A Rubric for Writing

        Based on my initial session and assessment of Kevin’s work (assessment for learning), I developed a rubric as an evaluation tool.  The rubric incorporates the three criteria established by the teacher (constant verb tense, transitional words, and descriptive adjectives), as well as two others that will help guide the writing process.  These criteria are all based around the 6+1 Writing Traits.  They are:

1.     Ideas (Message)

2.     Organization (From Beginning to End – Transitional Words)

3.     Word Choice (Playing with Language – Descriptive Adjectives)

4.     Sentence Fluency (Listening to the Sound – Verb Tense)

5.     Conventions (Editing)

        These criteria will guide both Kevin and myself as we continue working on his story together.  I decided that these were the most important traits to evaluate based on the original criteria that Kevin’s teacher had established for the project and based on my own personal observations as I was working with Kevin.  I saw that he sometimes struggled with developing his own ideas and often took the ones that I suggested to him.  I also saw that he had a hard time connecting certain parts of his story, often talking about an aspect that he had not yet introduced.  Introducing the Ideas and Conventions criteria would help Kevin develop his own ideas and spend time proof-reading his writing.  He was typically a good speller and recognized and auto-correct his errors when they were pointed out to him.  I chose this type of rubric as I find that it encourages students to self-evaluate their work.  It is easy to give students a copy of the rubric before they hand in their writing and ask them to evaluate themselves based on the listed criteria.  If the students are not happy with the mark they give themselves, then they know what areas of writing they need to improve in. 

            With this evaluation tool in place, it will also guide my approach to mentoring Kevin as he continues his writing.  I know the areas that he needs to learn and will ask questions accordingly.  I will use the same techniques that I had used in the first step, asking Kevin lots of questions, helping him put himself in the place of his character to better describe the situations in which he found himself, and suggesting words that he could use to show connections between plot points.  I also will begin underlining certain spelling and grammar errors (I will only underline the first one if the same mistake was made repeatedly) and ask Kevin to correct them himself.  I will constantly ask him tell me orally the outline of his story and to explain how certain things were going to happen.  I am excited to see the progress that he will make!

Follow the link below to see the rubric:

file:///Users/match/Documents/SCHOOL/WINTER%20'15/3148/Rubric.htm