One rubric covers every elementary prompt. You don't need a different rubric for Round-Robin Story than for Prove It, and there's nothing to swap in or adjust. Same four rows every time.
Read this part first
This rubric assesses each student's contribution to the group podcast — not the quality of the finished episode. It's a participation and process tool. In the rubric's own words: "It is a support tool, not a grade."
That's a deliberate departure from how rubrics usually work, and it's worth being clear about with teachers, because a teacher who treats this as a scoring instrument will use it wrong. Its job is to show you who needs support and whether every student actually got heard — which, in a room where one episode has twenty-five contributors, is the thing that's genuinely hard to track.
Students are never assessed on audio quality or tech. You're running the recording and the editing, so none of that is theirs to be judged on. Only what they contribute.
Two versions
Grades 3–5 — three levels: Not Yet · Getting There · Got It!
Grades K–2 — a binary checklist: Not yet · Yes!
Same rows, different grain. Pick based on your students rather than strictly by grade, the same way you pick sentence frames over sentence starters in the organizer.
The four rows
Both versions run the same four "I can" statements:
Contribute my part — did they share their piece, and how much help did it take?
Speak clearly — was their delivery loud and clear? (Delivery, not audio quality.)
Work with my group — did they take turns and listen?
Reflect on the podcast — did they say something real about how it went?
That's the whole instrument. Four rows, every prompt, every time — which means teachers learn it once and never think about it again.
Where the evidence comes from
You don't need separate documentation. Each row reads off something you're already doing in the organizer:
Rubric row | Where you see it |
Contribute my part | Roles table + the Recorded / Checked table in Phase 3 |
Speak clearly | The Practice tracker and the record-and-check step |
Work with my group | Observed during Phase 2 planning |
Reflect on the podcast | Phase 5, Part 2 — Wins, Challenges, Skills, Knowledge |
Because you check each recording as you go, most of this fills itself in during production. It's not a task waiting for you after the episode exports.
Using it with students
The rows are written as "I can…" statements, which means it's already student-facing. You can show it to students before you start so they know what a strong contribution looks like, and older students can mark their own as a self-check alongside your version. That works precisely because it isn't a grade — there's no incentive to game it.
How this differs from the middle and high school rubrics
Worth knowing if you teach across bands, or if you're comparing the two tools:
Elementary | Middle / High | |
How many | One, for all prompts | One per prompt |
Organized by | Student contribution | Production phase |
Assesses | The student's participation | The finished episode |
Used | During production | After export, via Key Moments |
Purpose | Support tool, not a grade | Assessment |
The logic tracks the tools themselves: MS/HS students own an episode, so the rubric judges the episode. Elementary students own a part, so the rubric looks at the part.
Sharing
Link out as view-only — students and families can see it, nobody can edit your copy.
[Click here] to create a copy of the rubic.