Curriculum Leaders/NRRC Summer Writing Institute
Rubric 2012-13
Grade: 1
Subject: Literacy
 Narrative (for ELA only)
 Informational
X Argument/Opinion
Associated Writing Prompt: Grade 1 Argument Prompts A and B
Standards: W1 and L1(a-j), L2 (a-e)
Trait
(4) Strong/Exceeding
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Ideas
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Organization
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Voice
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Word Choice
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(3) Meeting/Developed
The topic is clearly stated in an
introductory statement
The writer’s opinion is carefully
crafted
Writer includes 2 or more reasons
reason for the opinion

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Opening is clearly stated and
interesting
Writing is appropriately sequenced
(topic, opinion, reasons, and closure)
and includes linking words such as
“because” and “also” to connect
opinion and reasons
Provides a clear concluding
statement or section

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Writing has personality and begs to
be read aloud
Writer thoughtfully creates a
personal connection with the reader
Voice is consistently appropriate for
the purpose, audience, topic and/or
genre.


Writing includes precise words to
convey meaning
Words are consistently appropriate
for audience and purpose
Avoids overused words and includes
a variety of words to convey
meaning

The topic is introduced
The writer’s opinion is stated
Writer includes a reason for the
opinion
(2) Developing/Emerging
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Opening is recognizable
Writing is appropriately sequenced
(topic, opinion, reason, and
closure)
Provides some sense of closure


Writing has personality
Reader feels a connection with the
writer
Voice is mostly appropriate for the
purpose, audience, topic and/or
genre.

Writing includes a variety of
appropriate words to convey
meaning
Words are mostly appropriate for
audience and purpose
Avoids overused words


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(1) Beginning/Rudimentary
The topic is not clearly
introduced but may be implied
The writer’s opinion is not
clearly stated but may be
implied
A reason is not clearly stated
but may be implied


Opening is weak
Writing is mostly sequenced
appropriately (topic, opinion,
reason, and closure)
Attempts closure but is poorly
developed


Writing begins to have
personality
Reader begins to feel a
connection with the writer
Voice is somewhat appropriate
for the purpose, audience,
topic and/or genre.


Writing includes mostly
appropriate words to convey
meaning
Some words may not be
appropriate for the audience
and purpose
Includes some overused words

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Topic is not evident
The writer’s opinion is not
evident
A reason is not evident
Opening is not evident
Writing is not appropriately
sequenced (topic, opinion,
reason, and closure)
No sense of closure is evident
No personality evident in piece
Reader feels no connection
with the writer
Voice is not appropriate for
the purpose, audience, topic
and/or genre.
Writing includes a limited
range of words often used
incorrectly
Words are not appropriate for
purpose and audience
Includes many overused words
Sentence
Fluency


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Includes all complete sentences
Includes much variation in sentence
length
Includes much variation in sentence
beginnings

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Conventions

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Has no errors in grade level
appropriate grammar
Has no errors in grade level
appropriate punctuation and
capitalization
Has no errors in grade level
appropriate conventional spelling
and spells unknown words
phonetically

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Includes a few incomplete
sentences relative to the length of
the piece
Includes some variation in
sentence length
Includes some variation in
sentence beginnings

Has few errors in grade level
appropriate grammar
Has few errors in grade level
appropriate punctuation and
capitalization
Has few errors in grade level
appropriate conventional spelling
and spells unknown words
phonetically

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Includes several incomplete
sentences relative to the
length of the piece
Includes little variation in
sentence length
Includes little variation in
sentence beginnings

Has some errors in grade level
appropriate grammar
Has some errors in grade level
appropriate punctuation and
capitalization
Has some errors in grade level
appropriate conventional
spelling and spells some
unknown words phonetically

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Includes many l incomplete
sentences relative to the
length of the piece
Includes no variation in
sentence length
Includes no variation in
sentence beginnings
Has multiple errors in grade
level appropriate grammar
Has multiple errors in grade
level appropriate punctuation
and capitalization
Has multiple errors in grade
level appropriate conventional
spelling and spells very few
unknown words phonetically
Scoring Directions: Assign a score for each trait if the student demonstrates two out of the three bullets. If the bullets circled fall in three different columns,
assign the median (middle score). Add the overall scores for Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice and Sentence Fluency to determine the Topic Development
Sub-Total. Add the Topic Development Score and Conventions score together to determine the Total Combined Score.
Topic Development: _____/20 _______
Conventions: _____/4 ___________
Total Score Combined: ______/24_______
Exceeds (17-20), Meets (14-16), Developing (8-13), Beginning (5-7)
Exceeds (4), Meets (3), Developing (2), Beginning (1)
Exceeds (20-24), Meets (16-19), Developing (9-15), Beginning (6-8)
TEAM MEMBERS:
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Christine Elliott
Beth Lewis
Kirsten Prinn
Margot Ryan
Tricia Vergados