Use a rubric to score student responses. Student responses should include the following:

Characters

• Identify the names of all characters.
• Identify the main character(s).
• Describe characters’ physical traits and feelings.
• Explain the reasoning behind the main characters’ actions.

Dialogue

• Determine why the author may have chosen to use external dialogue instead of internal dialogue.
• Describe how the dialogue impacts the tone of the piece.
• Determine how the text would be different if some information was not included as dialogue.

Setting

• Draw and write about the setting.
• Name the setting and describe it (what it looked like, how it influenced the story, how the student knows this).
• Explain how the story would be different if the setting changed.

Sample rubrics for assessing responses:

Character(s) description rubric

1. The student is unable to name the main character(s) or give descriptors of the main character(s) outside of identifying the character.
2. The student is able to give one to two descriptors of the physical characteristics of the main character(s) (e.g., “The boy had a red shirt and orange hair”).
3. The student is able to give one to two descriptors of the physical characteristics of the main character(s) and name how the character feels (e.g., “The boy with the red shirt and orange hair is sad”).
4. The student is able to describe the physical characteristics of the main character(s) and articulate the feelings of the character(s) in detail (e.g., “The boy with the red shirt and orange hair is sad because he lost his toy and cannot find it”).

Character(s) actions rubric

1. The student is unable to explain the reasoning behind the main character’s (or characters’) actions.
2. The student is able to state a generic reason for the main character’s (or characters’) actions (e.g., “The character did it because he was sad”).
3. The student is able to name one specific reason behind the main character’s (or characters’) actions and explain it clearly.
4. The student is able to name at least one reason behind the main character’s (or characters’) actions, explain it clearly, and use text evidence to support the student’s thinking.

Dialogue rubric

1. The student is unable to differentiate dialogue from other text when reading a drama piece.
2. The student is able to state a generic reason for using dialogue. (For example, the student might say, “We can hear what the characters say.”)
3. The student is able to understand why an author uses dialogue and identify how the dialogue impacts the drama piece. (For example, the student might say, “When the author has the boy and girl yell at each other, you know the tone of the play is serious.”)
4. The student is able to understand why an author uses dialogue, how the dialogue impacts the drama piece, and how changing or editing the dialogue would change the drama. (For example, the student might say, “If someone watching the play didn't see the boy and girl yell at each other and they just looked mad, we might not understand how upset they really are. The author chose to write the dialogue of them yelling so we would understand how upset they are.”)

Setting rubric:

1. The student is unable to name the setting.
2. The student is able to give the name of the setting in simplistic terms (e.g., outside or inside).
3. The student is able to name the setting, explain how the student figured it out, and describe with detail what the setting looks like (e.g., not just a park, but a park with swings, lots of kids, a sidewalk, slide, and giant trees).
4. The student is able to describe the setting in great detail and explain how the story would be different if the setting changed.
5. These rubrics could be combined into one sheet to make a comprehensive rubric for understanding drama.