Journal Writing Checklist for Assessing Student Writing

As you design a Journal Writing program for your classroom, it's a good idea to have your students use a checklist to self-evaluate their own creative writing. This adds structure and focus to Journal Writing.

Journal Writing Prompts are also an effective tool for the creative writing assessment process.

Here is an example of an effective Journal Writing checklist:

• Date (1 point)
• Neatness/Handwriting (1 point)
• Capitals (1 point)
• Periods (1 point)
• 1-2 sentences (1 point)
• 3-4 sentences (2 points)
• 5 or more sentences (3 points)
• Total (out of 10 points)

You can adjust this checklist to suit your own needs, particularly the grade level of your students.

In my classroom, I make hundreds of copies of this little of this checklist (approximately 3-inch by 3-inch squares). After writing the students take about a minute to assess their own writing by filling in each aspect of the checklist and attaching it to that day's writing.

The checklist helps students meet the language standards for Journal Writing, and at the same time shows them their areas for improvement.