Judging the quality of students’ writing
In their research Myra Barrs and Valerie Cork used the indicators below to judge the quality of children’s writing. Whilst they were working with children in primary school these indicators are equally applicable to older secondary age children. You may find them helpful in judging the historical fiction writing of your students.
Indicators that could be counted
Breaks in the time sequence (or narrative where the writer pauses to describe or reflect).
Mental state verbs (wonder, realise – where the author reports a character’s state of mind).
T-units – length of, get longer with older children but could be getting shorter if that is style of the author they are using as a model. Increasing length (complexity) does not necessarily mean better writing.
Non-right branching sentences (delaying the point of a sentence by delaying of the main verb) e.g. When we got back to the manor, we found Serle and Tom and Sian sitting by the fire. (Taken from The Seeing Stone, Kevin Crossley-Holland ).
Indicators that could be given an Impression score
Narrative voice which takes three parts, a) the voice in which the narrative is told, b) the maintaining of that voice, c) the way in which other voices are included in the narrator’s voice.
Sense of reader in two parts, a) is the writer aware of the reader and catering for their needs (e.g. carefully sequencing events & giving the reader essential information), b) is this sustained.
Literary turn of phrase use of simile, metaphor, alliteration, lists, repetition, …
Echoes of the text the children were using as a model.
Taken from The Reader in the Writer: The links between the study of literature and writing development at Key Stage 2. Myra Barrs and Valerie Cork, Centre for Language in Primary Education (London, 2001), pp 212-213. To view the project this publication emerged from visit: http://www.clpe.co.uk/researchandprojects/research_01.html
