Elementary 6-Point Rubric

Score 6: Excellent

• Develops ideas well and uses many details related to the topic.
• Has excellent organization and stays focused throughout the essay.
• Has varied sentence structure.
• Displays good word choices.
• Contains little or no errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation; errors do not prevent understanding.

Persuasive mode

• Clearly states the position and effectively persuades the reader of a certain viewpoint.

Score 5: Skillful

• Develops ideas with some details.
• Is clearly organized; information is presented in an orderly way.
• Shows some variety in sentence structure.
• Displays some good word choices.
• May contain some errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation; errors do not prevent understanding.

Persuasive mode

• Clearly states the position and persuades the reader.

Score 4: Sufficient

• Provides clear ideas, but not fully developed; may have few details.
• Provides a clear order of information; provides pieces of information that are generally related to each other.
• Generally has simple sentences; may display uneven control over sentence structure.
• Contains mostly simple word choices but may show some examples of good word choices.
• Contains errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation that generally do not prevent understanding.

Persuasive mode

• States a position and makes some attempt to persuade the reader.

Score 3: Uneven

• Provides limited or incomplete information; may be a list or an outline.
• Is not organized in most of the essay or does not provide information in the correct order.
• Displays uneven control over sentence structure.
• May have some poor word choices.
• Contains errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation that sometimes prevent understanding.

Persuasive mode

• While a position is stated, either it is not clear or not developed.

Score 2: Insufficient

• Provides little information and makes little attempt at development.
• Is very disorganized or too brief to find organization.
• Displays little control over sentence structure.
• Has incorrect word choices in much of the essay.
• Contains misspellings, missing words, and incorrect word order; errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are severe enough to make understanding very difficult in much of the essay.

Persuasive mode

• Either a position is not clearly given or little attempt is made at persuasion.

Score 1: Unsatisfactory

• Attempts a response, but may only copy the prompt or be extremely brief.
• Displays no control over organization.
• Displays no control over sentence structure.
• Has incorrect word choices throughout most of the essay.
• Contains misspellings, missing words, and incorrect word order; errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are severe enough to make understanding very difficult in much of the essay.