Conventions of Writing Developmental Scale
from Kid Writing in the 21st Century, p. 147
The Conventions of Writing developmental scale is used to assess children’s overall early writing
development and to provide appropriate developmental instructional guidance. Therefore, it is both
summative and formative. It may be administered at the end of a grading period, or it may be consulted
any time during individual conferencing to inform instruction. It is typically used during kindergarten
through second grade.
As an assessment tool, this scale reflects what the child knows and is able to do without teacher
assistance. It documents progress made by children in writing workshop and in writing across the
curriculum. It guides teachers toward logical next steps for their students and provides documentation
for parents and administrators. It is typically used once each reporting period, with the previous year’s
level serving as the baseline for the following year.
As children move the higher levels, districts may add a rubric based on a six-trait model (ideas, content,
organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions) or one compatible with state
standards to reflect children’s learning of the craft elements of writing. This rubric is most appropriate
beginning when first graders have accomplished Level 5 or beyond.
The Conventions of Writing developmental scale offers flexibility in ways that it may be used, whether in
individual classrooms, across grade levels within a school, or across a district. When mandated by school
districts, writing prompts are usually used for periodic assessment. Teachers also use the writing scale
for ongoing informal assessment to further guide their instruction.
Look at the reduced-size Conventions of Writing developmental scale shown on the following pages. This
scale incorporates phase levels based on empirical research. Research labeling of phases isn’t always
consistent in the literature. For example, the terms “emergent” and “transitional” have been used in
some studies and among educators to refer to different phases. To avoid confusion, we have provided
information that aligns our Conventions of Writing developmental scale with the following research-
based phase labeling: pre-communicative, pre-phonetic, semi-phonetic, phonetic, transitional, and
conventional, as reported in studies such as Ehri and Wilce (1987), Gentry (2000z, 2004), Ouellette
(2006), and Ouellette and Senechal (2008).
Conventions of Writing Developmental Scale
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date:______________________________________________
Grade:______________________________________________________ Level: _____________________________________________
Match the paper being scored with the anchor papers that are examples of writing at each level. Show
which descriptors have been met and when they were met. For levels with more than one descriptor, all
descriptors must be evident.
Level 1 – Emerging (Pre-Communicative)
_________ Makes uncontrolled or unidentifiable scribbling.
Level 2 – Pictorial Plus Writing (Pre-Communicative)
________ _ Imitates writing.
_________ Draws somewhat recognizable picture.
_________ Tells about picture.
Level 3 – Pre-Phonetic
________ _ Writes to convey a message; attempts to read it back.
_________ Uses letter-like forms, letters, or random letter strings.
_________ Prints own name or occasional known word.
Level 4 – Partial Phonetic (Semi-Phonetic)
________ _ Sometimes uses one letter to write a word.
_________ Correctly uses some letters to match sounds (a few
consonants and vowels, such as e followed by random letters
or eg for eagle).
_________ Usually writes left to right (may reverse some letters) and top to bottom.
________ _ Spells some high-frequency words correctly.
_________ Writes phases (as in a flock of butterflies) or writes the substance of one sentence (a
meaningful thought) even though it may not be accurately punctuated.
Level 5 – Partial Phonetic 2
End of Kindergarten Benchmark
________ _ Usually represents sensible beginning and ending consonant sounds.
_________ Includes some vowels (often not correct ones).
_________ Writes left to right and top to bottom in a linear format.
________ _ Spells some high-frequency words correctly.
_________ Writes the substance (meaningful thoughts) of two or more
sentences on a related topic even though it may not be
accurately punctuated.
________ _ Separates words with spaces. At this level, spacing may vary.
To bridge to the next level, the child should move away from patterned writing to using varied
sentence structures, even though they may not be accurately punctuated.
Level 6 – Phonetic (Full Phonetic)
________ _ Uses logical phonetic spelling with most sounds usually represented, including vowels in
most syllables (though they may not be correct ones). Example: egl for eagle.
________ _ Correctly spells many high-frequency words
________ _ Writes the substance (meaningful thoughts) or three or more
sentences on a related topic even though they may not be
accurately punctuated.
________ _ Capitalizes names and the pronouns I.
________ _ Simple sentences are usually punctuated correctly.
________ _ A variety of sentence structures and lengths are evident, though they may not be accurately
punctuated.
________ _ Usually uses lowercase letters appropriately.
Level 7 – Conventional 1 (Transitional , Consolidated-Alphabetic)
End of First-Grade Benchmark
________ _ Uses larger correctly spelled vocabulary; may use phonetic spelling for advanced words.
________ _ Uses some conventional spelling patterns in spelling unknown words (as in egul for eagle;
YOUNIGHTED for United States.
________ _ Correctly spells previously studied high-frequency words.
________ _ Writes the substance (a meaningful thought) of four or more sentences on a related topic,
even though they may not be accurately punctuated.
________ _ Simple sentences are usually punctuated correctly.
________ _ Uses more varied and complex sentence structures,
including conjunctions, prepositional phrases, and
relative clauses.
________ _ Spaces words appropriately.
________ _ Uses subject-verb agreement most of the time.
________ _ Usually uses lowercase letters appropriately.
Level 8 – Conventional 2
End of Second-Grade Benchmark
________ _ Produces writing with previously studied high-frequency words spelled correctly.
________ _ Spells words correctly based on previously studied regular spelling patterns.
________ _ May use logical invented spelling for unfamiliar or
advanced words.
________ _ Uses a rich and descriptive written vocabulary.
________ _ Writes the substance (meaningful thoughts) of
five or more sentences on a related topic.
________ _ Uses a variety of sentence structure and length,
________ _ Uses correct end punctuation and capitalization in simple sentences.
________ _ Usually uses advanced print conventions appropriately (i.e. quotation marks, commas,
apostrophes, exclamation marks, contractions, and possessives), though they may be
inconsistent.
________ _ Uses regular verb endings (e.g. –ed, -ing, -d, -es).
©2015; Feldgus, Cardonick, and
Gentry.
Adapted from School District of
Lancaster, Lancaster, PA; ©2002
(printed with permission)
