Grading Student Blog Posts

The students in Reading Workshop just completed an interdisciplinary project for social studies and language arts.  They had to research about a place they had visited, list five facts, and then write a story about their trip.  In addition, for their blog, they had to write an introduction, find relevant links, and post pictures that supported their writing.

The project was graded using this rubric.

A 

• Follows project guidelines
• Has an introduction that explains the project telling W's (who, what, when, where, why)    
• Interesting/draws in the reader
• Writing has a sense of style
• Provides relative and interesting facts
• Writes a narrative that is detailed, exciting, and complete
• Has numerous links to relevant websites
• Correct PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
• Does not plagiarize

B

• Follows project guidelines
• Has an introduction that explains the project telling W's    
• Provides relative and interesting facts
• Writes a narrative that is detailed and complete
• Has links to relevant websites
• Correct PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
• Does not plagiarize

C 

• Follows guidelines
• Has an introduction that explains the project
• Provides facts
• Writes a narrative that is complete
• Has links to websites
• Two - Four mistakes with PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
• Does not plagiarize

D 

• Does not follow guidelines
• Incomplete introduction
• Provides some facts
• Incomplete narrative
• Errors with PUGS (Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling)
• Does not plagiarize

F 

• Plagiarizes
• Little sign of effort
• Did not publish post on blog

Students, Grade Your Blogs

As the first 9 weeks comes to an end, it is time to grade The Reading Workshop students' blogs.  This is a chance for students to have input into their blog grade.  With this embedded Google Docs Form, students can evaluate their work.  

We will be using the Blogging Stair Steps to Success from the post on Grading Student Blogs as a basis for this evaluation.

Hey Kathy Schrock, How About Share and Share Alike?

Recently a site linked to my Student Blog Rubric.  I am always pleased when someone finds something of value on this blog.  In fact, one of the greatest benefits of blogging is the sharing of ideas and opinions among bloggers. All items on this blog, The Reading Workshop are licensed through Creative Commons.  This allows anyone to use anything of value with attribution.

I was  shocked by Discovery Education and the fact of how they limit use. I can't help but wonder how they can post a link to my site and so many others, for all to use, but at the bottom of their site they state:

©1995-2010 Kathleen Schrock. All rights reserved.

And the terms of use state:

V. USE OF MATERIALS
Except your own User Submissions, the materials available to you through Discovery Education Media Share are the property of Discovery or its licensors, or of other users of Discovery Education Media Share, and are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. You are free to display and print for your personal, non-commercial use information you receive through Discovery Education Media Share. But you may not otherwise reproduce any of the materials without the prior written consent of the owner. You may not distribute copies of materials found on Discovery Education Media Share in any form...

Probably the easiest thing for them to do is just blow me away, never link again, and pretend I don't exist.  However, the just thing to do would be to share and share alike.

So there is no misunderstanding, please feel free to use anything you find of value on this site.  I would appreciate attribution.  Please see the link below to answer any questions.

This work is licensed under a  Creative Commons License.

Student Blog Rubric

As the grading period ends, Student blogs must be assessed.  For those striving for excellence, here is the expectation.

	Student Blog Rubric
Score	Basis for Scoring
--------------------= = 4 or A	Concise (3 -4 paragraphs) with a specific focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the readers' attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support the main idea Has a "So What?", theme, lesson, or specific point that attracts the readers' attention Demonstrates detailed understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct

The rest of the rubric can be found at The Reading Workshop Blog Rubric.

For examples of students' blogs that earned a 4, check out these sites:
Hannah's Hideout
Hadley's Planet
Ian's Corner
Bethanie's Word
Hannah's Hangout
Katey's Corner
Kaitlyn's Cave

Reading Workshop Student Blog Rubric

	Student Blog Rubric
Score	Basis for Scoring
------------------------= = 4 or A	Concise (3 -4 paragraphs) with a specific focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support the main idea Has a "So What?", theme, lesson, or specific point that attracts the readers' attention Demonstrates detailed understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
3 or B	Concise (2 - 3 paragraphs) with a focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support information Has a "So What?", theme, or lesson Demonstrates understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
2 or C	Entries are short (2 paragraphs) with a focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening introduces the point of the post Details support information Has a point Shows some understanding of the blog topic Positive tone Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
1 or D	Entries are short (2 paragraphs) with a focus Shares a thought, idea, or opinion Opening introduces the point of the post Limited details Point is unclear Shows limited understanding of the topic Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization has mistakes ---------------------------------------------------------

Grading Students' Blogs

	Student Blog Rubric
Score	Basis for Scoring
------------------------= = 4 or A	Concise (3 -4 paragraphs) with a specific focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support the main idea Has a "So What?", theme, lesson, or specific point that attracts the readers' attention Demonstrates detailed understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
3 or B	Concise (2 - 3 paragraphs) with a focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening grabs the reader's attention while introducing the point of the post Specific details support information Has a "So What?", theme, or lesson Demonstrates understanding of the blog topic Positive tone engages the reader Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
2 or C	Entries are short (2 paragraphs) with a focus Shares thoughts, ideas, or opinions Opening introduces the point of the post Details support information Has a point Shows some understanding of the blog topic Positive tone Picture that supports post with attribution Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is correct ---------------------------------------------------------
1 or D	Entries are short (2 paragraphs) with a focus Shares a thought, idea, or opinion Opening introduces the point of the post Limited details Point is unclear Shows limited understanding of the topic Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization has mistakes ---------------------------------------------------------