Voice is the individual writer
coming through in the piece of writing. When a writer has a strong voice,
he makes you feel what he is feeling. A writing with good voice is sincere,
honest, and has conviction. When you read a paper with strong voice, you feel
like you get to know the a little bit about the writer as a person. You might
feel like you have to share a story with strong voice because it touches you
in some way or makes you think.
What
is the voice rubric and how do I use it to evaluate my child's writing?
Use the rubric to evaluate
the sample paper 1. Based on the rubric, decide for yourself what the
score should be.
Then view the score and
rationale for the paper to see if you were correct.
It may be helpful to print
off the rubric to have next to you as you read the story.
Repeat the process for
Sample Paper 2.
Voice Rubric
5 – Paper: Really Individual and
Powerful
My paper has lots of personality. It sounds different from the way anyone
else writes.
· I have put my personal
stamp on this paper; it’s really me!
· Readers can tell I am talking right to them.
· I write with confidence and sincerity.
· My paper is full of feelings and my reader will feel what I feel.
· I’m not afraid to say what I really think.
· You can tell that I wrote this. No one else sounds like this!
3 – Paper: Individuality
Fades In and Out
What I truly think and feel only shows up sometimes.
· Although readers will
understand what I mean, it won't make them feel like laughing, crying, or
pounding the table.
· My writing is right on the edge of being funny, excited, scary or
downright honest – but it’s not there yet.
· My personality pokes through here and there, but then gets covered
up again.
· My writing is pleasant, but a little cautious.
· I’ve done a lot of telling and not enough showing.
1 – Paper: Not Yet Me
I’m not comfortable sharing what I truly think and feel yet.
· If you didn’t already
know, it might be hard to tell who wrote this paper; you can’t really
hear my voice in there yet.
· I’m not comfortable taking a risk by telling you what I really
think – I’ve taken the safest route by hiding my true feelings.
· My paper is all telling and no showing at all.
· I’ve held myself back by using general statements like: “It
was fun,” “She was nice,” “I like him a lot.”
I went to disneyland with my
brother, grandparrents, and cousins. We checked into our hotel and the next
day went on all the rides. They had a light parade. we watched it all night.
The next morning we went to Notsberry farm. We went swimming in a large
pool. We went home the very next day.
My mom, day, brother, and
I are going to fly to disneyland this summer and stay with some friends.
We hope to go on splash mountain and to sea world. My favorite ride was
star tours you sit down and buckle you seat belt and watch a movie screen
wile the room spins. It will be hard to forget because we had so much fun.
When I was one year old we moved to a ranch about seven miles from the highway.
After we arrived and were fairly well settled we found out there were some
cats living on the ranch too. Yellow Mama was one of them. She was a yellow
cat with a white bib.
Yellow Mama was a gentle cat, in the years that followed she
had at least five batches of kittens. She cared for them all, they usually
looked like her, but not always. Sometimes she had six kittens in one batch!
When I was seven years old Yellow Mama was still with us.
During the summer, Kirk, my brother who was nine, and I decided we wanted
to climb a big rock on the hillside near our house. We were almost to the
rock when I saw poor Yellow Mama lying near a brush, dead. I told Kirk to
come see what had happened.
We were both very sad, we had loved her very much. We decided
not to climb the rock, I was crying. When we were running back to the house,
mom heard me crying and came out to see if I was hurt. We told her what
had happened and then went into the house.
When dad came home we told him. The next day he buried Yellow
Mama. Said it looked like a snake or something had bitten her neck.
I will never forget Yellow Mama. I am eleven years old and
still think about how nice and kind she was, she had been a good cat.
