Writing Scoring Guide

4 Points                  The paper:

■              has an effective beginning, middle, and end.

■              contains a clear controlling idea.

■              clearly addresses the topic and provides specific and relevant details/ examples.

■              contains words that are specific, accurate, and suited to the topic.

■              consistently uses complete sentences.

■              clearly shows an awareness of audience and purpose.

■              contains few errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or spelling.

3 Points                  The paper:

■              has a beginning, middle, and end.

■              contains a controlling idea.

■              addresses the topic and uses relevant details/ examples.

■              contains some words that are specific, accurate, and related to the topic.

■              generally uses complete sentences.

■              shows an awareness of audience and purpose.

■              may contain some errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or

                spelling that are not significantly distracting to the reader.

2 Points                   The paper:

■              has evidence of a beginning, middle, and/or end.

■              contains a general sense of direction, but may lack focus.

■              generally addresses the topic, but may contain some details that are not relevant.

■              uses words that tend to be repetitive, imprecise, and ordinary.

■              contains some incomplete sentences that may be distracting to the reader.

■              shows some awareness of audience and purpose.

■              contains errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or

                spelling that may be distracting to the reader.

1 Point    The paper:

■              may lack evidence of a beginning, middle, and/or end.

■              it is difficult to follow and/or lacks focus.

■              attempts to address the topic, but lacks development.

■              uses words that are consistently repetitive, dull, and colorless.

■              includes incomplete sentences that are distracting to the reader.

■              shows little or no awareness of audience and purpose.

■              contains repeated errors in grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and/or

spelling that may be distracting to the reader.