4th Grade Writing Rubric

Free Downloadable Writing Rubric for Fourth Grade

This is our 4th grade writing rubric and 5th grade writing rubric.
Evaluate your students writing for length, word choice, main idea, and mechanics.
Rubrics not only give you an objective method for evaluating writing, they also provide a step-by-step technique for the students to improve their writing skills.

Print the Fourth Grade Writing Rubric

Print the 4th Grade Writing Rubric

The Writing Criteria on the Fourth Grade Rubric

Paragraphs
Above Expectation: Writes cohesive paragraphs with topic sentences and introduction and conclusion
Meets Expectation: Writes paragraphs with some cohesion
Below Expectation: No topic discerned in each paragraph.
Fails Criteria: No central idea or theme

Organization
Above Expectation: Paragraphs have logical order and progress from one point to the next.
Meets Expectation: A single theme is present in each paragraph.
Ideas are on the same subject but disorganized.
Below Expectation: No organization of ideas


Punctuation
Above Expectation: Uses beginning and end punctuation as well as contractions and proper nouns correctly
Meets Expectation: Makes a few errors in punctuation
Below Expectation: Many sentences have punctuation errors. Same mistakes made frequently.
Fails Expectation: Half or more of sentences are incorrectly punctuated.

Spelling
Above Expecation: No spelling errors
Meets Expectation: Few difficult words misspelled
Below Expectation: Several spelling errors in each paragraph
Fails Expectation: Many misspelled words

Legibility
Above Expectation: Neat and legible
Meets Expectation: Some stray marks and cross overs
Below Expectation: Difficult to read
Fails Criteria: Illegible

Word Choices
Above Expectation: Uses interesting words and phrases in every paragraph
Meets Expectation: Contains some descriptive words
Below Expectation: Usually uses general words with few descriptive phrases or details
Fails Criteria: Simple words are used with minimal vocabulary.

Sentence Structure
Above Expectation: Uses a variety of simple, complex, and compound sentences
Meets Expectation: Uses a few complex or compound sentence
Below Expectation: Repeats the same type of sentence or type of subject frequently
Fails Criteria: Uses only simple sentences

Voice
Above Expectation: Gets the reader's attention and holds it
Meets Expectation: Shows some personal interest in the topic
Below Expectation: Writing is mechanical without interest for writer or reader.

It's Not All About Mechanics!

3rd to 8th Grade

Write On: The Kid-Friendly Way to Write

With a carefully crafted process, students start with simple sentences, turn their thoughts into paragraphs, develop their ideas into essays, then combine their skills to create a thesis.

In between structured reports, creative writing exercises stretch their imagination and build their writing style.

This unique program can be used with multi-level learning and fits in with most unit study curriculums. Written for average 3rd to 8th grade writers, some activities can be adapted for writers in different situations.