CATEGORY

4

3

2

1

Ideas

Ideas were expressed in a clear and organized fashion. It was easy to figure out what the letter was about.

Ideas were expressed in a fairly clear manner, but the organization could have been better.

Ideas were somewhat organized, but were not very clear. It took more than one reading to figure out what the letter was about.

The letter seemed to be a collection of unrelated sentences. It was very difficult to figure out what the letter was about.

Format

Complies with all the requirements for a business letter.

Complies with almost all the requirements for a business letter.

Complies with several of the requirements for a business letter.

Complies with few of the requirements for a business letter.

Sentences & Paragraphs

Sentences and paragraphs are complete, well-constructed and of varied structure.

All sentences are complete and well-constructed (no fragments, no run-ons). Paragraphing is generally done well.

Most sentences are complete and well-constructed. Paragraphing needs some work.

Many sentence fragments or run-on sentences OR paragraphing needs work.

Capitalization and Punctuation

Writer makes no errors in conventions.

Writer makes some errors in conventions.

Writer makes few errors in conventions.

Writer makes many errors in conventions.

Neatness

Letter is neat, and is easy to read with no distracting error corrections. It was done with pride.

Letter is clean and easy to read with no distracting error corrections. It was done with care.

Letter is fairly neat. It may have a few distracting error corrections. It was done with some care.

Letter is sloppy and looks like it had been shoved in a pocket or locker. It may have several distracting error corrections. It looks like it was done in a hurry or stored improperly.