Language Usage Rubric
3

Throughout the text there is evidence of the writer using language choices and order for effective style, tone, and expression of meaning. The text uniformly conveys an impression of correctness, with few, if any, errors. Errors that occur may appear as a consequence of risk-taking in language use.
The writer consistently:
*uses varied sentence formation to create style and tone and to enhance meaning
*uses language choices to create style and tone and to enhance meaning
*demonstrates correct usage, punctuation, spelling and capitalization
2
 Through much of the text there is evidence of the writer using language choices and order for effective style, tone, and expression of meaning. The text generally conveys an impression of correctness. The errors that occur may appear as a consequence of risk-taking language use.
The writer frequently:
*uses varied sentence formation to create style and tone and to enhance meaning
*uses language choices to create style and tone and to enhance meaning
*demonstrates correct usage, punctuation, spelling and capitalization
1
 In portions of the text there is evidence of the writer using language choices and order for effective style, tone, and expression of meaning. Errors of several types may occur, and may be repeated. Errors do not appear to be the result of risk-taking.
The writer sometimes:
*uses varied sentence formation to create style and tone and to enhance meaning
*uses language choices to create style and tone and to enhance meaning
*demonstrates correct usage, punctuation, spelling and capitalization
0
 In little or none of the text there is evidence of the writer using language choices and order for effective style, tone, and expression of meaning. The text uniformly conveys and overall impression of being error-ridden. Errors do not appear to be the result of risk-taking.
The writer rarely or never:
*uses varied sentence formation to create style and tone and to enhance meaning
*uses language choices to create style and tone and to enhance meaning
*demonstrates correct usage, punctuation, spelling and capitalization