WRITING edited copy RUBRIC

MAJOR FLAWS (-5 points each)
Story not double spaced
Did not correct original errors

LEAD
Lead is simplistic
Lead missed the angle (main idea) of the story
Good interesting lead
Outstanding fresh new lead

SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Simple sentences (too short)
Sentences too long
Sentence length appropriate for the topic
Outstanding mix of sentence structures and lengths

TRANSITION
Transition is general and predictable
Good logical transition
Creative use of transition

STORY ORGANIZATION
Poor story organization, lacks flow, hard to follow
Decent story organization, needs some work, sometimes lose the reader
Good story organization
Outstanding creative use of story organization

PROVIDING INFORMATION
Story lacks interesting information, too many obvious statements
Story displays effort, but is too predictable
Story information is interesting, but too many questions left unanswered
Story information is outstanding, all questions answered

QUOTES
Quotes are boring and predictable ex. “We won the game because we scored more.”
Quotes are average - “give me a quote”
Quotes are interesting and support the story
Quotes are colorful and interesting

JOURNALISTIC STYLE
Writer has no understanding of journalistic (AP) style
Writer has many journalistic errors
Writer has some journalistic errors
Writer has few journalistic errors
Writer has no journalistic errors

WRITING edited copy RUBRIC

STUDENT: ____________ TOTAL ___ + 2 x 2 = ____ GRADE

JOURNALISTIC RESPONSIBILITY
Writer often ignores ethical considerations and responsibilities
Writer sometimes ignores ethical considerations and responsibilities
Writer is aware of ethical considerations and responsibilities

WORD CHOICE
Writer sometimes uses inappropriate choices with ethnicity, gender and age
Writer rarely uses inappropriate choices in relation to ethnicity, gender and age
Writer uses appropriate choices in relation to ethnicity, gender and age

OPINION/EDITORIALIZATION
Writer sometimes uses their own opinion in the story
Writer rarely uses their own opinion in the story
Writer never uses their own opinion in the story

ATTRIBUTION
Writer sometimes forgets to quote directly or indirectly
Writer rarely needs to quote information directly or indirectly
Writer knows when to quote information directly or indirectly

MECHANICAL (PUNCTUATION, GRAMMAR) ERRORS
Writer has little control of mechanical errors
Writer makes many mechanical errors
Writer makes some mechanical errors
Writer makes few mechanical errors

STORY TELLING TECHNIQUE
Story is told as a collection of facts, does not show or tell
Story uses facts logically, but does not show or tell
Story uses facts logically, shows and tells
Story uses facts very well and tells a compelling, interesting story

FAIRNESS, INTEGRITY
Story is missing elements, but tries to tell both sides
Story tells both sides
Story is fair to all parties and steers clear of inflammatory statements

FATAL FLAWS (AUTOMATIC 50)
Writer is unaware of ethical considerations and responsibilities
Writer often uses inappropriate choices in relation to ethnicity, gender and age
Writer often uses their own opinion in the story
Writer never tells where they got important information
Story is one sided, or slanted for the writer’s purpose
No Lead or fragment
No quotes
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