NJSLA-A Grades 6–8 Narrative Rubric

Grades 6-815 points total3 criteriaNJState assessment rubrics

The NJ NJSLA-A Grades 6–8 Narrative Rubric scored out of 15 points across 3 criteria, for narrative writing at grades 6-8. Published by New Jersey Department of Education.

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How it is scored

Ideas and Focus5 pts · 5 levels
Organization5 pts · 5 levels
Expression and Word Choice5 pts · 5 levels

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The full rubric

Ideas and Focus · 5 points

5 points

Focused response, clear understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: a context and point of view that clearly introduces a narrator and/or characters; narrative techniques that clearly develop experiences, events and/or characters.

4 points

Mostly focused response, general understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: a context and point of view that generally introduces a narrator and/or characters; narrative techniques that generally develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

3 points

Basic response, some understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: a context and point of view that somewhat introduces a narrator and/or characters; narrative techniques that somewhat develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

2 points

Limited response, partial understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: a limited or attempted context and/or point of view that introduces a narrator and/or characters; narrative techniques that attempt to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

1 point

Minimally written response, minimal understanding of task and purpose. Characteristics: a minimal context and/or point of view; minimal, missing, or unclear use of narrative techniques.

Organization · 5 points

5 points

Focused response. Characteristics: a clearly organized event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically; a conclusion that clearly follows the experiences and events.

4 points

Mostly focused response. Characteristics: a generally organized event sequence that unfolds logically; a conclusion that generally follows from the experiences and events.

3 points

Basic response. Characteristics: a sequence of experiences or events that unfold somewhat logically; a conclusion that somewhat follows from the experiences and events.

2 points

Limited response. Characteristics: a limited or attempted sequence of experiences or events; a limited or attempted conclusion.

1 point

Minimally written response. Characteristics: minimal or unclear relationship between events; minimal or missing conclusion.

Expression and Word Choice · 5 points

5 points

Focused response. Characteristics: transition words and phrases to clearly signal shifts in time frame or setting; precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to clearly convey experiences and events.

4 points

Mostly focused response. Characteristics: transition words and phrases to generally signal shifts in time frame or setting; words and phrases, mostly relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to generally convey experiences and events.

3 points

Basic response. Characteristics: transition words or phrases to somewhat signal shifts in time frame or setting; words, phrases, and descriptive details to somewhat convey experiences and events.

2 points

Limited response. Characteristics: limited transition words or phrases that attempt to signal shifts in time frame or setting; limited descriptive details that attempt to convey experiences and events.

1 point

Minimally written response. Characteristics: minimal transition words to signal shifts in time frame or setting; minimal or unclear descriptive details to convey events or characters.

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 12 out of 15.

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 narrative about a time something did not go the way you planned. Use specific details, dialogue, and a clear sequence of events.

The plan was simple. My brother Eli and I were going to make our grandmother a birthday cake¹ before she got back from her walk, and she would come in the door and there it would be, and she would do the thing where she puts both hands over her mouth.

We had forty minutes. Eli read the recipe out loud while I got the bowls down. "Two cups flour," he said. "One cup sugar. Three eggs." I remember thinking it was strange that a cake only needed three eggs when it was going to feed nine people², but I did not say anything, because Eli had made brownies once and that made him the expert³.

Then we mixed all the ingredients together in the big bowl. We poured the batter into the pan. We put the pan in the oven⁴ and set the timer. Then we cleaned up the counter and waited.

At minute thirty-five the kitchen started smelling wrong.⁵ Eli opened the oven and the cake had gone everywhere. It was all over the bottom of the oven. It was a huge mess and we did not know what to do about it.⁶

"How much baking soda did you put in," I said.⁷ He looked at the box and then he looked at me.

Grandma came in while we were cleaning. She was not even mad, she thought it was funny and she laughed a lot. So it turned out okay in the end even though the plan did not work.⁸

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How it scored, criterion by criterion

Ideas and Focus4 / 5

The essay is clearly on-task: it tells a story about a plan that fails, introduces the narrator, Eli, and Grandma with enough context to follow the story, and uses dialogue and interior thought to develop the experience. The characters are functional but not deeply drawn — Eli is defined mainly by one detail (the brownie expertise) and Grandma appears only at the end. The narrator's inner voice ('I remember thinking it was strange') adds a genuine narrative technique, but the emotional stakes and character development stay at a general rather than a fully realized level, fitting the 4-point descriptor.

Organization5 / 5

The sequence of events unfolds in tight, natural chronological order — setup, preparation, waiting, disaster, resolution — with a clear time structure anchored by 'forty minutes' and 'minute thirty-five.' The conclusion follows directly and logically from the events: Grandma arrives, reacts, and the narrator reflects on the outcome. This matches the top-level descriptor cleanly.

Expression and Word Choice3 / 5

The essay uses some effective, specific language — 'smelling wrong' and 'the cake had gone everywhere' are concrete and vivid — and transitions like 'Then' and 'At minute thirty-five' do signal time shifts. However, the word choice is largely plain and functional throughout, with few precise or sensory details beyond those moments: the mixing, pouring, and cleaning steps are narrated without texture, and the emotional payoff ('it turned out okay') is told rather than shown. This places the essay solidly at the 3-point level — some effective language and transitions, but not the consistent use of precise, sensory, and descriptive language the 4-point level requires.

What the student was told to fix

Add sensory and descriptive details during the preparation and disaster scenes — what did things look, smell, or feel like?
Show the emotional reaction at the story's climax rather than summarizing it ('we did not know what to do')
Deepen the conclusion with a specific reflection or image instead of 'it turned out okay in the end'
Fix the missing question mark in the dialogue line to clean up conventions

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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