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Mrs. Sanchez' 3rd Grade Class |
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 Florida WritesFrom the Florida Department of Education Description of FLORIDA WRITES! The FLORIDA WRITES! requires students to produce a piece of writing within established guidelines and specific parameters. Each student receives a writing folder containing one writing prompt (topic) with two lined pages for the written response. Students are given 45 minutes to read the prompts independently, plan their responses, and write their responses in the folders. A separate sheet is provided for planning or prewriting activities (e.g., outlining, clustering, mapping, and jotting down ideas). The student responses are scored by trained readers using the holistic method to evaluate a piece of writing for its overall quality. The readers consider four elements: focus, organization, support, and conventions. In this type of scoring, readers make a judgment about the entire response and do not focus on any one aspect of writing. Focus refers to how clearly the paper presents and maintains a main idea, theme, or unifying point. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale demonstrate a consistent awareness of the topic and do not contain extraneous information. Organization refers to the structure or plan of development (beginning, middle, and end) and whether the points logically relate to one another. Organization also refers to (1) the use of transitional devices to relate the supporting ideas to the main idea, theme, or unifying point and (2) the evidence of a connection between sentences. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale use transitions to signal the plan of development or text structure and end with summary or concluding statements. Support refers to the quality of details used to explain, clarify, or define. The quality of support depends on word choice, specificity, depth, and thoroughness. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale provide examples and illustrations in which the relationship between the supporting ideas and the topic is clear. Conventions refers to punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and variation in sentence structure. The conventions are basic writing skills included in Florida's Minimum Student Performance Standards. Papers representing the higher end of the point scale follow, with few exceptions, the conventions of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling and use a variety of sentence structures to present ideas.
Score Points in Rubric The rubric further interprets the four major areas of consideration into levels of achievement. The rubric used to score papers is shown below. 6 Points The writing is focused, purposeful, and reflects insight into the writing situation. The paper conveys a sense of completeness and wholeness with adherence to the main idea, and its organizational pattern provides for a logical progression of ideas. The support is substantial, specific, relevant, concrete, and/or illustrative. The paper demonstrates a commitment to and an involvement with the subject, clarity in presentation of ideas, and may use creative writing strategies appropriate to the purpose of the paper. The writing demonstrates a mature command of language (word choice) with freshness of expression. Sentence structure is varied, and sentences are complete except when fragments are used purposefully. Few, if any, convention errors occur in mechanics, usage, and punctuation. 5 Points The writing focuses on the topic, and its organizational pattern provides for a progression of ideas, although some lapses may occur. The paper conveys a sense of completeness or wholeness. The support is ample. The writing demonstrates a mature command of language, including precision in word choice. There is variation in sentence structure, and, with rare exceptions, sentences are complete except when fragments are used purposefully. The paper generally follows the conventions of mechanics, usage, and spelling. 4 Points The writing is generally focused on the topic but may include extraneous or loosely related material. An organizational pattern is apparent, although some lapses may occur. The paper exhibits some sense of completeness or wholeness. The support, including word choice, is adequate, although development may be uneven. There is little variation in sentence structure, and most sentences are complete. The paper generally follows the conventions of mechanics, usage, and spelling. 3 Points The writing is generally focused on the topic but may include extraneous or loosely related material. An organizational pattern has been attempted, but the paper may lack a sense of completeness or wholeness. Some support is included, but development is erratic. Word choice is adequate but may be limited, predictable, or occasionally vague. There is little, if any, variation in sentence structure. Knowledge of the conventions of mechanics and usage is usually demonstrated, and commonly used words are usually spelled correctly. 2 Points The writing is related to the topic but include extraneous or loosely related material. Little evidence of an organizational pattern may be demonstrated, and the paper may lack a sense of completeness or wholeness. Development of support is inadequate or illogical. Word choice is limited, inappropriate or vague. There is little, if any, variation in sentence structure, and gross errors in sentence structure may occur. Errors in basic conventions of mechanics and usage may occur, and commonly used words may be misspelled. 1 Point The writing may only minimally address the topic. The paper is a fragmentary or incoherent listing of related ideas or sentences or both. Little, if any, development of support or an organizational pattern or both is apparent. Limited or inappropriate word choice may obscure meaning. Gross errors in sentence structure and usage may impede communication. Frequent and blatant errors may occur in the basic conventions of mechanics and usage, and commonly used words may be misspelled. Unscorable The paper is unscorable because the response is not related to what the prompt requested the student to do. the response is simply a rewording of the prompt. the response is a copy of a published work. the student refused to write. the response is illegible. the response is incomprehensible (words are arranged in such a way that no meaning is conveyed). the response contains an insufficient amount of writing to determine if the student was attempting to address the prompt.  |
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