ending that
follows from and reflects on what is
experienced, observed or resolved
over the course of the narrative
The writer
 provides thorough and effective
elaboration:
o details
o dialogue
o pacing
o description
o reflection
o multiple plot lines
 effectively uses a variety of narrative
techniques that advance the story or
illustrate the experience

adequately uses a variety of narrative
techniques that generally advance the
story or illustrate the experience
provides a weak conclusion that
partially follows from what is
experienced, observed or resolved
over the course of the narrative
The writer
 provides uneven and cursory
elaboration:
o uneven details
o limited dialogue
o inconsistent pacing
o simplistic description
o ineffective reflection
o simplistic plot lines
 uses uneven and inconsistent
narrative techniques that partially
advance the story or illustrate the
experience
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 setting
o set out a problem,
situation, or observation and its
significance
o establish a 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
 use little or no discernible events and
experiences, real or imagined, to
convey the narrative
incorporates few or no transitional
strategies
provides little or no opening with
extraneous ideas that may intrude
 does not provide a conclusion that
follows from what is experienced,
observed or resolved over the course
of the narrative
The writer
 provides minimal elaboration, using
little or no:
o details
o dialogue
o pacing
o description
o reflection
o plot lines
 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, phrases and
clauses
o specific telling details
o sensory, concrete and figurative
language
to convey a vivid picture of the
experiences, events, setting and/or
characters
The writer
 demonstrates a strong command of
conventions:
o demonstrates effective use of
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling, with insignificant errors
that need little or no editing:

a semicolon (and perhaps a
conjunctive adverb) to link
two or more closely related
independent clauses

a colon to introduce a list or
quotation
o demonstrates few, if any, errors
in grammar and usage:

effective use of various types
of phrases and clauses
o demonstrates few, if any, errors
in sentence formation

effective use of parallel
structure
The writer
 adequately expresses experiences or
events
 adequately uses
o precise words, phrases and
clauses
o telling details
o sensory, concrete and figurative
language
to convey a clear picture of the
experiences, events, setting and/or
characters
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

a semicolon (and perhaps a
conjunctive adverb) to link
two or more closely related
independent clauses

a colon to introduce a list or
quotation
o demonstrates some minor errors
in grammar and usage:

adequate use of various
types of phrases and clauses
o demonstrates some minor errors
in sentence formation that do not
obscure meaning:

adequate use of parallel
structure
The writer
 unevenly expresses experiences or
events
 uses
o simplistic words, phrases and
clauses
o partial telling details
o limited sensory, concrete and
figurative language
to convey a partial picture of the
experiences, events, setting and/or
character
The writer
 demonstrates a partial command of
conventions:
o demonstrates inconsistent use of
capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling, with errors that need
editing to clarify the narrative

a semicolon to link two or
more closely related
independent clauses

a colon to introduce a list or
quotation
o demonstrates frequent errors in
grammar and usage:

some use of phrases and
clauses
o demonstrates frequent errors in
sentence formation that may
obscure meaning:

partial use of parallel
structure
The writer
 vaguely expresses experiences or
events
 uses
o confusing or incorrect words,
phrases and clauses
o little or no telling details
o little or no sensory, concrete and
figurative language
to convey an unclear or confusing
picture of the experiences, events,
setting and/or characters
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

a semicolon to link two or
more closely related
independent clauses

a colon to introduce a list or
quotation
o demonstrates frequent and
severe errors in grammar and
usage:

little or no use of phrases and
clauses
o demonstrates frequent and
severe errors in sentence
formation that often obscure
meaning:

little or no use of parallel
structure
*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.