Name: ______________________________
MUKWONAGO AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT WRITING ASSESSMENT
6-TRAIT ANALYTIC SCORING GUIDE
IDEAS (The Message)
______ Level 4 – purposeful, informative, structured, focused, meaningful, relevant, accurate; may provide insight
______ Level 3 – excellent possibilities; general support of ideas; reasonably clear
______ Level 2 – common support or description; topic too big or narrow; repetition of similar ideas; a list
______ Level 1 – random thoughts; confusing; hard to paraphrase; length not adequate for development; repetitious
ORGANIZATION (Structure)
______ Level 4 – holds together; clear transitions; logical; sense of resolution; inviting introduction; satisfying conclusion
______ Level 3 – sequential; usually easy to follow; some transitions apparent; recognizable introduction and conclusion
______ Level 2 – lacks clear sequencing; recognizable beginning or ending; some details may stray from topic
______ Level 1 – confusing or illogical; hard to understand main point; no introduction or real conclusion
VOICE (Personality)
______Level 4 – engaging, passionate; individual style shines through; shows commitment to topic
______Level 3 – caring, pleasant, personable; some ideas may surprise or move the reader
______Level 2 – lacks consistent engagement or point of view; some interest in topic and audience; no risk-taking
______Level 1 – indifferent; lacks point of view; bland, lifeless; no sense of audience; humdrum
WORD CHOICE (Vocabulary)
______ Level 4 – vivid, precise word choice; powerful verbs; specific nouns and modifiers
______ Level 3 – clear language used correctly; some words may add flavor; words not repetitively used
______ Level 2 – limited vocabulary; overuse of clichés or repetitive words; looks like the first words that popped into
mind
______ Level 1 – nonspecific, unimaginative, or distracting words; incorrect usage.
SENTENCE FLUENCY (Rhythm and Flow)
______ Level 4 – delightful to read aloud; smooth connections; varied sentence lengths/structures; varied sentence
beginnings
______ Level 3 – gets job done with some sentence variety; sentences usually constructed correctly
______ Level 2 – choppy; no sentence variety; repetitive transitions or lack of transitions; endless connectives
______ Level 1 – awkward phrasing; difficult to read aloud; sentences begin with same word(s); reader must track back
to get meaning
CONVENTIONS (Mechanical Correctness)
______ Level 4 – spelling mostly correct; paragraphing reinforces structure of organization; punctuation and capitalization
correct and guide reader through text
______ Level 3 – some editing would be required for publication; spelling usually correct/reasonably phonetic on
common words; paragraphing attempted; grammar and usage do not distract from or distort the
meaning
______ Level 2 – frequent spelling errors; some paragraphing attempted; capitalization and punctuation sometimes
missing or incorrect; noticeable errors in grammar and usage
______ Level 1 – numerous and distracting errors that affect meaning; spelling errors even on high frequency/common
words; paragraphing is illogical or missing; punctuation often missing or incorrect; line-by-line
editing needed
OVERALL HOLISTIC SCORE: ______________________
June 11, 2007