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Expository Essay Rubric (Grades 7-12)
Use this for informational and explanatory essays where the student's job is to explain a topic rather than argue a position. It works for both timed in-class writing and multi-draft assignments; if you're grading a draft, score only the criteria you taught. The descriptors are written so you can point at the sentence or paragraph that earned the score.
- Grades 7-12
- Subject ELA
- 100 points
- 5 criteria
- Free to copy, print and adapt
| Criterion | Exceeds | Meets | Approaching | Beginning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thesis and Controlling Idea20 points | 18-20 ptsStates a thesis in the introduction that names the topic and previews the specific aspects the essay will explain, and every body paragraph's topic sentence traces back to one of those aspects. | 15-17 ptsStates a thesis that names the topic and its focus in one or two sentences; all body paragraphs stay on that topic even if one drifts from the preview. | 11-14 ptsAnnounces the topic ('This essay is about volcanoes') without naming what will be explained about it, or the thesis appears somewhere other than the introduction. | 0-10 ptsNo sentence in the essay tells the reader what the whole piece is explaining, or the stated topic and the body paragraphs are about different things. |
| Organization and Paragraph Structure20 points | 18-20 ptsEach body paragraph opens with a topic sentence, develops one idea, and ends with a sentence linking to the next paragraph; the conclusion answers 'so what' without repeating the introduction word for word. | 15-17 ptsParagraphs are broken at logical points and most open with a topic sentence; transitions such as 'another cause' or 'as a result' appear between paragraphs. | 11-14 ptsParagraph breaks exist but at least one paragraph covers two unrelated ideas, or transitions are limited to 'first, second, third' with no relationship shown between ideas. | 0-10 ptsRuns as one long block or breaks at random points; the reader cannot tell where one idea ends and the next begins. |
| Evidence and Elaboration25 points | 23-25 ptsEvery body paragraph includes at least one specific fact, quotation, statistic, or example plus two or more sentences explaining what it shows about the thesis. | 18-22 ptsEach body paragraph includes at least one specific piece of evidence and one sentence of explanation; evidence is accurate and relevant to the paragraph's topic sentence. | 13-17 ptsEvidence appears in some paragraphs but is dropped in without explanation, or the writer explains general knowledge with no fact, example, or quotation attached. | 0-12 ptsThe essay states opinions and generalizations only; no facts, examples, quotations, or numbers appear anywhere in the body. |
| Language, Style, and Tone20 points | 18-20 ptsUses topic-specific vocabulary correctly (for example 'magma chamber' rather than 'the hot part'), defines terms a reader might not know, varies sentence openings, and keeps the second person and slang out. | 15-17 ptsUses some subject vocabulary accurately and keeps a consistent informational tone; sentences vary in length even if openings repeat. | 11-14 ptsRelies on vague nouns like 'stuff,' 'things,' or 'people' where a precise term exists, or shifts into 'you' and casual asides in a few places. | 0-10 ptsReads as spoken conversation throughout, with slang or texting spellings, or repeats the same three or four sentence patterns for the whole essay. |
| Conventions15 points | 14-15 ptsFewer than three surface errors total; every sentence has a subject and verb, and end punctuation and capitalization are correct throughout. | 11-13 ptsErrors appear but never force the reader to reread; no more than one run-on or fragment in the whole piece. | 8-10 ptsTwo or more run-ons or fragments, or repeated errors in one pattern (missing apostrophes, no capital letters at sentence starts) that slow reading. | 0-7 ptsMissing punctuation or sentence boundaries make at least one paragraph hard to read aloud on the first try. |
Total: 100 points across 5 criteria.
How to use it
- Score Evidence and Elaboration first, before you read for style. It is the criterion that separates a 7th-grade summary from real expository writing, and reading for grammar first biases the rest.
- For a timed or on-demand draft, drop Conventions to 5 points and add the 10 points to Evidence and Elaboration; students cannot proofread well in 40 minutes.
- If you assign sources, add a citation requirement inside Evidence rather than creating a sixth criterion, so the score sheet still fits on one page.
- Mark the essay by circling the level, then writing one margin note per criterion that points to the exact line that set the score. Students argue less and revise more when the evidence is visible.
What students most often get wrong
- Writing a five-paragraph summary of the topic instead of a thesis-driven explanation, so the essay never says what point the information adds up to.
- Dropping a quotation or statistic at the end of a paragraph as the last sentence, which leaves the reader to figure out why it matters.
- Drifting into persuasion ('everyone should recycle') when the assignment asked them to explain how a process or issue works.
Grade with this rubric, without retyping it
Scorae applies a rubric to student work in Google Docs, Canvas, Blackboard and Moodle, and drafts criterion-by-criterion feedback. You review and decide every grade — nothing is submitted for you. Student work is never stored.
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