Appendix B.

Scoring rubric for narrative language sample.

Assessment Points for Narrative Scoring	0 Points--Way Below Expectations	1 Point--Below Expectations	2 Points--Age Expected	3 Points--Above Expectations
Introduction/Focus of Narrative	No introduction to narrative or How To (no main idea given) No focus on one particular narrative or How To (ex. Speaker combines two different narratives or How Tos in one) Listener must ask questions to understand and even when asked, child still doesn’t explain what the topic is	Partial introduction of narrative or How To is made but listener is still not clear on the actual topic Speaker keeps some focus on one particular narrative or How To, but still wanders to other topics Listener has to ask several questions to understand topic, confusing to a new listener	Introduction of narrative or How To, clear what the speaker is talking about Speaker remains focused on narrative or How To with little or no wandering to other topics Becomes apparent early on what speaker is talking about, stays on topic, no tangents If prompted, reiterates topic	Clear and concise introduction to the narrative or How To (main idea is clearly stated about topic, elaborates on introduction statement) Speaker stays clearly focused on the narrative or How To topic - listener does not have to ask any questions, no prompts needed, clearly states what they are going to talk about New listener follows easily at any point in the conversation
Mental States of Characters (Thoughts and Feelings)	Overall, no feelings or thoughts are conveyed for any of the characters involved in the narrative If feelings are addressed, they’re used incorrectly	States some feelings and thoughts during the narrative but uses the same describing words over and over	States feelings and thoughts for most of the characters in the narrative and uses more than one description word The descriptive words are usually correct and fit appropriately	Clearly states the feelings and thoughts of all characters involved in the narrative, including self Uses correct description words to explain feelings and thoughts
Referencing	No clear referencing to any of the characters in narrative or How To Ex: Speaker may use an excessive number of pronouns, or use pronouns inappropriately when nouns are not known Listener does not know who/what the speaker is referring to at any point during the narrative or How To.	Speaker uses some referencing, but may be unclear Listener may be confused at some points about who/what the speaker is referring to	Speaker uses adequate pronouns and referencing but doesn’t always check for listener comprehension	Uses adequate and correct referencing for all character in narrative or all parts in How To Easy for listener to follow and understand who/what the speaker is referring to Above and beyond what a typical child of this age would say – speaker makes sure the listener knows exactly what they’re talking about
Materials/Players in the Narrative	No mention or description of who the characters are or how many there are in the narrative No referencing made to any of the materials/players needed for the How To	Mentions and describes only one character in the narrative, no reference to other characters States some materials/players that are needed for the How To	Mentions and describes more than one character in the narrative States most of the materials/players needed for the How To	Mentions and describes all characters involved in the narrative States all materials/players that are needed for the How To Provides extensive list of items needed or states extra items needed
Order of the Narrative (logical steps to narrative or How To)	No order or logical progression to the narrative or How To Listener has to ask questions about when things happened throughout entire narrative or How To	States some of the narrative or How To in order Listener still had to ask several questions to completely understand the progression	States most of the narrative or How To in order Listener only had to ask a few questions to understand the progression	States all of the narrative or How To in correct order Listener doesn’t have to ask any questions to understand the progression
Details	Narrative/How To clearly lacks any supporting details Very short Uninteresting	Narrative or How To contains a few details to make it somewhat interesting	Narrative/How To has adequate details and the listener is engaged in the narrative the entire time	Narrative or How To is filled with explicit details, making it much more enjoyable for the listener
Style (elements of voice used during narrative)	Narrative or How To is presented with no intonation, modulations or use of creative flare Ex: speakers voice is monotone with no excitement or flare	Narrative or How To is presented with minimal inflection/creative flare Ex. uses inflection in few spots and even then may not be correct	Narrative or How To is presented with some inflection/creative flare Ex. Uses creative wording in a few spots and is correct; uses correct inflection to create excitement or interest in a few spots of the narrative or How To	Telling of narrative or How To is presented with correct and appropriate inflection, volume and use of creative flare, speaker creates an enjoyable story
Vocabulary – Verb Tense	Little use of bound morphemes Almost always uses wrong verb tense No descriptive words used to describe things in the narrative or How To Uses the same words over and over again; narrative is said in as few words as possible	The speaker varies the amount of different words only by a few Frequently uses wrong verb tense Mostly uses the same words over and over again; occasionally changes the descriptive words Inappropriate use of idioms	Uses bound morphemes appropriately; Inappropriate use is a result of overgeneralizations such as “ed” Uses range of age appropriate words, adjectives, and adverbs Varied use of descriptor words in the narrative Small amount of colorful words are used appropriately Does not use the same word too many times during the narrative Occasionally uses wrong verb tense Somewhat successful use of idioms	Good use of descriptive words; changes the words often in the narrative Uses colorful language and idioms appropriately Uses correct verb tense
Cohesion – from Liles (1985)	No clear ties/segues from one sentence to the next/one thought to the next Listener is very confused as to what the narrative or How To is even about	Some clear ties exist between sentences/thoughts Some ambiguity remains over subject of conversation	Almost a complete tie in that there is little confusion throughout most of the narrative Occasionally speaker might stray from the subject but find his/her way back Majority of the time the listener is clearly understanding the line of thinking	Speaker clearly ties all thoughts and sentences together to form a very coherent narrative/How-to Absolutely no confusion on the part of the listener as to the subject of conversation Speaker never strays off topic
Conclusion to narrative or How To	No clear ending to the narrative or How To Listener has to ask if there is any more or if that is the end of the narrative/How To	Narrative/How To concluded, but no clear, general concluding statement is used	Narrative/How To concluded, but only a partial general concluding statement is used	Ending to narrative/How To is clear and easily understood Clear, complete general concluding statement
Theory of Mind	Tells narrative/How To without regarding listener’s ability to follow along, never clarifies or checks whether the listener is understanding	Occasionally checks in with the listener to make sure they are following along Rarely clarifies statements	Often checks in with the listener to make sure they are following along Occasionally clarifies statements if they suspect the listener is confused	Does a great job of double checking with the listener to make sure they fully understand the narrative or How To Usually clarifies statements if they suspect the listener is confused
Replicability (ability to reproduce narrative or How To accurately)	Listener unable to repeat the narrative/How To to another person	Listener would be able to repeat some of the narrative/How To, however, clarifying questions would need to be asked of the original storyteller to give a complete recap	Listener would be able to repeat some of the narrative/How To but might have to ask just a couple of clarifying questions of the original storyteller	Listener would be able to repeat most of the narrative/repeat the entire narrative/How To without any help from the original storyteller