Writing Rubrics and exemplars Mary Lord & Kelly Rizzi

Rubrics Rubrics can teach as well as evaluate. When used as part of a formative, student-centered approach to assessment, rubrics have the potential to help students develop understanding and skill, as well as make dependable judgments about the quality of their own work. Students should be able to use rubrics in many of the same ways that teachers use them—to clarify the standards for a quality performance, and to guide ongoing feedback about progress toward those standards.

Learning intentions & success criteria Rubrics serve as a form of Success Criteria When students know what is expected, they are able to achieve higher levels of success

Rubrics vary depending upon . . . The grade level The type of writing Opinion-Argument/Informational/Narrative The assignment Is the information accurate? Is the format correct? The skills assessed for that particular assignment Not every piece of writing needs to be scored for every skill

Let’s Focus on one level: Grade 4 And one type: Informational Read the Exemplar for Grade 4 Informational Writing Using the Exemplar as an Anchor Paper and the Standards as a guide, Discuss three possible areas of focus for this paper

Consider student responses Rubric Three Areas of Focus 1. Introduce your topic clearly 2. Provide concrete details and quotations 3. Provide a concluding statement Consider student responses

Turn and talk Talk to a table partner about uses for different types of rubrics and what you currently use at your school site. Be ready to share pearls with the group.