Writing Assignment and Rubric

For my final project I'll be making a podcast with my 4th grade Junior Great Books students.  We will be making a newscast type news show from a chapter in the book The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli.  I have outlined the assignment instructions on my wiki http://waysmooth.pbworks.com/w/page/33156108/podcast-newscast-assignment-door-in-the-wall .  I have developed this wiki as a source for all the materials I use with the study of this novel in my Junior Great Books group.  My wiki links to my website http://www.readwriterun.com/.  Although the wiki can be used as a collaborative site, at this point I appreciate the organizational aspects of it.  This is especially helpful as my classses physically move from room to room and it is helpful to be able to locate and access all my material in one place.  I have developed a rubric to go along with this podcast assignment.  I used microsoft word table and found it quite user friendly.    I will post the podcast to both the wiki and website when we have completed it.  The students will not actually be editing the podcast on Garage Band or Audacity so I can't really include that as a multi-modality assessment aspect in the rubric.  Perhaps, however, to introduce reader based descriptive feedback, I will make a podcast assessment of the entire process for each student.  This would bring closure to the exercise and model reader based feedback.  Another aspect I might introduce is to have each student respond to the experience on the website blog.  This would introduce more multi-modality and interactivity, as they could also resond to each other's blog comments. 

Writing Rubric Fourth Grade Junior Great Books Podcast Script

	One		Two	Three
Topic and Details	Minimally addresses		Stays on topic.  Extends topic with support	Topic and details richly developed.  Uses elaboration.
Format		Weak questions	Simple questions.		Logical progression of questions. Brings closure
Word choice and sentence structure		Limited and inappropriate word choice.	Interesting vocabulary.  Simple sentence structure		Vivid language Variety of sentences/questions
Grammar, usage, and spelling		Errors impede communication	Generally follows use of correct mechanics, capitals, spelling		Excellent use of mechanics, capitals, spelling
Organization		Interview questions don’t follow natural progression	Interview questions lead listener and communicate story		Strong interview questions that capture attention of listener and convey message