How to Build a Rubric for Expository Writing

Rubrics are useful grading tools.

Writing can entertain, educate or provide a creative outlet. Writing that aims to inform or explain is called expository writing. This type of writing focuses on clarity and is common in newspaper and magazine articles and non-fiction books. When judging or grading expository writing, rubrics are a useful way to compare each piece of writing to a defined set of criteria such as ideas, grammar, style and organization. Create a rubric for expository writing by following these simple steps.

Instructions

1. Set up your grading scale. Decide what type of scale you'll use to judge the piece of writing. For example, an essay could potentially be worth 100 points or 5 points.

2. Select the criteria by which you will judge the writing. Expository writing can be judged based on whether it clearly explains a given topic, how well the writer handles grammar, proficiency in diction and syntax and whether the piece is appropriately organized into an introduction, body and conclusion.

3. Assign a weight to each criterion according to importance. Organization and originality might be more important, and therefore worth more points on your grading scale, than grammar and spelling.

4. Assign point values to each criterion based on your grading scale and weighted importance. A sample rubric based on a 20-point scale might make ideas worth 10 points, grammar worth three points, style worth three points and organization worth four points.

5. Determine how many points will be deducted for errors. For example, an essay containing 10 grammatical errors might lose one of three possible grammar points.

Tips & Warnings

• Give each writer a copy of the expository writing rubric to use as a guide while writing.

References

• "Bellevue University"; Expository Writing Rubric; 2011
• "Stanford University"; Information About Expository Writing; Arnetha Ball, Jamal A. Cooks, Robert W. Pettigrew