RUBRIC Column

Name___________________________

Word Count_______

Writing is scored on a 4-point scale (one to four) using the following criteria:

1. Meets
deadline and
submission
requirements

Assignment is late and

incomplete. Writers
name may be missing.
Article may be
handwritten or typed
in unusable form.

Assignment is late or
incomplete. Writers name
is on story. Revision is
needed before the article
can be included in the
paper.

Assignment is on time
and complete, with 400
words, but will require
minor revision before it
can be included in the
paper. Writers name is
on story.

Article is completed on
time, meeting the word
count of 400 words. Writers
name is on story in the
byline.

2. Headline
and lead

No headline is
suggested, or
suggested headline is
merely a topic with no
verb. Lead is hard to
find.

Headline is vague,
misleading. Lead may be
vague or misleading.
Difficult to determine the
nature of the story.

A usable headline is
suggested. News element
is evident in lead.

An interesting, appropriate
headline is suggested. Lead
is direct, relevant, and
interesting, and gets a
readers attention. Good
transitions are made from
lead into next paragraphs.

3. Facts

Information is
inaccurate or
incomplete. Specific
detail is lacking.

Writers opinion has

some factual support but
lacks key evidence.

Accurate statistics and

relevant information are
used to support the opinion.
Conclusions seem logical.

4. Sports
writing

Unorganized story.
Writer shows no
opinion or lacks any
support. The
organization is murky.
Control of sentence,
structure, punctuation,
usage, and spelling is
so minimal as to
impede understanding.
Story would require
substantial editing
before it could be
published.

While some information

is accurate, other facts
may be inaccurate or
missing. The author
spends too much time in
speculation.
Article offers little insight
into significance into the
opinion. It is not a current
opinion. Organization is
confusing.
Article has many errors in
proofreading. While there
may be many errors in
conventions or AP style,
they seldom impede
understanding. However,
story would require some
editing before it could be
published.

Article shows an opinion

but it lacks elements of
timeliness or interest.
Article is weakly
organized.
Article is neatly typed,
with only few
proofreading errors.
Story is nearly free of
grammatical errors or
errors in AP style. Only
minor editing would be
required before
publication.

Article clearly explains the

writers opinion. The
opinion is interesting and
relevant to a current issue.

5. Editing

Article is neatly typed,

single-spaced, with no
errors in proofreading.
Story is free from
grammatical errors and in
accordance with AP style.
This story could be
published with no changes.
Uses Times New Roman
font.

GRADE:________________________/20
Column assignment: Choose any current issue, idea or person. Write an opinion piece. This story should
have a beginning, middle, and end. It should use facts and evidence to support the writers opinion. The
writing should demonstrate the writers unique voice.