9 PAGES TOTAL...Native American History HTY

Rubric for Critical Thinking Essay “Trade Goods”

Levels correspond roughly to letter grades

4 = A 3 = B 2 = C or high D 1 = Low D or F

Level Criteria

4  Sophisticated thought process – Excellent evidence of critical thinking skills.  Persuasive analysis of the topic, addressing all parts of the topic; analysis

demonstrates thorough understanding of all sides of a question.

 Outstanding grasp of general historical issues raised by topic.

 Numerous, effective, relevant, and specific examples.

 Extremely well organized.

 Well written in appropriate standard English; few grammatical errors or colloquialisms.

3  Good thought process – some evidence of critical thinking skills  Good analysis of the topic, addressing most parts of the topic; analysis demonstrates

understanding of all sides of a question, though may be unevenly developed.

 Good grasp of general historical issues raised by topic.

 Several specific examples.

 Well organized.

 Clearly written in appropriate standard English; some grammatical errors or colloquialisms.

2  Thought process not entirely clear – little evidence of critical thinking skills  Analysis of the topic, addressing most parts of the topic; analysis adequate but

unevenly developed.

 Some grasp of general historical issues raised by topic, though some significant issues may be omitted.

 Some specific examples but some clearly relevant examples omitted.

 organization may be somewhat unclear.

 Understandable, but contains several grammatical errors or colloquialisms.

1  No discernible thought process or serious misunderstanding of the topic – no evidence of critical thinking skills.

 Descriptive rather than analytical; marginally related to the topic; significant logical gaps.

 Little grasp of general historical issues raised by topic.

 Few and/or irrelevant specific examples.

 Poorly organized.

 Consistent pattern of grammatical errors and/or inappropriate colloquialisms.