(4)  Makes a claim based on observations or evidence that have been carefully and thoroughly considered.
(3)  Makes a claim based on observations or evidence.
(2)  Makes a claim that is not well supported.
(1)  Makes a claim without any consideration of observations or evidence.

(4)  Provides clear, complete, relevant, and convincing information and examples for a claim.  Considers what information and examples are missing, and explains how this might affect an evaluation of the claim.
(3)  Provides clear, sufficient, and relevant information and examples for a claim.
(2)  Provides some relevant information and examples for a claim, but also some that are not relevant.
(1)  Provides information and examples for a claim that are not relevant to the claim.

(4)  Carefully provides relevant and reasoned qualifications of restrictions for a claim, resulting in a well-defended claim.
(3)  Provides relevant qualification or restrictions for a claim.
(2)  Provides qualifications of restrictions for a claim that represent some misconceptions about the topic, or leaves out some relevant qualifications or restrictions.
(1)  Provides qualifications or restrictions for a claim that represent serious misconceptions about the topic, or provides irrelevant qualifications or restrictions.

Adapted from Dimensions of Learning, Robert Marzano and Debra Pickering, 2nd edition, ASCD, 1997; and “History Fair Rubric” developed by Ogden Elementary School: http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/Rubric_Bank/SocialStudiesRubrics.pdf