Grade 10 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.
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
The writer
 adequately focuses and generally
maintains the narrative, real or
imagined, throughout
The writer
 shows an attempt to maintain the
narrative, real or imagined, but
may provide little or no focus


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
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
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
 effectively creates a wellexecuted 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

provides an adequate opening



provides an adequate ending that
follows from and reflects on what
is experienced, observed or
resolved over the course of the
narrative

provides a powerful ending that
follows from and reflects on what
is experienced, observed or
resolved over the course of the
narrative


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
inconsistently incorporates basic
transitional strategies with little
variety
provides a weak opening

incorporates few or no transitional
strategies

provides a weak conclusion that
partially follows from what is
experienced, observed or
resolved over the course of the
narrative

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
Development: Elaboration
of Narrative
Language and
Vocabulary
Conventions
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
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
o effectively demonstrates correct
use of a colon to introduce a list
or quotation
o demonstrates few, if any, errors
in usage and sentence
formation
o
demonstrates effective use of
various types of phrases and
clauses to convey specific
meanings and add variety and
interest
The writer
 provides adequate elaboration:
o details
o dialogue
o pacing
o description
o reflection
o multiple plot lines

adequately uses a variety of
narrative techniques that generally
advance the story or illustrate the
experience
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 distract
from the narrative
o adequately demonstrates
correct use of a colon to
introduce a list or quotation
o demonstrates some minor
errors in usage and sentence
formation that do not obscure
meaning
o demonstrates adequate use of
various types of phrases and
clauses to convey meanings
and add variety
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
 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
o sometimes demonstrates
correct use of a colon to
introduce a list or quotation
o demonstrates frequent errors in
usage and sentence formation
that may obscure meaning
o demonstrates some use of
phrases and clauses, but
variety may be limited
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
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
o demonstrates incorrect use of a
colon to introduce a list or
quotation
o demonstrates frequent and
severe errors in usage and
sentence formation that often
obscure meaning
o demonstrates ineffective use of
phrases and clauses
*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.