Name ______Date ______

Scoring Rubric for Explanatory Writing (How-to)

Satisfactory (4) / Progressing (3) / Needs Improvement (2) / Unsatisfactory (1)
IDEAS & ORGANIZATION / Topic / Identifies topic to explain what writing is about and writing clearly relates to the topic. / The topic is identified and the writing has some relevance to the prompt. / The writing relates to the prompt though the topic was not clearly identified. / The topic is not identified and the writing does not reflect understanding of the prompt.
Introduction and Conclusion / The writing has a strong opening sentence to draw the reader’s attention and a strong closing sentence. / The writing has both an opening and closing sentence. / The writing has only an opening or a closing sentence, but not both. / The writing does not have a clear opening or closing sentence.
Sequence / All sentences flow in an order that clearly and sequentially focus on the steps involved in the task/procedure. / Most sentences are sequenced on the steps involved in the task/procedure. / While some sentences appear in a logical order of steps involved in the task/procedure, random sentences in the writing prohibit a clear understanding. / Sentences are in random order.
Details / There are sufficient, detailed steps included to insure an understanding of how to perform the task/procedure. / There are some detailed steps that help provide an understanding of how to perform the task/procedure. / There are minimal steps to provide understanding of how to perform the task/procedure or the steps provided lack details necessary for understanding. / There are no details provided in the steps, leaving the reader wondering how to perform the task/procedure,

Reading Score ______/ 20

Points / 16 / 15 / 14 / 12-13 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 7 – 8 / 6 / 5 / 0 – 4
Grade / 100 / 95 / 90 / 85 / 80 / 75 / 70 / 65 / 60 / 55 / 50
Satisfactory (4) / Progressing (3) / Needs Improvement (2) / Unsatisfactory (1)
STYLE / Sentence Structure / All sentences are complete and there is use of simple and compound/complex sentences. / All sentences are complete but only simple sentences are used. / Most sentences are complete however there are a minimal number of incomplete sentences or sentences that do not make sense. / Many sentences are incomplete or do not make sense.
Transition Words / When appropriate, variety of transition words are used and used properly. / Transition words, if used, are used appropriately though often the same transition word is used repetitively. / Few transition words are used or they are used inappropriately. / No transition words are used when needed.
CONVENTIONS / Capitalization / Uses correct capitalization for all sentences. / Capitalizes only the beginning word in most sentences, the word I and most proper nouns. / Uses some capitalization correctly but consistency is lacking. / Does not apply learned rules for capitalization. Random letters are capitalized in the writing.
Spelling / Uses learned spelling patterns for all words and phonetically correct inventive spelling for all others. / Uses some learned spelling patterns and inventive spelling. Errors do not interfere with understanding. / Uses some learned spelling patterns at times. Errors interfere with understanding. / Does not use learned spelling patterns and spelling errors make reading and understanding difficult.
Punctuation / All sentences have correct punctuation (end of sentence, use of commas in a series and commas in dates). / Most sentences have correct punctuation (end of sentence, use of commas in a series and commas in dates). / Many sentences have errors in punctuation (end of sentence, use of commas in a series and commas in dates). / Little or no use of punctuation (end of sentence, use of commas in a series and commas in dates).is evident.
Handwriting / Letters are legible and spacing is appropriate. / There are some errors in spacing and handwriting but they do not interfere with understanding. / Inconsistent letter formation and spacing make understanding difficult. / Illegible handwriting and spacing makes reading and understanding difficult.

Language Arts Score ______/ 24

Points / 24 / 23 / 22 / 20 – 21 / 18 – 19 / 16 – 17 / 14 – 15 / 12 – 13 / 10 – 11 / 7 – 9 / 6 – 0
Grade / 100 / 95 / 90 / 85 / 80 / 75 / 70 / 65 / 60 / 55 / 50