Rubrics

It is not often that I actually use a rubric that I have created in Kindergarten. Our entire Kindergarten report card is one big rubric that we assess on. It took me a while to come up with something that I could create a rubric for that I might actually use. I decided to create one for one of my favorite writing assignments of the whole school year. Towards the end of the school year we read "It Is Not Easy Being A Bunny". The children then take the pattern of this story and write their own stories. I often give the students guidelines for their writing. Most Kindergartners need that kind of direction. So I created the It Is Not Easy Being Me rubric for this writing assignment. It was really fun to think about all the elements that I look at. I did not want something that would be used for Kindergarten to have too many elements. The rubric looks at exactly what I look at when I assess my students writing. Rubristar was really easy to use. I created all of my own descriptions for the levels because I thought theirs were too wordy for my kids.

This is another assignment that is helping us grow professionally. If I used rubrics more this would be an amazing tool to have. I will however pass this site along to my friends who teacher other grades.