FOCUS CONTENT ORGANIZATION STYLE CONVENTIONS

The single controlling The presence of ideas The order developed The choice, use and Grammar, mechanics,
point made with an developed through and sustained within arrangement of words spelling, usage and
awareness of task facts, examples, and across paragraphs and sentence sentence formation.
about a specific anecdotes, details, using transitional structures that create
topic. opinions, statistics, devices and including tone and voice.
reasons, and/or introduction and
explanations. conclusion.
Sharp, distinct Substantial, specific, Sophisticated Precise, illustrative Evident control of

4 controlling point
made about a single
topic with evident
awareness of task.
and/or illustrative
content
demonstrating strong
development and
arrangement of
content with evident
and/or subtle
transitions.
use of a variety of
words and sentence
structures to create
consistent writer’s
grammar, mechanics,
spelling, usage and
sentence information.

sophisticated ideas. voice and tone

appropriate to
audience.
Apparent point made Sufficiently developed Functional Generic use of a Sufficient control of

3 about a single topic

with sufficient
awareness of task.
content with
adequate elaboration
or explanation.
arrangement of
content that sustains a
logical order with
some evidence of
variety of words and
sentence structures
that may or may not
create writer’s voice
grammar, mechanics,
spelling, usage and
sentence formation.

transitions. and tone appropriate

to audience.
No apparent Limited content with Confused or Limited word choice Limited control of

2 evidence of a topic. inadequate

elaboration or
explanation.
inconsistent
arrangement of
content with or
without attempts at
and control of
sentence structures
that inhibit voice and
tone.
grammar, mechanics,
spelling, usage and
sentence formation.

transition.
Minimal evidence of Superficial and/or Minimal control of Minimal variety in Minimal control of

1 a topic. minimal content. content arrangement. word choice and

minimal control of
sentence structures.
grammar, mechanics,
spelling, usage and
sentence formation.