Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero

Understanding by Design

Unit Cover Page

Unit Title: _____Editing Writing_____ Grade Levels: __4__

Topic/Subject Areas: _____Writing and Editing, English_____

Key Words: subject, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, homophones,

prepositions, series, double-negative

Designed By: ___Jaclyn Cordero ___ Time Frame: __4 weeks __

School District: Regent University School: Teacher Ed & IDS Dept.

Brief Summary of Unit (including curricular context and unit goals):

This unit focuses on editing writing for correct grammar, comma usage, and spelling.
Students will learn to capitalize months, the word “I”, proper nouns, titles, and the start
of every sentence. Students will also learn where to place a comma in an address, a date,
and in a series. Furthermore, students will learn about noun-pronoun agreement and
subject-verb agreement, as well as the definitions of pronouns, adjectives, adverbs,
homophones, prepositions, singular possessives, and double negatives. By the end of
this unit, students will be able to write grammatically correct sentences, spell commonly
misspelled words correctly, incorporate adjectives and adverbs into sentences, use
commas as needed, spot double negatives, and edit their own writing and their peers’
writing for these things. Also by the end of this unit, students will know the value and
importance of writing. For their final performance task, every student will use the
knowledge gleaned from this unit to proofread his or her own short story and edit a
classmate’s short story.

Unit design status: X Completed template pages – stages 1, 2, 3

Completed blueprint for each performance task X Completed rubrics

Directions to students and teacher Materials and resources listed

x Suggested accommodations x Suggested extensions

Status: Initial draft (date: ___________) Revised draft (date: ____________)

Peer Reviewed Content Reviewed Field Tested Validated Anchored

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 1

Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero
STAGE 1 – DESIRED RESULTS
Unit Title: Editing Writing
Established Goals (cite specific VA SOL):
4.8 - The student will edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization, spelling, punctuation, sentence
structure, and paragraphing.
Understandings: Students will understand that…
(Provide 3 to 5)
 Learning how to write grammatically correct
sentences is worthwhile, because their future will
consist of graded essays in high school and/or
college, college application essays, and possibly
writing related to their future careers.
 They will be judged by those who do not know
them based on their writing; thus, it is important
that they understand how to write a coherent and
complete sentence.
 Writing is a form of self-expression – the better
one can write, the better he or she can express him
or herself.
Students will know:
(Give at least 5)
 Capitalize months; the word “I”; names of
people, places, and official names of
things; titles; and starting words of
sentences (MINTS) (Haney, 2013).
 Commas in dates are placed after the day
of the week, after the day of the month,
between the day of the month and the
year, and after the year and the rest of the
sentence, if any (Lunsford, 2015, p. 694).
 Commas in addresses are placed after the
street name, and between the city name
and state/country (Lunsford, 2015, p. 695).
 Commas in a series are placed after each
item in the series.
 A paragraph is 3 to 5 sentences grouped
together (indented) that relate to one
another.
 Verbs must agree with their subjects in
number (singular or plural), in person
Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005)
Essential Questions:
(Provide 3 to 5)
 Why is it important to know how to write
grammatically correct sentences?
 What kind of an impression does clear,
concise, and grammatically correct writing
give?
 What kind of an impression does unclear,
grammatically incorrect writing give?
 How can I become a better writer?
Students will be able to:
(List at least 5 skills)
 Follow capitalization rules
 Use subject-verb agreement
 Include prepositional phrases
 Spot and eliminate double negatives
 Use noun-pronoun agreement
 Use commas in series, dates, and
addresses
 Incorporate adjectives and adverbs in
sentences
 Use correct spelling for frequently used
words, including common homophones
 Use singular possessives
 Structure a sentence
 Write a grammatically correct sentence
 Express themselves through writing
2
Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero
(first, second, or third), and in tense (past,
present, future) (Lunsford, 2015, p. 590).
 Prepositions are words that show the
relations between other words (Lunsford,
2015, p. 620)
 A prepositional phrase is the preposition,
the object of the preposition, and the
modifiers between the two. (Prepositions,
2016).
 A double-negative is the combination of
the negative form of a verb with a
negative pronoun, adverb, or conjunction
(Shrives, “What are Double Negatives?”).
 A pronoun that refers to a noun must
match that noun in person, number, and
gender.
 A series is three or more words, phrases,
or clauses (Lunsford, 2015, p. 692).
 A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.
 An adjective is a word that describes a
noun.
 An adverb tells us when, where, how, in
what manner, or to what extent an action
is performed. Adverbs usually modify
verbs, but they can modify adjectives as
well (Shrives, “What are Adverbs?”).
 Homophones are frequently misspelled
words that sound the same but are spelled
differently.
 A singular possessive is a noun that takes
on a possessive form and is usually
followed with an apostrophe and an “s”.

STAGE 2 – ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Performance Tasks: Other Evidence:

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 3

Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero
 Comma Coma – Students will practice
putting commas in the correct place in
series, dates, and addresses, and save lives
in the process. (Example: “Let’s eat,
grandma!”)
 Hang up the Homophone – Students will
work together and individually to circle
the correct homophone that completes the
sentence.
 Be My Pen Pal – In order to practice
comma usage in dates and addresses, as
well as punctuation and grammar skills,
students will be assigned a pen-pal in the
class to write and send letters to
throughout the unit (1 per week for the
first 3 weeks).
 “Can you G.R.A.S.P. This?” Activity –
Students will create and edit their own
short stories to submit to the Scholastic
Writing Awards judges (their classmates
and teacher).
 Edit for Credit – Students will edit one of
their peers’ short stories.
 Worksheets:
o Placing given adjective and
adverbs correctly into a sentence
o Subject-verb agreement exercises
o Correcting sentences
o Differentiating between (or
among) homophones
o Identifying prepositional phrases
 “Show What You Know” Quiz – a quiz
about editing and grammar that students
will take at the beginning and at the end
of the unit
 “Edit this Essay” Assessment – an
assessment in which students will edit a
teacher-made essay
 Essential Answers - Students will write
out responses to each of the essential
questions and share their answers with a
partner and/or the class.

Student Self-Assessment and Reflection

(List at least 2)
 Students will fill out a class-sized KWL chart in the beginning of the unit and add to it as they
go along.
 Entry Ticket – Every Monday, students will write about their weekends in their journals at the
beginning of class in order to practice expressing themselves in writing, and to put into
practice what they have learned in class (comma usage, punctuation rules, etc). If time permits,
a couple of student volunteers will share their entries with the class, and the class will edit
their entries for any grammatical errors.
 Morning Bell – On Tuesdays through Fridays, students will complete a “Daily Language
Review” (DLR) worksheet in which they put into practice what they have learned in the
previous day.
 Exit Ticket – Students will check off a checklist each day of the vocabulary and grammatical
concepts they are comfortable with
 Students will compare and contrast their first and last attempts of the “Show What You Know”
Quiz and reflect on what they have learned in this unit.

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 4

Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero
STAGE 3 – LEARNING PLAN
Summary of Learning Activities:
(list by number here and then complete the week-by-week planning calendar below using the same information)

1. Introduce the unit topic of editing and writing to students and have them start filling out the “Know” column of the K-W-L
chart.
2. Teacher will provide students with a checklist of the things they will learn how to do in the unit (from “students will be
able to” section of Stage 1).
3. Students will take the “Show What You Know” Quiz for pre-assessment.
4. Hook: Teacher will show students “Writing is Aight!” video to focus their minds on writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_a1Qjp2dy4 (A.C. Jones High School, 2014).
5. Teacher will ask students to respond to the essential questions. Students will “think, pair, share” to discuss their
answers.
6. Students will be assigned a pen pal.
7. Be My Pen Pal – students will write a letter of introduction to their assigned pen pals. Students will finish the letter for
homework if needed and bring it to class by Friday.
8. Hook: Teacher will show students a passage with capitalization errors.
9. Teacher will present a mini-lesson in order to address each type of capitalization error.
10. Teacher will show a video to introduce students to the “MINT” acronym for capitalization:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtSu_QTX8JQ (Haney, 2013).
11. Students will complete a capitalization worksheet by using the proper editing notation for capitalization (three lines).
12. Exit Ticket – students will check off the vocabulary and grammatical concepts they are comfortable with.
13. Daily Language Review: Capitalization
14. Review the definition of a verb and a subject.
15. Present mini-lesson on subject verb agreement (Hall, 2016).
16. Play sentence structure game with students: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/en30stru-game-verb-subject-
treasure-hunt (“Sentence structure...”)
17. “Name that Verb” Activity: Students will be given a large piece of paper with various verbs in different forms (Example:
is/are, made/makes, ran/run). Teacher will show a sentence on the board and students must raise their card high up in
the air if they have the correct verb that agrees with the subject.
18. Students will complete the subject verb agreement worksheet in class: http://www.education.com/download/lesson-
plan/subject-agrees-with-the-verb/attachments/great-grammar-subject-verb-agreement.pdf (Hall, 2016).
19. Exit Ticket - Checklist
20. Daily Language Review: Subject-Verb Agreement
21. Have students complete a word search of important vocabulary they need to know in the unit.
22. Students will continue to fill out the K-W-L chart, especially the “Want to Know” part.
23. Hook: Show students the Schoolhouse Rock Preposition video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfExXGMX2JM
(“Schoolhouse Rock Prepositions”, 2009).
24. Mini lesson on prepositions and prepositional phrases
25. Show students preposition song to the tune of “Jingle Bells” and provide each of them with the lyrics to follow along:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SxoTXMufLk (Howell, 2015). Lyrics:
http://www.birdvilleschools.net/cms/lib2/TX01000797/Centricity/Domain/391/The%20Preposition%20Song.pdf
26. Activity: Assign students one preposition each. Students will decide as a group what the main object or subject is that
they want to write about. Students will individually write a sentence with their given preposition and underline the
prepositional phrase. Each student will read their sentence to the group and every member of the group will write each
member’s sentence and draw a picture depicting each of the sentences combined.
27. Exit Ticket – Checklist
28. Students will give their letters to their pen pals.
29. Daily Language Review: Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
30. Hook: Teacher writes a sentence on the board that contains a double-negative.
31. Think, pair, share: Students pair up and discuss what the sentence really means
32. Mini-lesson on double negatives using this website: http://www.supergrammar.com/2010/12/double-negative.html
(Preciado & Montijo, 2010).
33. Students will complete a worksheet on double negatives: http://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/nightmarish-negatives-
double-negatives-in-sentences/ (“Nightmarish Negatives…”).
34. Formative assessment/cooperative learning game: Students will help teacher get an “A” on a “test” about avoiding
double negatives: http://www.easystream.net/lessonquest/language/lessons/doubleneg.html (“Avoiding Double
Negatives”).
35. Exit Ticket – checklist
36. Students will write in their journals about what they learned in the past week.
37. Students will continue filling out the K-W-L chart, especially the “Learned” section.
38. Hook: teacher will show students a Schoolhouse Rock video about pronouns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu1ciVFbecw (“Pronoun Schoolhouse Rock”, 2012).
39. Mini-lesson on pronouns: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/pronouns-baseball.shtml (“Play Ball: A Pronoun
Lesson”)
Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 5
Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero
40. Centers: Have students rotate and complete each of the extension activities related to the lesson on pronouns: (1)
circle all pronouns in the text, (2) write a paragraph about your favorite hobby without using the listed pronouns, (3)
identify the noun to which each numbered pronoun refers to (“Play Ball: A Pronoun Lesson”).
41. Exit Ticket – Checklist
42. Daily Language Review: Noun-pronoun Agreement
43. Hook: Show students the comma song video about using commas in a series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3h42RWnCB0 (“Comma Song…”, 2012).
44. Punctuation Pasta: Give students large pieces of paper full of sentences that need commas. Have students work in
groups as they glue elbow macaroni in places where commas should be. The whole class will compare their answers
(V.K, 2016).
45. Show students the video about using commas in addresses, dates, and letters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHlgcJy9dpY (Wilcox, 2015).
46. Be My Pen Pal - Give students envelopes so that each student can practice writing his or her pen pal’s address
correctly. Have students write a letter of response to their pen pals in which they also write about their favorite book or
movie. Letters will be mailed by Friday and must be brought back to school on Monday.
47. Exit Ticket – Checklist
48. Daily Language Review: Commas in dates, addresses, and series
49. Hook: Show “Punctuation is Important” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlBfnqgnhzw (Franco, 2010).
50. Centers: (1) Comma Coma – Students will practice putting commas in the correct place (Ex: Let’s eat, Grandma!), (2)
Students will meet in small groups with the teacher for extra help they may need as indicated by their exit ticket
checklists, (3) Students will play educational computer games based on what they have learned so far in the unit.
51. Exit Ticket – Students will answer this question: What have we learned so far that you still need more practice on?
52. Daily Language Review: Comma Usage
53. Hook: Ask students to describe a picture using descriptive words.
54. Show students the Schoolhouse Rock adjectives video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkuuZEey_bs
(“Schoolhouse Rock: Grammar – Unpack Your Adjectives Video”, 2011).
55. Hook Follow-up – ask students if they can describe the same picture with even more adjectives
56. Take students to computer lab where they will play an educational game about adjectives:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/en25adje-game-read-all-about-it-adjectives (“Read all about it Adjectives Game”).
57. Exit Ticket – Students rate their level of understanding of adjectives (thumbs up, down, or sideways)
58. Daily Language Review: Adjectives
59. Continue filling out K-W-L chart.
60. Hook: Based on what you know about adjectives, what do you think adverbs are? (Think, Pair, Share)
61. Show Schoolhouse Rock Adverbs video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14fXm4FOMPM (Toth, 2011).
62. Centers: (1) Students add adverbs to sentences, (2) Students determine whether or not a word is an adjective or an
adverb.
63. Exit Ticket – checklist
64. Entry Ticket – students write in their journals about what they learned in the previous week.
65. Hook –What are homophones? (Think, Pair, Share)
66. Teacher will write this sentence on board and read it out loud: I am sure you all NO many homophones. Am I WRITE?
If KNOT, THAN maybe this video will help you.
67. Show VeggieTales homophone song video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0J-T2lr0Ms (“VeggieTales: School
House Polka – Silly Song”)
68. Teacher will ask students what is wrong with the sentence on the board.
69. Mini-lesson on homophones
70. Hang up the Homophone - Teacher will break students into groups and they will work together and individually to
complete their group’s portion of a story (“Monster Grammar”). The whole class will review the correct answers.
71. Exit Ticket – Students will pretend to hang up a phone into the palm of their hand to show that they “got the hang” of
homophones. Students who still have questions or feel shaky about the topic will pretend to hold a phone up to their
ears to show that they haven’t quite “gotten the hang” of homophones.
72. Daily Language Review – Homophones Definition
73. Be My Pen Pal – Students will write one more letter to their pen pals and have free reign to write about anything they
want.
74. Getting the Hang of Homophones – Teacher will give each student a piece of paper divided in half with a box in the
middle of it, as well as a card with a pair of homophones on it. TSW write a sentence in the box using one of the
homophones in the pair. Then TSW write the same sentence in the box using the other homophone in the pair.
Example: Would you help me, please? and Wood you help me, please? The student may draw a picture of a student
asking her dad for help with homework on the top of the paper and a picture of a girl asking a piece of wood to help her
on the bottom of the paper. TTW hang the students’ pictures up in the classroom until the unit is over.
75. Exit Ticket – checklist
76. Daily Language Review: Homophone Differentiation
77. Singular Possessives mini-lesson
78. Students will complete a singular possessives worksheet.
79. Introduce G.R.A.S.P activity and rubric.
80. Give students time to brainstorm a topic for their short stories.

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 6

Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero
81. Exit Ticket: Singular Possessives
82. Daily Language Review: Students will edit a sentence for errors.
83. Mini-lesson on editing notation and symbols
84. Students will complete an editing practice worksheet.
85. Students will continue brainstorming their short story topics and fill out a graphic organizer.
86. Exit Ticket – Checklist
87. Daily Language Review – Students will use the proper editing notation and symbols while editing a paragraph.
88. Teacher will partner students into pairs for the eventual editing process.
89. “Edit this Essay” Assessment – students will individually edit a teacher-made essay.
90. Entry Ticket – students will write in their journals about what they learned in the previous week.
91. Teacher will review the “Edit this Essay” Assessment with students.
92. Students will have time in class to work on their short stories.
93. Exit Ticket – Rate Your Progress (hand signals): With 1 meaning you haven’t started and 10 meaning that you have
finished, how far along are you in your short story?
94. Daily Language Review: Students will complete a crossword puzzle of all the vocabulary they have learned in the unit.
95. Jeopardy Review Game
96. Students will be given one last time to work on and/or proofread their short stories in class.
97. Daily Language Review: Students will practice editing a passage.
98. Students will take the “Show What You Know” Quiz again to check for improvement and understanding.
99. Students will write a refection in which they compare and contrast their pre-assessment scores to their final
assessment scores.
100. Entry Ticket – students will turn in their G.R.A.S.P. assignments to their partners.
101. Edit for Credit – students will edit their assigned partner’s short story and provide feedback.
102. Students will go to the computer lab to work on their final drafts of their short stories.
103. Entry Ticket – students will turn in their G.R.A.S.P. assignments to the teacher.
104. Essential Answers – Students will revisit the essential questions and write their own answers. Answers will be shared
with the class.
105. Review K-W-L chart with students. Students may add on to the chart.
106. Sharing is Caring – Students who volunteer will be able to sit in the author’s chair and read their short stories to the
class. Classmates will provide feedback: 1 critical comment and 2 positive comments per listener.

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 7

Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero

Stage 3 – Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

Consider the WHERETO elements. You must include enough instruction for 20 lessons.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1.
 Introduction of unit (1)
 Start K-W-L chart (2)
 Review unit checklist
 “Show What You Know”
pre-assessment quiz (3)
 Hook – “Writing is
Aight!” video (4)
 Think, Pair, Share –
Essential Questions (5)
 Assign pen pals (6)
 Be My Pen Pal:
Students will write a
letter of introduction to
their pen pals. (7)
6.
 Entry Ticket – journal
writing (36)
 Continue filling out K-W-
L chart (37)
 Hook: Pronoun
Schoolhouse Rock
video (38)
2.
 Hook: show students a
passage with
capitalization errors (8)
 Mini-lesson on
capitalization (9)
 “MINT” video (10)
 Editing for capitalization
worksheet (11)
 Exit Ticket – Checklist
(12)
7.
 DLR: Noun-pronoun
Agreement (42)
 Hook: Comma Song
(43)
 Punctuation Pasta
Activity (44)
3. 4.
 Daily Language Review  DLR: Subject-verb
(DLR): Capitalization Agreement (20)
(13)  Vocabulary word search
 Review of subjects and (21)
verbs (14)  Continue filling out K-W-
 Mini-lesson on subject- L chart (22)
verb agreement (15)  Hook: Schoolhouse
 Sentence structure Rock Preposition video
game (16) (23)
 “Name that Verb”  Mini-lesson on
activity (17) prepositions and
 Subject-verb agreement prepositional phrases
worksheet (18) (24)
 Exit Ticket – Checklist  Preposition song (25)
(19)  Group activity:
Prepositions (26)
 Exit Ticket – Checklist
(27)
8. 9.
 DLR: Commas in dates,  DLR: Comma Usage
addresses, and series (52)
(48)  Hook: Ask students to
 Show “Punctuation is describe a picture using
Important” video (49) descriptive words (53)
 Centers (50)  Schoolhouse Rock
 Exit Ticket – answer Adjectives video (54)
question (51)  Hook follow-up (55)
5.
 Exchange letters with
pen pals (28)
 DLR: Prepositions and
Prepositional Phrases
(29)
 Hook: Teacher writes
sentence containing a
double-negative on
board (30)
 Think, Pair, Share –
students discuss what
the sentence on the
board means (31)
 Mini-lesson on double
negatives (32)
 Double negatives
worksheet (33)
 Formative assessment:
double-negatives game
(34)
 Exit Ticket – Checklist
(35)
10.
 DLR: Adjectives (58)
 Continue K-W-L charts
(59)
 Hook: Think, Pair,
Share (60)
 Schoolhouse Rock
Adjectives video (61)
 Centers (62)

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 8

Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero
 Pronoun mini-lesson  Video about commas in  Computer lab (56)  Exit Ticket – Checklist
(39) dates and addresses  Exit Ticket – Rate your (63)
 Centers (40) (45) understanding (57)
 Exit Ticket – checklist  Be My Pen Pal –
(41) students practice writing
pen pal’s addresses on
envelopes and begin
writing their letters of
response to their pen
pals (46)
 Exit Ticket – checklist
(47)
11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
 Entry Ticket – journal  DLR: Homophones  DLR: Homophone  DLR: Editing Sentences  DLR: Editing a
writing (64) definition (72) differentiation (76) (82) Paragraph (87)
 Hook: Think, Pair,  Be My Pen Pal –  Singular possessives  Mini-lesson on editing  Partner students into
Share (65, 66) students write their last mini lesson (77) notation and symbols pairs (88)
 Veggie Tales response letters to their  Singular possessives (83)  “Edit this Essay”
homophone video (67, pen pals (73) worksheet (78)  Editing practice Assessment (89)
68)  “Getting the Hang of  Introduce G.R.A.S.P. worksheet (84)
 Mini-lesson on Homophones” activity activity and rubric (79)  Fill out graphic
homophones (69) (74)  Brainstorming (80) organizer for short story
 “Hang up the  Exit Ticket – checklist  Exit Ticket: singular (85)
Homophone” activity (75) possessives (81)  Exit Ticket: checklist
(70) (86)
 Exit Ticket – hand
signals (71)
16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
 Entry Ticket – journal  DLR: Crossword puzzle  DLR: Editing a Passage  Entry Ticket – Turn in  Entry Ticket – Turn in
writing (90) (94) (97) short stories to partners short story to teacher
 “Edit this Essay”  Jeopardy Review Game  “Show What You Know” (100) (103)
Assessment Review (95) Quiz (98)  “Edit for Credit”  “Essential Answers”
(91)  Writing Time (96)  Reflection on quiz assignment (101) activity (104)
 Writing Time (92) scores (99)  Final Drafts (102)  Review K-W-L chart
 Exit Ticket – Rate your (105)
progress hand signals  “Sharing is Caring” -
(93) Short story readings
(106)

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 9

 Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero

Short Story Rubric

Task: Each student will create and edit their own short stories (1 page single-spaced or 2 page double-spaced minimum) to submit to the Scholastic Writing Awards judges.
The main judge is the teacher and the supporting judges will be the students who will edit one of their classmates’ stories using this same rubric. Students may write about
anything. The story must include adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and singular possessives. Furthermore, the story should be free of both grammar and
punctuation-related mistakes. In addition, students will be judged on originality, grammar and mechanics, and style.

YOUR SCORE CRITERIA EXEMPLARY PROFICIENT DEVELOPING BEGINNING

4 3 2 1

The story is unlike any other story. It
seems that the writer put hours of
thought and work into creating this
creative, original story.
__/4 Originality
While the story may be slightly
similar to some other stories, it
still possesses a large degree
of originality.
The story is very similar to
other stories, but it is not an
exact copy.
The story seems to be
the exact copy of a well-
known story; the amount
of originality is
questionable.

The story is one page or more, and it The story is at least one page The story is slightly under The story is less than
contains no grammatical or and contains few, if any, one page, and/or still has one page and/or is
mechanical errors. grammatical and mechanical several grammatical and difficult to understand.
errors. mechanical errors that may
__/4 Grammar and
make it difficult to
Mechanics
understand.

Every sentence is significant to the
story. Descriptive words are used
often, and sentence structure is
highly varied so as to provide the
__/4 Style
reader with a smooth reading
experience. The writer’s voice shines
through the writing. The writer has
met and/or exceeded the
requirements.
The story makes sense.
Sentence structure is varied,
and the writer’s voice is
recognizable. Descriptive
words are used to provide
clarity and detail to the story.
The student has met the basic
requirements.
The story mostly makes
sense. The writer’s voice is
somewhat present.
Sentence structure is
slightly varied, but
descriptive words are
minimally used. The
student has met some of
the requirements.
The story does not make
sense. It contains poor
word choice and lacks
the writer’s voice.
Descriptive words are
not used and there is no
variation in sentence
structure. Few, if any,
requirements are met.

Comments:
16/16: A 12/16: C
__/16 15/16: A- 11/16: D+
14/16: B+ 10/16: D-
13/16: B- 9/16: F

Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 10

Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero

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Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 11

Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero

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Design Topic Writing and Editing Subject(s) English Grade(s) 4 Designer(s) Jaclyn Cordero

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Source: Understanding by Design, Unit Design Planning Template (Wiggins/McTighe 2005) 13