NJSLA-A Grade 3 Informative and Explanatory Rubric

Grades 312 points total3 criteriaNJState assessment rubrics

The NJ NJSLA-A Grade 3 Informative and Explanatory Rubric scored out of 12 points across 3 criteria, for informative writing at grade 3. Published by New Jersey Department of Education.

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How it is scored

Ideas and Focus4 pts · 4 levels
Organization4 pts · 4 levels
Expression and Word Choice4 pts · 4 levels

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The full rubric

Ideas and Focus · 4 points

4 points

The response demonstrates an ability to provide a focused written response to an on-demand prompt; demonstrates a clear understanding of the task and purpose. Characteristics: clearly conveys ideas and information about a topic; facts, concrete details, text evidence, or other information and examples that clearly develop the topic.

3 points

The response demonstrates an ability to provide a mostly focused written response; demonstrates a general understanding of the task and purpose. Characteristics: generally conveys ideas and information about a topic; fact, details, or other information and examples that generally develop the topic.

2 points

The response demonstrates an ability to provide a basic written response; demonstrates some understanding of the task and purpose. Characteristics: somewhat conveys information about a topic; basic information or examples somewhat related to the topic.

1 point

The response demonstrates an ability to provide a minimally written response; demonstrates minimal understanding of the task and purpose. Characteristics: conveys minimal information about a topic; minimal, missing, or irrelevant information or examples related to the topic.

Organization · 4 points

4 points

Focused response, clear understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: introduces a topic clearly; clearly linked ideas within sections of information; a conclusion clearly related to the information or explanation presented.

3 points

Mostly focused response, general understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: introduces a topic generally; generally linked ideas within sections of information; a conclusion generally related to the information presented.

2 points

Basic response, some understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: attempts to introduce a topic; basic or attempted links between sections of information; a basic or attempted conclusion.

1 point

Minimally written response, minimal understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: a missing or unclear introduction of the topic; minimal or unclear links between sections of information; a missing or unclear conclusion.

Expression and Word Choice · 4 points

4 points

Focused response. Characteristics: clear use of transition words and phrases.

3 points

Mostly focused response. Characteristics: general use of transition words and phrases.

2 points

Basic response. Characteristics: basic or attempted use of transition words and phrases.

1 point

Minimally written response. Characteristics: minimal or unclear use of transition words and phrases.

This rubric applied to a real essay

Below is a sample essay scored against the rubric above, shown the way it looks inside the grader. The marks, the scores and every comment are the grader’s own output, not written by hand for this page. It scored 8 out of 12.

The essay is written for this page, at roughly a B grade so both the strengths and the weaknesses are worth seeing. It is not a real student’s work.

The prompt

Write a paper explaining why the moon looks different at different times of the month. Use facts and details to explain your ideas.

The moon looks different at different times of the month. These different shapes are called phases.¹

The moon does not make its own light. Sunlight hits the moon and bounces off it², and that is the light we see. The sun is always shining on one half of the moon. The half facing the sun is lit up and the other half is dark.³

The moon goes around Earth. It takes about a month. ⁴ As it goes around we see it from different places. That is why it looks different.⁵

When the moon is on the far side of Earth from the sun we see almost all of the lit half, and that is a full moon. ⁶ When the moon is between Earth and the sun the lit half is facing away from us so we see almost nothing, that is called a new moon.⁷

So the moon is not really changing shape. It only looks like it changes shape.⁸

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How it scored, criterion by criterion

Ideas and Focus3 / 4

The essay addresses the prompt directly and includes accurate, relevant facts: reflected sunlight, the moon's orbit, and the concepts of full and new moon are all explained. However, the explanation stays at a general level — intermediate phases (quarter, crescent, gibbous) are not mentioned, and the single example of full/new moon leaves the topic only generally developed rather than clearly and fully developed as the top level requires.

Organization3 / 4

The essay opens with a recognizable introduction that names the topic and the term 'phases,' and it closes with a conclusion that restates the main idea. Ideas move in a logical sequence (light source → orbit → specific examples → conclusion), but the links between paragraphs are implicit rather than explicit — there are no clear transitional sentences connecting one section to the next, which keeps this at the 'generally linked' level rather than 'clearly linked.'

Expression and Word Choice2 / 4

The essay uses 'When…When…' as a repeated structural connector and 'So' to open the conclusion, but these are the only transitional devices present. There are no phrases linking paragraphs (e.g., 'because of this,' 'as a result,' 'for example'), and within paragraphs ideas are joined mainly by 'and' or simply placed next to each other. This represents a basic or attempted use of transitions rather than a general or clear one.

What the student was told to fix

Describe additional moon phases (crescent, quarter, gibbous) to fully develop the topic
Add transition words and phrases between paragraphs (e.g., 'Because of this,' 'As a result,' 'For example')
Fix the run-on sentence in the new moon paragraph by splitting it into two sentences
Replace vague phrases like 'different places' with precise language about what the viewer actually sees

Graded on 2026-08-12. A teacher can change any score before it goes back to the student.

Source

New Jersey Department of Education. Official document. Rubrics are revised periodically, so check the source before using this for a graded assessment.

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