Student Rubrics From Stella Bock, a third grade teacher at Orange Avenue School: "This year, I was successful at using rubrics with my class. For our last project, my class and I created the rubric together. Their project was to work in pairs to create a structure using geometric shapes such as cylinders, rectangular prisms, etc. I put the grid on large chart paper and the students did the same in their notebooks. They then decided upon which areas they would like to focus. They came up with design, cooperation within groups, neatness, details, strength and sturdiness of structure. Next they created grade equivalents for each category such as Professional, Intern, Novice and Rookie. Using these headings, they gave specifics for each category, which were fair and accurate. I told them to highlight the Professional and Intern columns so they knew exactly for which categories they should strive. They are responsible for bringing in the materials, deciding on a design, counting the number of geometric shapes in their structure and actually constructing. They can't wait to start and are proud of themselves for making such a well-planned and helpful rubric. So am I!"