Rubric for Evaluating Expressiveness in Oral Reading

Downloadable Rubric

Excellent Good Fair Needs Improvement
Accuracy
(word recognition and pronunciation)
Has no problem saying almost all the words in the passage correctly. Says most words correctly but stops to decode, think about, or ask for help with about 1 out of every 10 words. Stops to sound out, think about, or ask for help with about 1/4 of the words. Stops to sound out, think about, or ask for help with half or more than half of the words.
Notes on Student’s Accuracy
Excellent Good Fair Needs Improvement
Pace
(speed with which student reads words, phrases, and sentences)
Pace changes because of the punctuation and to show the meaning. Pace changes, but is too fast or too slow in a few places. Pace is often too slow or too fast, but shows some changes related to meaning. Few or no changes based on meaning.
Notes on Student’s Pace
Excellent Good Fair Needs Improvement
Voicing
(adjusts volume and pitch of voice according to punctuation and meaning)
Changes voice to express meaning of words, phrases, and sentences, and to indicate question marks, exclamation marks, and periods. Changes voice to express meaning of sentences and punctuation throughout most of the passage. Changes volume and pitch to reflect meaning occasionally. Reads at the same volume or pitch throughout almost the entire passage.
Notes on Student’s Use of Voicing (Volume and Pitch)
Excellent Good Fair Needs Improvement
Naturalness
(sounds natural, more like speaking than reading)
Sounds natural in reflecting the ideas and feelings in the passage. Mostly natural sounding, with a few exceptions, such as too little or too much drama. Sounds natural during some of the passage. Hardly any phrases or sentences sound natural.
Notes on Student’s Naturalness
Where to Find More Information

To find more information, search on the Internet for the following organizations and sites:

Improving Fluency and Expressiveness:
International Literacy Association
Intervention Central
Reading Rockets
Evaluating Oral Reading:
Council for Learning Disabilities
Reading Rockets
Types of Oral Reading Instruction:
American Library Association
Educational Research Newsletter
Edutopia
English Learners and Fluency:
Colorín Colorado