Five Point Rubric for Sensory or Descriptive Writing
Haunted House for Sale
Skill – incorporating details and sensory images
Five Points
The writer has a thorough understanding of sensory writing. He or she integrates many sensory details
that grab the reader’s attention and help the reader picture the place that is being described. The sentences
are complex, the structure is varied and the writer always follows the rules of English grammar. The
punctuation and spelling are always correct. No editing assistance was required.
Four Points
The writer has a complete understanding of sensory writing. He or she integrates many sensory details
throughout the story to help the reader picture the place that is being described. The story has an
introduction that grabs the reader’s attention and holds it. The sentence structure is varied and the writer
always follows the rules of English grammar. The punctuation and spelling are consistently used
correctly. The student required minimal editing assistance.
Three Points
The writer has a good understanding of sensory writing. He or she integrates some sensory details into
the story to help the reader picture the place that is being described. The story has an introduction, but it
doesn’t grab the reader’s attention and hold it. The body of the story has some details but isn’t as detailed
or focused on the topic. The sentence structure is somewhat varied, and the writer follows the rules of
English grammar. The punctuation and spelling are not consistently used correctly. Some editing
assistance was required to complete the assignment.
Two Points
The writer has a partial understanding of sensory writing. There are few sensory details and they are
listed rather than being integrated into the body of the story. The body is not completely developed and
may not include very many details. The sentence structure may not be varied, and the writer doesn’t
consistently follow the rules of English grammar. There are many punctuation and spelling errors
throughout the story. Significant editing assistance was required.
One Point
The writer does not have an understanding of sensory writing. He or she uses few if any sensory details
in the story and doesn’t integrate them into the story. The writer includes few details and lacks a clear
introduction and/or conclusion. There may be sentence fragments in the story, and the writer doesn’t
follow the rules of English grammar. There are many punctuation and spelling errors in the story. The
assignment could not be completed without substantial editing assistance from the teacher.