What this rubric measures
The CMAS Narrative Writing Task Rubric, Grade 3 is the official scoring guide used to evaluate student writing on Colorado CMAS assessments. It is an Analytic rubric that scores responses across 2 distinct criteria, allowing teachers to give precise, targeted feedback on each area of writing.
All 2 scoring criteria
Click any criterion to expand its score level descriptors. The language below is taken verbatim from the official Colorado Department of Education CMAS scoring guide.
1 Written Expression
The student response:
- is effectively developed with narrative elements and is consistently appropriate to the task;
- is effectively organized with clear and coherent writing;
- uses language effectively to clarify ideas.
The student response:
- is developed with some narrative elements and is generally appropriate to the task;
- is organized with mostly coherent writing;
- uses language in a way that is mostly effective to clarify ideas.
The student response:
- is minimally developed with few narrative elements and is limited in its appropriateness to the task;
- demonstrates limited organization and coherence;
- uses language to express ideas with limited clarity.
The student response:
- is undeveloped and/or inappropriate to the task;
- lacks organization and coherence;
- does not use language to express ideas with clarity.
The reading dimension is not scored for elicited narrative stories. Per CCSS, narrative elements in grades 3 to 5 may include establishing a situation, organizing a logical event sequence, describing scenes/objects/people, developing characters' personalities, and using dialogue as appropriate.
2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions
The student response to the prompt demonstrates full command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be a few minor errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage, but meaning is clear.
The student response to the prompt demonstrates some command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage that occasionally impede understanding, but the meaning is generally clear.
The student response to the prompt demonstrates limited command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage that often impede understanding.
The student response to the prompt does not demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English at the appropriate level of complexity. Frequent and varied errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage impede understanding.
Knowledge of Language and Conventions is scored on the same 0 to 3 scale across every CMAS rubric, regardless of task type or grade band.
How to score with the CMAS Narrative Writing Task Rubric, Grade 3.
A practical guide for teachers and norming teams. How to apply each descriptor consistently, the pitfalls that hurt inter-rater reliability, and a workflow for calibrating with colleagues.
Reading is not scored for narratives
- On the Narrative Writing Task, the reading dimension is not scored because students are not responding to a source text in the analytical sense. The first construct is Written Expression alone, not Reading Comprehension and Written Expression.
- This is the most important structural difference between the Narrative rubric and the RST/LAT rubric. Do not award or deduct points for source comprehension on a narrative response.
- Score Written Expression (0 to 3) first, then Knowledge of Language and Conventions (0 to 3). Sum for the rubric total out of 6.
Narrative elements at Grade 3
- Per CCSS, narrative elements in grades 3 to 5 include establishing a situation, organizing a logical event sequence, describing scenes/objects/people, developing characters' personalities, and using dialogue as appropriate.
- An effectively developed response (score 3) shows multiple narrative elements applied consistently. A minimally developed response (score 1) shows few elements.
- Elements of organization to be assessed are expressed in the grade-level standards W1 to W3.
Common pitfalls to avoid
- Penalizing an entertaining narrative for not citing a source. Narratives are not source-based; do not apply RST/LAT criteria.
- Awarding the top score to a long but disorganized narrative. Length is not in the rubric; coherent organization is.
- Confusing dialogue use with narrative effectiveness. Dialogue is one possible narrative element, not a requirement at score 3.
Tips for norming with your team
- Anchor with 3 to 5 sample narratives scored by your most experienced grader before the session.
- Score the first 5 silently, then compare. Discuss any construct where graders are more than one point apart.
- Re-norm halfway through a long batch. Drift is real on narrative scoring.
Notes for the CMAS Narrative Writing Task Rubric, Grade 3
The CMAS Narrative Writing Task asks Grade 3 students to develop a narrative story in response to a prompt. Unlike RST and LAT, narrative prompts do not require source-based analysis, so the rubric drops the reading dimension.
The first construct is Written Expression alone, scored 0 to 3. The descriptors focus on the development of narrative elements, organization and coherence, and language use to clarify ideas.
Knowledge of Language and Conventions is shared with every CMAS rubric, scored 0 to 3. At Grade 3, the appropriate level of complexity is more lenient on advanced punctuation but stricter on capitalization and sentence formation.
The CMAS rubric was developed collaboratively with PARCC. The descriptor language matches the PARCC framework adopted by Illinois (IAR) and other states.
See this rubric in action.
EnlightenAI scores student writing on this exact rubric, with per-criterion feedback that mirrors how you grade by hand. The sample response below shows how the rubric applies to a real piece of student writing, scored against every criterion.
The map in the library book
It was Friday afternoon and Diego was at the school library, picking out a book about pirates. Diego did not know that the book he picked would have something inside it that would change his weekend.
The discovery
When Diego opened the book at his desk, a folded piece of paper fell out. He picked it up carefully. It was an old map, brown around the edges, with a wavy line going from a house to a tree with an X. Diego had never seen a map like it. There were no words, only the picture.
A real place
"Mom, look!" Diego called when he got home. His mom looked at the map and smiled. "That tree looks just like the big oak in the park," she said. Diego had walked by that tree a hundred times. Could the map be real?
The walk
On Saturday morning, Diego and his mom walked to the park. They counted the steps from the playground to the oak tree, just like the map showed. When they got to the tree, Diego looked down. There was nothing there. But he smiled anyway. Tomorrow, he was going to draw his own map for his sister to find.
Effectively developed with multiple narrative elements
Story establishes a clear situation (Friday at school library), develops a character (Diego, curious), uses dialogue, organizes events in logical sequence (discovery → home → walk), and ends with a satisfying closing turn (Diego drawing his own map). Uses language effectively.
Full command at the grade 3 level
Sentence formation, dialogue punctuation, capitalization, and spelling are correct. A few minor errors do not impede meaning. Meets the grade 3 standard for full command on the CMAS Knowledge of Language and Conventions construct.
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About the CMAS Narrative Writing Task Rubric, Grade 3
What is the CMAS Narrative Writing Task Rubric for Grade 3?
Why is reading not scored on the Narrative Writing Task?
What narrative elements does the rubric expect at Grade 3?
How is this rubric different from the CMAS Grades 6 to 8 Narrative rubric?
Is this rubric the official version from CDE?
Where can I find the source document?
Can EnlightenAI score student writing using this rubric?
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