News Article Rubric

Individual
CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Headline Article has a headline that Article has a headline that Article has a headline that Article is missing
captures the reader's accurately describes the does not describe the headline.
attention and accurately content. content.
describes the content.

Supporting Details The details in the article The details in the article Most details in the article The details article are
are clear and supportive are clear but need to be are clear. Article does not neither clear nor related
of the topic. developed more. Some focus on the topic well. to the topic.
details may not fit in with
the topic.
Who, What, When, Article adequately The article is missing one The article is missing 2 of The article is missing 3 or
Where & How addresses the 5 W's of the 5 W's. the 5 W's. more of the 5 W's.
(who, what, when, where
and how).

Lead Sentence Lead sentence grabs the Lead sentence tells most Lead sentence is not There is no clear lead
reader's attention and important details. clearly connected to the sentence in the article.
focuses the reader on the article.
topic.

Spelling and No spelling or grammar No more than a couple of No more than 3 spelling
Grammar errors. spelling or grammar or grammar errors.
errors.

Overall Newspaper
Poor Fair Good
 
3 pts Falls below expectation 7 pts Meets Expectations 10 pts Exceeds Expectations

Headlines and Bylines  Poor Fair Good

No headlines and/or bylines Newsletter has a headline with
were included  a byline however only some
articles had headlines and/or
bylines that were related to the
accompanying articles. 
Newsletter has a relevant
headline with a byline.Each
article was accompanied by an
headline and a byline. 

Illustrations/photos  Poor Fair Good

No illustration/photo was At least one or two Three or more
included.  illustration/photos related to an illustrations/photos were
article were included.  included that were related to an
article. All photos were
accompanied by source
information and properly cited
on the "works cited" page. 

Article Content  Poor Fair Good

Each article you provide will be
marked individually using this
section of the rubric -5/8
articles
The article was not relevant.
Was poorly written or was
taken off of a website not
appropriate for this project.
Articles taken from a web
source were not properly
referenced.
The articles have only one
paragraph.
The article was somewhat The article was well written and
relevant. Was appropriate for was relevant to the section
newsletter however lacked requirements. If taken from a
information or detail pertaining web source the article was
to section. The articles were accompanied by a proper
two or three paragraphs long, citation.The articles have at
but contained spelling/grammar least four paragraphs more
errors.  and/or have two or fewer
spelling/grammar errors. 

Creativity  Poor Fair Good

The newspaper shows little The newspaper shows some The newspaper shows a lot of
creativity.  creativity.  creativity. 

Layout Requirements  Poor Fair Good

Newspaper has no columns
No table of contents is provided
No page numbers.
No border is provided.
Newspaper appears thrown
together and/or not layed out
logically with white spaces that
articles, etc. could fit into.  does not match the theme or
Newsletter has columns
Table of contents are provided
however text box is not
Page numbers are provided
however are not in the proper
place.
A border is present however
holiday chosen.
Newspaper has all articles,
photos, headlines and bylines,
with NO white spaces, but has
alignment or margin settings
are incorrect! 
Newsletter has required
columns
A section for the table of
contents is clearly defined
through the proper use of a
text box
Page numbers are provided.
An appropriate border is outline
the newsletter.Newspaper is
neatly laid out with articles,
photos, headlines, and bylines
aligned properly with NO white
spaces