Purposeful, precise word choice suggests keen awareness of writing purpose and genre characteristics and reliably contributes to quality/clarity Purposeful, varied, and well-controlled sentences with consistent command of sentence boundaries enhance the text Appropriate tone for the writing task Consistent command of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage conventions including commas and spacing around salutations and closings Minor errors may be evident but do not detract from fluency or clarity. Appropriate organizing structure and wellsuited strategies for purpose Coherent and unified sentences and paragraphs Consistently logical and well-controlled progression of ideas are always on topic Strong transitions between sentences and paragraphs are meaningful and show relationships among ideas. Clear purpose, topic, and/or subject line is evident All details strongly relate to the purpose and topic of the correspondence Effective use of specific, relevant, and wellchosen details adds substance to the text Thoughtful and engaging commentary explains and supports the purpose of the text All details contribute to text effectiveness Thorough understanding of writing task is evident