Example of Scoring Rubrics for Essay Writing

Essay question:

You witness a boy being kidnapped while waiting for the bus at a bus stop. Write about the
incident.
When writing about the incident, you should:
 describe what happened
 express what you felt
 suggest ways to prevent such incidents from happening in the future
 write between 100 – 120 words

Holistic Marking
Example of Scoring Rubric for Essay Questions (100 marks)

Level of General Presentation Reasoning, Argumentation

Achievement
Excellent  Provides a very clear and thorough introduction  Demonstrates an accurate and
(90 – 100  Addresses the question accurately complete understanding of the
marks)  Presents arguments in a very logical order question
 Uses acceptable style and grammar (no errors)  Uses several arguments and backs
 Produce a creative and interesting piece of writing arguments with examples, data
expressing one’s opinions and thoughts creatively using that support the conclusion
a good variety of sentence patterns, writing conventions
and an excellent range of vocabulary.
Distinction  Provide a clear and thorough introduction  Demonstrates n clear
(80 – 89  Addresses the question well understanding of the question
marks)  Presents arguments in a logical way  Uses some arguments and
 Uses acceptable style and grammar (1-2 errors) examples that support conclusion
 Produce a good piece of writing expressing pne’s
opinions with some creativity, using a wide range of
sentence patterns, writing conventions and vocabulary.
Credit (60 –  Provide a fairly clear introduction  Demonstrates a moderate
79 marks)  Addresses the question fairly well understanding of the question
 Presents arguments in a fairly logical way  Sufficient use of arguments and
 Uses fairly acceptable style and grammar (2 - 5 errors) examples that support conclusion
 Produce a writing expressing one’s opinions with a fair
amount of sentence patterns, writing conventions,
vocabulary anf creativity.
Pass (40 – 59  Does not address the question explicitly, though does so  Demonstrates minimal
marks) tangentially understanding of question, still
 States a somewhat relevant argument accurate
 Does not presents arguments in a logical order  Uses a small subset of possible
 Uses adequate style and grammar (more than 5 errors) ideas for support of the argument.
 Express some ideas in simple sentences, using basic
vocabulary with very minimal use of writing
conventions.
Fail (1 – 39  Does not address the question
marks)  States no relevant arguments
 Is not clearly or logically organized
 Fails to use acceptable style and grammar
 Write a few simple sentences but lack of accuracy.
No Answer
(0 mark)
 Does not demonstrate
understanding of the question,
inaccurate
 Does not provide evidence to
support response to the question