Level

Organization & Focus

Mechanics & Structure

Vocabulary & Word Choice

Penmanship

6

Sample has a clear sense of audience, appropriate use of topic sentences and paragraphing.

Uses a variety of complex sentence structures. Free of errors that interfere with writer’s meaning. Few or no errors in spelling, mechanics, capitalization & punctuation.

Superior use of descriptive vocabulary and sensory details to create vivid images of people, places, things and experiences.

Writes with superior legibility using correct spacing between letters, words and sentences.

5

Clear topic and makes logical connections among ideas. Is well organized with a beginning, middle and end. Sample has a sense of audience, uses a topic sentence and paragraphing.

May use a variety of complex sentence structures. Minor errors that do not interfere with writer’s meaning. Few errors in spelling, mechanics, capitalization & punctuation.

Good use of descriptive vocabulary and sensory details to create vivid images of people, places things and experiences.

Writes legibly using correct spacing between letters, words and sentences.

4

Clear topic and makes connections among ideas. Is satisfactorily organized, with a beginning, middle and end. Uses a topic sentence and paragraphing.

Some errors in spelling, mechanics, capitalization & punctuation

Evidence of some use of descriptive vocabulary and sensory details.

Writes legibly with minimal errors in spacing, between letters, words & sentences.

3

Has a clear topic, makes some connections among ideas and some sense of beginning, middle and end. Uses a topic sentence with inconsistent use of paragraphing.

Uses correct sentence structure. Has errors that may interfere with writer’s meaning. Errors in spelling, mechanics, capitalization & punctuation.

Development of descriptive vocabulary; makes ordinary word choices.

Writes legibly with some errors in spacing, between letters, words & sentences.

2

Topic may not be clear and has organizational problems. Limited connections between ideas and limited sense of beginning, middle and end. No use of a topic sentence or paragraphing.

Frequent errors in sentence structure that do interfere with writer’s meaning. Frequent errors in spelling, mechanics, capitalization & punctuation.

Limited vocabulary and word choices. Some words may be used incorrectly.

Illegible – Errors make it extremely difficult for reader to understand.

1

Topic is unclear and has little or no organization. No connections among ideas. No beginning, middle or end. No use of a topic sentence or paragraphing.

Errors in all or nearly all sentence structure that interfere with writer’s meaning. Many errors in spelling, mechanics, capitalization & punctuation.

Low level use of vocabulary. Many words may be used incorrectly.

Many errors in writing that interfere with readers understanding.