Writing Rubric

Has anyone else ever been frustrated because there are no examples of age-appropriate writing for your grade level? Four years ago, when I moved from fourth to second, I remember being bewildered by what a second-grade story should look like! The county went whole hog on 4-Square (which I do like!), then switched gears to "Teach Me Writing" (which also has its good benefits! I love using Unit 1 to start the first nine weeks!). Right now, we are using both as resources in our teaching, which gives us a lot of flexibility.

While working on report cards today, I had to stop and think when it came to my writing grades. I split our writing time into two sections: grammar and writing. The grammar grade is a piece of cake - average in the activities and sheets students have completed. However, I have a wide gambit of writing abilities in my room. How do I grade these using the same type of scale? We have a grade level "prompt" every other month, but what about everyday writing? I have to average the two grades together, because there is only a "Writing" area on the report card!

A friend of mine directed me to her Pinterest page (yes, I do seem to mention Pinterest in every post!) and I saw a GREAT Kindergarten rubric! So, I adapted it to the goals I feel a second grader should be meeting, along with our state standards, and voila! I even managed to put it in Google Docs! Feel free to check it out here. Maybe I'm the only one feeling this lost at times, but I hope it helps those of you who have been feeling the same way!

I plan on using it to help my parents understand why their child is receiving the grade they are for writing and including it in both interims and report cards. (It is geared towards S, N, U grades, since that's what we use in our county for K-2, but feel free to adapt and make it your own!). I know as a parent, I'd appreciate the "why" as well as the areas my child needs to work on in an easy-to-read format!