Name: _________________________ News Story Headline: _____________________________

RUBRIC FOR SCORING NEWS STORIES

	Headline and News Lead (20%)	Body Paragraphs (40%)	Vocabulary, Mechanics (Punctuation, Spelling, Capitalization, Grammar, Typos) 20%	Effort, Improvement, Presentation (20%)
Distinguished (19-20)	Headline contains a subject and verb and tells the story without bias. Professional-quality lead includes the 5 W’s and 1 H. Lead is constructed following the most important to least important elements. There is no bias.	Each paragraph develops the story from most important to least. Each paragraph is less than 60 words (or 1-3 sentences). Paragraph content is organized by ideas. Quotes are integrated to support facts. There is no bias. Report shows keen observant eye and is interesting.	Professional. Sophisticated. High level, active words are selected deliberately. There is no more than one mechanical error in the entire story. Sentence structure is varied.	Evidence of substantial time; student is working at highest potential; interviews are thorough and factual. There are no errors in names or content. Student sought help in or out of class from teacher and students. Student chose a challenging topic.
Proficient (16-18)	Headline tells the story clearly. The lead includes the 5 W’s and 1 H. There is no bias.	The body mostly develops the story from most important to least important details. Each paragraph is less than 60 words (or 1-3 sentences). Quotes are integrated to support facts. There is little or no bias. Reporter sought to report interesting details. Quotes are well integrated into the body of the story.	Most vocabulary is sophisticated and used properly. There are no more than 3 mechanical errors.	Evidence of time. Student is working near highest potential; some improvement; polished presentation. Student sought help in or out of class.
Satisfactory (12-15)	Headline tells the story mostly clearly. Lead meets minimum requirement: 4 W’s. There may be little bias.	Mostly focused and clear, mostly follow the most important to least important details. Mostly concise. Contains a minimum number of quotes from interviews. Some bias may exist.	Uses simple words and takes few risks. Vocabulary is somewhat dull and/or repetitive. Story is legible but contains multiple errors.	Adequate amount of time is evident; similar errors in previous stories; little or no improvement; neat presentation.
Unsatisfactory (0-11)	Headline and/or lead is too short, does not contain the 5W’s and 1 H, missing, and/ or confusing. Bias exists. Does not resemble a news story at all.	Uses sweeping generalizations or irrelevant facts in story. No supporting quotes. Missing or inappropriate headline. Bias exists.	Misuses basic vocabulary. Difficult to read because of a number of distracting errors.	Repeated errors; class-time was not used productively; little or no time or care; sloppy.
Total Score

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