Writing Effective Journals
A rubric for self and peer evaluation

 

Most journals are written for self-reflection. However, our goal is to do our best writing in all genres.  Therefore, you should be able to answer these questions thoughtfully about your own writing.  To get an objective opinion about your journal writing skills, share your journal with a peer you trust and have them read your journal and respond to the following questions thoughtfully as well.

 

Some Questions to Ponder:

  1. Has the author written thoughtfully about the chosen topic or the prompt he/she has been given?  Has the writer invested him or herself emotionally in this piece of writing?  Provide evidence of this.
  2. Does this writing have voice or does it sound generic, as if the writer is writing for the teacher instead of for him or herself or the intended audience?  If you think this journal has a clear voice, give a sentence or two as evidence of this.  If it sounds like a generic response, where in the journal could the author expand or elaborate to make the journal more personal?
  3. Has the writer seemed to have exhausted his/her thoughts and feelings on this subject?  Does the journal seem vague or is it an example of a well-developed, reflective piece of writing?  What questions has the writer left unanswered? What questions does the reader need answered? Where in this piece of writing could the writer elaborate?  Has the writer provided a clear picture for the reader about the subject?  Does the reader know the writer better because of the thoughts and feelings expressed in this piece of writing?
  4. Is this journal organized?  Does it flow well?  Is it reader friendly, or does the reader have to constantly stop and reread in order to understand this writing?
  5. Is this journal clear? What about it is unclear?  What suggestions could be given to this writer to improve this response?
  6. Has this journal been edited for spelling and grammatical mistakes?  Edit this rough draft for grammatical errors.

Levels:

Level 4 - Provides clear, consistent evidence that the writer has thoughtfully written about the topic; it is well-organized, clear, and coherent; it has a clear voice and the author is clearly emotionally and/or personally invested in this piece of writing; it has been edited for grammar and spelling errors; this piece of writing has evidence of varied sentence structure and higher-level vocabulary.

Level 3 - The author has at times written thoughtfully about the topic; it is somewhat organized, clear, and coherent; there is some evidence of voice in this piece of writing; there is some evidence of varied sentence structure and higher level vocabulary; this piece of writing has been partially edited for grammatical and spelling errors.

Level 2 - The author has begun a reflective response, but the response is generic and lacks voice; there is little evidence of varied sentence structure and higher-level vocabulary; this piece of writing has not been edited for grammatical and spelling errors.  This piece of writing does not seem to be complete and leaves questions unanswered.

Level 1 - The author did not write a reflective response about this topic; this piece of writing is not only incomplete, but it is also unedited; there is no evidence of varied sentence structure or higher-level vocabulary.


Student Score _____   Peer Score ______