Adapted from 2010 LVWP Summer Institute

ESSAY WRITING RUBRIC

Name ______Block ______Date ______

SCORING RUBRIC

Be sure to demonstrate these three elements.

Knowledge of the themeTheme developmentClarity of ideas

CRITERIA
DOMAIN / ADVANCED
Excellent
4 / PROFICIENT
Good/Adequate
3 / BASIC
Unsatisfactory
2 / BELOW BASIC
Unsatisfactory/ Failing
1
FOCUS – It’s what you have to say. Look to make a personal connection / The paper is clear, focused on the theme, and purposeful. Author has the audience in mind when writing. / Theme is noticeable, but writer strays somewhat from the point. Seems to be varied reasons for the writing. / Theme is very hard to pinpoint. Information is not anchored with a clear purpose for writing. / Theme is not really identified.
CONTENT – The details in the paper. Make your ideas crystal clear. / The writer uses information from many sources including personal experiences. Contains supportive details. / Some details are research based and others are common knowledge. Contains new information and common basic knowledge. / More knowledge, stronger support, and greater attention to detail are needed. Research and important facts are needed to create interest for the reader. / The writing just wonders and doesn’t highlight anything important or of interest to the reader. “What is the paper supposed to be about?”
ORGANIZATION – It provides direction for the reader. Begin with a strong lead to “hook” the reader. / The paper has a strong internal structure, which highlights the main idea, leads the reader to the key points, and comes to important conclusions. / Structure is present but not always logical. The introduction could get the reader’s attention more quickly and effectively. The ending could be extended to form valuable conclusions. / Lack of organizational structure causes confusion. Introduction and ending are very stale. Leaves the reader unsure what to expect and unsure of what happened. / Organizational structure leaves the reader confused. The paper just starts. There is no conclusion; the paper just stops.
STYLE – Word choice, voice and sentence fluency are essential.
Word choice – use rich vocabulary
Voice – your personality and style
Sentence Fluency – flow and rhythm of your sentences. / Well-chosen words make the message precise and expand the reader’s understanding of the topic. Sentences are thoughtfully structured to make reading easy and enjoyable. / The words are reasonably accurate with a clear message. Sentences are relatively clear and varied. More connecting phrases would help clarity. / Sometimes the language is confusing. Sentence structure is redundant in places and sometimes too long and wordy. Sentences need to be more fluid. / The language is inappropriate for the topic. Sentences are hard to follow making the reader pause to figure out the message. No personal enthusiasm is showing.
CONVENTIONS
- The rules of language: spelling, punctuation, grammar and capitalization / The writing reveals strong control of conventions used effectively to enhance the message. There are virtually no errors. / Writer shows good control of conventions with some noticeable errors that do not really impact the message of the writing. / The writing lacks control of many conventions. Substantial editing is needed in grammar, punctuation and/or spelling. / Large amount of errors in conventions distract the reader and limit understanding of the message.
TOTALS

20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

100 98 93 90 88 85 82 78 75 73 70 68 66 64 62 60 55 50 45 40

"What Patriotism Means to Me"

Name ______Block ______Date ______

Due Date ______

Patriot's Pen
2014-2015 Theme
“Why I Appreciate American’s Veterans”

Patriot's Pen, a youth-essay writing contest is a nationwide competition that gives students in grades 6, 7 and 8 the opportunity to write essays expressing their views on democracy. Annually, more than 115,000 students participate in the contest. The Patriot's Pen program is designed to foster patriotism by allowing students the opportunity to express their opinions based on an annual theme.

Contestants write a 300-400 word essay based on an annual patriotic theme. The first-place winner receives a $5,000 savings bond and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C. The top national winners each receive a savings bond anywhere from $500 to $1,000.

The essay must be a contestant's original work and a product of the contestant's own thinking. The approach to this year's theme, “Why I Appreciate American’s Veterans”should be positive and focus clearly on the theme. Poetry is not acceptable. Quotations may be used sparingly if plainly identified wherever used.

Taken from the Official Website of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

The essay described above will be assigned to all students. Time will be allotted in class to work on the essay and conference with the teacher as needed.

The due date will be one week from the day it is assigned. However, if you want your essay considered for the competition, it must be submitted by this Friday, November 14, 2014.

While all students will be required to complete the essay as a classroom assignment, only 10-15 essays will be submitted to the nationwide competition from Warren Hills.

Refer to the rubric on the back of this page for the assessment criteria.

Students will be permitted to make corrections and revisions up to two weeks after the due date to improve their grade.