4/8/16

Dear Ms. Holt,

The book I read was called Smiles to Go by Jerry Spinelli.I finished the book in about
three days. It was so interesting. The book was about a boy named Will who loves learning
about atoms and he is also trying to get his crush Mi-Su to like him back.
The one character that stood out to me the most was Will. Not just because he was the
main character but because i could really relate to him. Will was laid back. He would get mad at
his sister from time to time but other than that he was cool. He was also very strong. At the end
of the book something happened to his sister but he stayed strong for her and his family. In a lot
of ways i can compare myself to Will. One way is that the person he liked didn't like him back in
that way. Another way i can compare myself to him is when his sister got injured he stayed
strong. My brother actually passed away when he was nine and i was eight and although i was
really young and it was a very hard thing i had to stay strong for me and my family.
If I could change one thing about the book, I would change that his crush eventually liked
him back because in the book she never did. I would change that because i know how hard that
is to go through. I would also change that he talked more about atoms because in the beginning
it kind of talked about the atoms but towards the end the author didn't write about it as much. I
would change that because i was actually interested in those parts. I would also change the part
when he was mean to his sister because that is what made her get hurt in the first place. I would
change that part because i cried because it was sad to me because his sister almost died.

Sincerely,
Kristen Waters
Rubric rating submitted on: 5/7/2016, 12:49:33 PM by bholt@ggusd.net

Introductory
Paragraph
4

Exceptional
introduction
for audience
and
purpose.
Includes
properly
punctuated
book title
and a
summary

Effective
introduction
for audience
and
purpose.
Includes
properly
punctuated
book title
and a
summary

Adequate
introduction
that includes
book title
and a
generic plot
summary.
The thesis
statement
complete
but

Introduction
is present
but some of
the required
components
are missing
or
demonstrate
inadequate
effort or
completion.

Introduction
is lacking
many of the
requirement
s or causes
confusion
for the
reader.

Introduction
may not be
present.

Analysis
Paragraph 1
5

that
provides a
deeper
understandi
ng of the
reading. The
intro ends
with a thesis
statement
that clearly
outlines the
analysis
plan for the
letter.

that
provides a
clear
understandi
ng of the
reading. The
intro ends
with a clear
thesis
statement..

somewhat
vague.

Exceptionall
y coherent
and welldeveloped
topic
sentence
and
supporting
details.

Effective
topic
sentence
and
supporting
details.

Adequate
topic
sentence
and
supporting
details.

Use of
relevant
evidence
from
sources is
integrated
with
appropriate
citation.
Analysis
Paragraph 2
5

Exceptionall
y coherent
and welldeveloped
topic
sentence
and
supporting
details.
Use of
relevant
evidence

Use of
relevant
evidence
from
sources is
integrated
with
appropriate
citation.

Some
evidence
from
sources is
integrated,
though
citations
may be
general or
imprecise.

Effective
topic
sentence
and
supporting
details.

Adequate
topic
sentence
and
supporting
details.

Use of
relevant
evidence
from
sources is
integrated

Some
evidence
from
sources is
integrated,
though

Unclear
topic
sentence
and/or
supporting
details.
Evidence
from
sources is
weakly
integrated
and
citations, if
present are
uneven.

Unclear
topic
sentence
and/or
supporting
details.
Evidence
from
sources is
weakly
integrated
and

Weak topic
sentence
and/or
supporting
details.
Evidence
from
sources is
included, but
not
integrated or
appropriatel
y cited.

Weak topic
sentence
and/or
supporting
details.
Evidence
from
sources is
included, but
not
integrated or
appropriatel

Topic
sentence
and/or
supporting
details are
absent.
Use of
evidence
from
sources in
minimal,
absent, in
error, or
irrelevant.

Topic
sentence
and/or
supporting
details are
absent.
Use of
evidence
from
sources in
minimal,
absent, in

Grammar
and
Mechanics
4

from
sources is
integrated
with
appropriate
citation.

with
appropriate
citation.

citations
may be
general or
imprecise.

citations, if
present are
uneven.

y cited.

error, or
irrelevant.

Impressive
control of
language.

Use of
vocabulary
is
appropriate
for the
audience
and
purpose.

Use of
vocabulary
is generally
appropriate
for the
audience.

Use of
vocabulary
may be
inappropriat
e at times
for purpose
and
audience.

Use of
vocabulary
is largely
inappropriat
e for
purpose and
audience.

Uses limited
vocabulary
and has little
sense of
audience or
purpose.

Excellent
use of
punctuation,
capitalizatio
n, and
spelling.
Is free from
errors.

Standard
use of
punctuation,
capitalizatio
n, and
spelling.
May have
minor errors.

Comments:
Score: 5I am glad that you enjoyed the book!

Some errors
in
punctuation,
capitalizatio
n, and
spelling
Some errors
in grammar
and usage.

Frequent
errors in
punctuation,
capitalizatio
n, and
spelling.
Frequent
errors in
grammar
and usage
may
obscure
meaning.

Frequent
errors
and/or
limited use
of
punctuation,
capitalizatio
n, and
spelling.
Frequent
errors in
grammar,
usage, and
sentence
formation
obscure
meaning.

Inappropriat
e or
incorrect
use of
punctuation,
capitalizatio
n, and
spelling.
Errors in
grammar,
usage, and
sentence
formation
are frequent
and severe,
and
meaning is
often
obscured.