Common Core Writing Rubrics

Most school have developed writing rubrics for scoring student essays and guiding writing instruction. The most popular basis for writing rubrics, especially in elementary school, has been the Six Traits model. Sometimes this has been expanded to Six Plus One Traits to include presentation. While this has been an effective model for many years, you will need to move beyond this if you want your students to do well on the Common Core writing tests.

Here is a sample writing rubric based on the Common Core Sate Standards:

 There are a number of differences. The most important one deals with the use of resources. This is not covered by Six Traits, but it is required in the Common Core. Students will need to be able to cite sources in their writing. Another difference will be the focus on nonfiction writing.

A number of Common Core aligned rubrics can be found here.