Progress Report Rubric

Progress Report Rubric

Topic: Teaching a child to drive

Organization and Formatting: 

• Report follows Block Memo Format.
• Each paragraph begins with a topic sentence. 
• Three or more bolded headings are used. Effective headings are:
• Useful, they accurately describe the content to follow
• Brief, they are 1-7 words maximum
• Summative: a skim of headings shows the reader at a glance what is in the report

Content:

• The report is 5-7 paragraphs with 3-7 sentences in each paragraph.
• The writing includes specific and accurate word choice and details and does NOT use the following words: thing, good, really, very, extremely, wonderful, outstanding, or any synonym of the above (refer to the lesson on Precise Words).   

• The writing uses active versus passive voice. The writing uses: is, are, was, were, be, been, being, and am ONE time or less per paragraph, and does not use “There is, there are, there was, there were, there _____ be, and there ______ been” at all.  Instead, the writing uses action verbs such as describes, shows, presents, writes, run, ran, talked, talk, and so forth.
   
• The writing uses familiar words. Define jargon or key terms as needed.

• The report shows how you have overcome some obstacles; explains how far you have come (or, how much has been completed), and how far you have left to go before completion.

• The writing uses TRANSITIONS effectively to clarify connections between stages of your progress.
   
• The report uses positive words and de-emphasizes any negatives. 
  Does not use negative words such as “no” and “limited,” plus most “un-words, in-words,” and so forth (refer to chapter 7 for a list).

• The report provides specific and precise reader benefits, if you are recommending or justifying. 

• Paragraphs contain properly structured TOPIC SENTENCES that scaffold the paragraph’s main idea.
   
• The report does not refer to the reader’s or the writer’s feelings at all.  
   
• The writing uses no slang, cliches, trite or over-used expressions, and no biasied or sexist language.
   
• The report makes clear the importance of the subject matter to the writer.

• The final section ends with a positive paragraph that focuses on the future.

Mechanics: 

Commas, quotation marks, and other punctuation marks are used correctly.

• The writing contains correct grammar without sentence fragments, comma splices, and run-on sentences. 

The writing is free of spelling errors or improper word choice.