Writer's Workshop Literary Essay Rubric

This is a rubric to use with a writer's workshop unit on literary essays. It is a very detailed rubric that can be shown to students before starting the essay so they know what is expected. There are five areas that the rubric assesses: theory about character, organization of essay, evidence from the text, including "twin sentences" that show the writer's thoughts and writing conventions. Twin sentences are when the writer adds to a preceding sentence by adding a detail. The detail could be a definiiton, a thought or opinion, a personal experience, relating two facts or adding why or how many. As I said, in each area, there are very detailed expectations. I've used this with my third grade students when they read series books and study one character. Then during writer's workshop, they take notes and write a literary essay that states and proves a theory about the main character in the series. My students have found this very helpful and so have I! I hope you do too! If you have any questions, please let me know! Enjoy! If you check out my product called "Adding Details in Writer's Workshop with Partner Sentences" it will explain twin sentences It is a great way to get your students to add more detail to their writing!