Dave_Johnson_spring09Journal+3

For a major writing assignment, my cooperating teacher gave the students a rubric with the assignment that detailed what she is specifically looking for. She assigned point values to grammar, whether or not they chose and used a specific writing strategy that they chose (they could choose between “magic of three” or “starting out with a dramatic opening to grab the reader’s attention”), the inclusion of name and date on the paper, and others. The students made a rough draft of the writing assignment as well to proof and make sure they followed the assignment correctly.

This assessment was good for a couple of reasons that Wiggins has mentioned. For one, the assessment is reliable because the expectations for the assignment are explicitly stated in the rubric. Also, the process of writing a rough draft first before giving the final product gives students more than one opportunity to succeed on the assignment.