Hannah Valentin

UIN: 823004607

Assignment: Writing & Rubrics

Scoring of Color Crayon, using the Grade 5 Holistic Writing Rubric
One: Emergent/Developing
Scoring of Color Crayon, using the Write Traits 6-Point Scale
Ideas: 2
Organization: 2
Voice: 3
Word Choice: 2
Sentence Fluency: 1
Conventions: 1
Summary
Using both the Grade 5 Holistic Writing Rubric and the Write Traits 6Point Scale, the composition, Color Crayon, was scored. When using the
Grade 5 Holistic Writing Rubric, the writing received the score of One:
Emergent/Developing, which is the lowest of four possible scores. The
composition received this score due to its consistent errors and
disorganization. First, while the topic was mentioned, it was unclear due to
the storys abundance of choppy and irrelevant details. Also, the
composition did contain an opinion, stating that no one would use the ugly
green crayon because they preferred using pretty pink and blue crayons.
This opinion was not thoroughly developed, and was only mentioned briefly.
On the topic of organization, Color Crayon was primarily composed as a list.
The lack of punctuation and correct syntax also hindered the compositions
organization. In result the text was quite choppy and functioned as a
rambling list, lacking order and distinct transitions. Despite few vivid
vocabulary words, such as smeared, as a whole the word choice was
simplistic. Many words were also difficult to interpret due to their
misspellings. Furthermore, the poor mechanics in this work made it very
difficult to read and follow. For these reasons, Color Crayon was scored a
One: Emergent/Developing using the Grade 5 Holistic Writing Rubric.
The composition, Color Crayon, was then scored using the Write Traits
6-Point Scale. For the category of ideas, a score of 2 was given due to the
compositions lack of cohesive focus and brief mention of the thesis. A score
of 2 was also given for organization, as it was extremely difficult to follow
and comprised of a choppy and unclear structure. Minimal transitions were

Hannah Valentin
UIN: 823004607
identifiable, and those that were present were unclear. A score of 3 was then
awarded for the category of voice. The student did in fact use several clever
or humorous phrasings, which gave an insight to the message they were
attempting to portray. When the student mentioned a life-savor wedding
ring, a glimpse of humor came to light. Despite these hints of flavor, the
piece overall lacked purpose and tone. Also, the vocabulary found in Color
Crayon was lacking dimension. Despite the word smeared, a majority of the
word choice was simplistic and as a whole the composition was underwritten.
For these reasons, the word choice in Color Crayon was scored a 2. Sentence
fluency was also assessed, receiving a score of 1. This score was determined
due to the compositions complete lack of flow. It was difficult to identify
where sentences began and ended. The choppy and rambling nature of this
work was also a contributing factor, as it would need serious improvements
in order to be fluently read-aloud. Lastly, Color Crayon received a 1 for the
category of conventions. The mechanics of this composition were vastly
incorrect. Punctuation marks were almost non-existent and spellings were
commonly incorrect. The mechanical errors in Color Crayon were extensive,
so much so that it distracted from the compositions meaning.
Personally, after assessing Color Crayon using the two writing rubrics, I
have come to the realization that I prefer the Write Traits 6-Point Scale. I
prefer this scale versus the Grade 5 Holistic Writing Rubric, since it is more
structured and specific. I felt that this scale was easier to use, as it was
more clearly outlined and broke down the scoring into specific categories.
On the other hand, I felt the Grade 5 Holistic Writing Rubric was more broad
and subjective, which I did not prefer.
After assessing Color Crayon, an instructional strategy could be
implemented in order to build upon the students writing abilities. While the
student had difficulties in many areas, they struggled thoroughly with their
sentence fluency. The composition, Color Crayon, was overrun by rambling
text. This made it very difficult to read and understand the students
intentional message. This could be improved upon through the Get Rid of
Wordiness activity. This activity would grant the student daily practice
reworking overly wordy sentences. This would help the students sentence
fluency by showing them how to reorder, rework, and eliminate unnecessary
elements. With time, the student would begin to comprise more concise and
defined ideas using complete sentences.