Sample Essay Rubric for Elementary Teachers

4

Expert

3

Accomplished

2

Capable

1

Beginner

Piece was written in an extraordinary style and voice

Very informative and well-organized

Piece was written in an interesting style and voice

Somewhat informative and organized

Piece had little style or voice

Gives some new information but poorly organized

Piece had no style or voice

Gives no new information and very poorly organized

Virtually no spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors

Few spelling and punctuation errors, minor grammatical errors

A number of spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors

So many spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors that it interferes with the meaning

Presents ideas in an original manner

Presents ideas in a consistent manner

Ideas are too general

Ideas are vague or unclear

Strong and organized beg/mid/end

Organized beg/mid/end

Some organization; attempt at a beg/mid/end

No organization; lack beg/mid/end

Writing shows strong understanding

Writing shows a clear understanding

Writing shows adequate understanding

Writing shows little understanding

Sophisticated use of nouns and verbs make the essay very informative

Nouns and verbs make essay informative

Needs more nouns and verbs

Little or no use of nouns and verbs

Sentence structure enhances meaning; flows throughout the piece

Sentence structure is evident; sentences mostly flow

Sentence structure is limited; sentences need to flow

No sense of sentence structure or flow

Few (if any) errors

Few errors

Several errors

Numerous errors