Are your teens writing papers for History or Science? Here’s a simple rubric for grading.
Writing Papers for History or Science? Here’s a Simple Rubric for Grading
When your homeschool high schoolers are writing papers for Language Arts, their curriculum will often include a suggested rubric for grading. (Here’s a post on rubrics for newbies to the idea.) All of 7Sisters’ writing etexts have rubrics that are helpful for the student and the teacher to use.
(BTW-We suggest allowing teens to use a rubric and grade their own papers before parents grade them. That way they can easily catch and fix mistakes.)
The problem arises when homeschool high schoolers are writing papers for other courses. If they are writing an essay or research paper for History, Science, Social Sciences or Electives and not using a writing curriculum, how are you supposed to grade that paper?
It helps to find a rubric and use it. There are many free rubrics on the internet. There’s not ONE right rubric. In general, though, a simple rubric is often good enough for a non-Language Arts course.
BTW- Need more inspiration for helping teens understand how meaningful and important it is to study history? Check out this on why History is boring and how to make it better.
Writing Papers for History or Science? Here’s a Simple Rubric for Grading. You can easily tweak it to fit your own goals for your teen.
Simple High School Paper Rubric
Deductions
(Deduct 1 point for each error)
Number of spelling errors:
Number of punctuation errors:
Number of grammatical errors :
Number of contractions:
Total Deductions:
——————————————————————-
Format
(Assign points 1-10.)
Paper includes an introduction paragraph: (10 points)
Paper includes a body with paragraphs that support the topic of the paper: (50 points)
Paper includes a conclusion paragraph: (10 points)
Content
(Assign points 1-10.)
Information presented in each section stays on topic (does not wander off into discussion of other ideas). (1-10 points):
Information is presented in a manner that is logical and readable. (1-10 points):
The author of the paper shows he/she has a basic understanding of the topic. (1-10 points):
Total Points:
Comments:
Check out 7Sisters’ Writing, Social Sciences curricula! And for more tips for grading (along with a rubric), download this freebie.
As you know, 7Sisters Writing curriculum includes rubrics. If you would like to take a glimpse at our no busywork, step-by-step, day-by-day writing guides, here’s an excerpt from the Advanced Guide to High School Writing. Check our our Authoritative Guide on High School Writing Requirements and for a in-depth discussion on goals and grading writing assignments for homeschool high school, check out this post.
You can put some of your teens’ writing to practical use with the papers included in this free unit study for Native American Heritage Month.
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Raymond,
Outlines are very helpful for most teens! If a parent likes to add that to the rubric, it helps the teen to remember to use the outline. We didn’t include it this time because we weren’t discussing the entire process. Thanks for sharing your suggestion!
You should suggest the preparation of an outline before the content narrative is written. It helps keep the paper focused and on topic. I’d consider looking at the outline as part of the grading rubric.
If you suggested this before I may have missed it…sorry!