Informal-  This level of writing is first-draft.  The main purpose is to generate ideas for discussion or for further work.  If collected, it should not be evaluated for form or grammatical correctness.  Normally,  it is only credited as having been completed.  It may be evaluated on a check minus or plus system based on the content.  Often it is used in class or for the student’s own purposes and is never collected at all. Some examples of this type of writing would include:
· in-class free writing
· responses to questions in class
· reactions to assignments
· brainstorming, listing of ideas
· journal responses
· In-class timed essays (as in essay exams)

Draft-  This type of writing is an intermediate stage.  Both form and content are taken into consideration, but not as stringently as they would be in more formal writing.  Response to draft writing varies according to the level to which it has evolved.  Generally, one responds to the content first, then to the organization and language and finally to the level of polish or correctness.   The focus of response to this writing is often on revision.  Thus the teacher thinks of what might be the one or two things which would improve this writing most   Avoid grading this type of writing  until it has moved to the next stage.

Formal-  Formal writing represents the revised forms of draft writing.  This type of writing should represent the best writing of which the student is capable, in terms of content, form and polish.  Ideally, teachers should be able to evaluate this kind of writing in all of these dimensions. In a content class, however, the focus should always remain most strongly on the content.  Other issues should be presented in terms of how they facilitate the reader’s understanding of what students are expressing about content.  Examples of this type of writing include:
· essays
· creative pieces—short stories, poems, plays, etc.
· lab reports
· article reviews
· research and multi-genre research papers
· three-search papers
 

You should always make clear to students the level of formality you expect in any given writing assignment, and stress to them that they should always take care with their writing.