Download an editable Word copy to change criteria for your class or school. It also opens in Google Docs.
Scoring Scale
1 — DevelopingJust beginning with this skill. Needs a lot of support, or key parts are missing.2 — ApproachingShows parts of the skill. Needs some support or reminders, or some parts are missing or unclear.3 — MeetingDoes what the criterion describes on their own. This is the grade-level goal.4 — ExceedingGoes beyond the criterion: more depth or detail, a new way of using the skill, or explaining their thinking.
| Nailed It! | Criteria | To Think About and Work On | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hooking the ReaderStarts the chapter with a topic sentence that names the place and speaks to the reader (ex: “Did you know there is a lake inside a volcano?”). | |||
| Facts & DetailsIncludes important facts from research: what the place is like, how it formed or is changing, and what visitors can do there. | |||
| Safety Tip & Plaino ComparisonGives a clear safety tip for the place and compares it with Planet Plaino (“On Plaino… but on Earth…”). | |||
| OrganizationUses transition words to connect ideas and ends with a concluding sentence that wraps up the chapter. | |||
| Revising & PublishingRevises with adjectives, adverbs, and transition words; checks capitals, punctuation, and past-tense verbs; publishes a neat final copy with a title and a text feature. | |||
| Opinion LetterWrites a Dear Zod letter that states an opinion, gives reasons with linking words (because, also), and ends with a concluding statement; uses commas in the greeting and closing. |
Galactic Guides · Writing · For students and families
Detailed Rubric: Writing a Guidebook Chapter
This page is optional. It prints as its own page, ready to send home or share with students. The Meeting column is the same as each criterion on the rubric above.
NameDate
About this assignment
Your child researched one amazing place on Earth and wrote a chapter about it for our class guidebook for Zod’s community. Your child also wrote a Dear Zod letter giving an opinion about where Zod’s community should visit first.
How to read this rubric
Each row is one skill from the unit. Your teacher circles the box that best matches the work. 3 — Meeting is the goal for the end of 2nd grade. 4 means the work went beyond the goal. 1 or 2 means the skill is still growing, and that’s okay: it shows what to practice next.
| Skill | 1 — Developing | 2 — Approaching | 3 — Meeting | 4 — Exceeding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hooking the Reader | No topic sentence, or it doesn’t name the place. | Names the place but doesn’t speak to the reader. | Starts the chapter with a topic sentence that names the place and speaks to the reader (ex: “Did you know there is a lake inside a volcano?”). | Opens with a hook that makes the reader want to visit, such as a surprising fact or question, and names the place. |
| Facts & Details | Few facts, or facts that aren’t about the place. | Some facts, but leaves out how the place formed or changes, or what visitors can do. | Includes important facts from research: what the place is like, how it formed or is changing, and what visitors can do there. | Adds extra details from more than one source and explains facts in their own words. |
| Safety Tip & Plaino Comparison | Missing the safety tip and the comparison. | Has a safety tip or a comparison, but not both, or one is unclear. | Gives a clear safety tip for the place and compares it with Planet Plaino (“On Plaino… but on Earth…”). | Explains why the safety tip matters, and the comparison uses a fact about the place. |
| Organization | Ideas are in a list or out of order; no concluding sentence. | Uses some transition words, or a concluding sentence, but not both. | Uses transition words to connect ideas and ends with a concluding sentence that wraps up the chapter. | Ideas flow in a clear order with varied transitions, and the conclusion leaves the reader with a final thought. |
| Revising & Publishing | Few changes from the draft; many errors in capitals and punctuation. | Makes some revisions; some errors remain; the final copy is missing the title or text feature. | Revises with adjectives, adverbs, and transition words; checks capitals, punctuation, and past-tense verbs; publishes a neat final copy with a title and a text feature. | Revisions clearly improve the writing; very few errors; the text feature teaches something new. |
| Opinion Letter | No clear opinion, or no reasons. | States an opinion with one reason, or doesn’t use linking words. | Writes a Dear Zod letter that states an opinion, gives reasons with linking words (because, also), and ends with a concluding statement; uses commas in the greeting and closing. | Gives three or more reasons backed by facts and answers something Zod might worry about. |
Student: One skill I am proud of, and one skill I want to grow next: