Assessing your students' writing, Part 7: SENTENCE FLUENCY

• The sentences are well built, with strong and varied structure that invites expressive reading.
• The sentences vary in length as well as structure. Fragments, if used, add style. Dialogue, when present, sounds natural and flows with the story.
• Purposeful and varied sentence beginnings add originality and energy to the story.
• The use of creative and appropriate transitions between sentences and thoughts shows how each idea relates to, and builds upon the one before it.
• The writer has put much thought into the sound of the words as well as the meaning. The first time the paper is read silently or aloud is easy for the reader.
• The sentence construction is such that it enhances the meaning and understanding.