Journal Rubric

	A	B	C	D
1	Journal Writing Rubric - Areas of Focus from Writing Six Traits at top
2	Range of Scores	Ideas (I)	Voice (V)	Sentence Fluency (SF)

3	6 - Exceptional	A. Finding a Topic: The writer offers a clear, central theme or a simple, original storyline that is memorable. The piece covers the assigned topic overall. If a "free write" is assigned, the piece covers one major topic overall.	A. Establishing a Tone: The writer cares about the topic, and it shows. The writing is expressive and compelling. The reader feels the writer’s conviction, authority, and integrity.	Bonus - D. Breaking the “Rules” to Create Fluency: The writer diverges from standard English to create interest and impact. For example, he or she may use a sentence fragment, such as “All alone in the forest,” or a single word, such as “Bam!” to accent a particular moment or action. He or she might begin with informal words such as well, and, or but to create a conversational tone, or he or she might break rules intentionally to make dialogue sound authentic.
4		B. Focusing the Topic: The writer narrows the theme or storyline to create a piece that is clear, tight, and manageable.	Creativity - optional (CR)	Completion (Cmp)
5	9 - 11 pts	C. Developing the Topic: The writer provides enough critical evidence to support the theme and shows insight on the topic. Or he or she tells the story in a fresh way through an original, unpredictable plot.	A. The entry may use other graphic and writing strategies that adds to the overall meaning of the writing sample. Examples - poetry, lists, outlines, charts, etc.	A. The entry is at least 200 words and at least one page hand-written in length using appropriate margins and spacing between words. Most of the entry is single spaced.
6	5 - Strong	D. Using Details: The writer offers credible, accurate details that create pictures in the reader’s mind, from the beginning of the piece to the end. Those details provide the reader with evidence of the writer’s knowledge about and/or experience with the topic.	B. Alternative techniques use space reasonably well, and demonstrate technical and artistic ability appropriate for a draft sketch.	B. The entry has a Hall header - full name, class, date due, and class period or core. A title starts the piece.
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8	Range of Scores	Ideas	Voice	Sentence Fluency
9	4 - Refining	A. Finding a Topic: The writer offers a recognizable, but broad theme or storyline. He or she stays on topic, but in a predictable way. The piece first covers the assigned topic, then switches to another topic after the initial topic has been covered.	A. Establishing a Tone: The writer has established a tone that can be described as “pleasing” or “sincere,” but not “passionate” or “compelling.” He or she attempts to create a tone that hits the mark, but the overall result feels generic.
10		B. Focusing the Topic: The writer needs to crystallize his or her topic around the central theme or storyline. He or she does not focus on a specific aspect of the topic.	Creativity - optional (CR)	Completion (Cmp)
11	7 - 8 pts	C. Developing the Topic: The writer draws on personal knowledge and experience, but does not offer a unique perspective. He or she does not probe deeply, but instead only gives the reader a glimpse at aspects of the topic.	A. The entry uses other graphic and writing strategies that are related in some manner to the overall piece.	A. The entry is at least 180 words and fills most of one page hand-written in length using appropriate margins and spacing between words. Most of the entry is single spaced.
12	3 - Developing	D. Using Details: The writer offers details, but they do not always hit the mark because they are inaccurate or irrelevant. He or she does not create a picture in the reader’s mind because key questions about the central theme or storyline have not been addressed.	B. Alternative techniques use too much space or do not use enough space to show details, and demonstrate some technical and artistic ability appropriate for a draft sketch.	B. The entry has parts of a Hall header - full name, due date, title.
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14	Range of Scores	Ideas	Voice	Sentence Fluency
15	2 - Emerging	A. Finding a Topic: The writer has not settled on a topic and, therefore, may offer only a series of unfocused, repetitious, and/or random thoughts.	A. Establishing a Tone: The writer has produced a lifeless piece—one that is monotonous, mechanical, repetitious, and/or off-putting to the reader.
16		B. Focusing the Topic: The writer has not narrowed his or her topic in a meaningful way. It’s hard to tell what the writer thinks is important since he or she devotes equal importance to each piece of information.	Creativity - optional (CR)	Completion (Cmp)
17	5 - 6 pts	C. Developing the Topic: The writer has created a piece that is so short, the reader cannot fully understand or appreciate what he or she wants to say. He or she may have simply restated an assigned topic or responded to a prompt, without devoting much thought or effort to it.	A. The entry uses other graphic and writing strategies that are not related to the overall piece.	A. The entry is at least 100 words and covers at least half of one page hand-written in length, and does not use appropriate margins and spacing between words. Line spacing is inconsistent.
18	1- Rudimentary	D. Using Details: The writer has clearly devoted little attention to details. The writing contains limited or completely inaccurate information. After reading the piece, the reader is left with many unanswered questions.	B. The graphic and writing strategies are unclear and very difficult to understand the images or ideas conveyed.	B. The entry is missing most of a Hall header - full name is given.
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