Our rubrics are designed to assist artisans who want to enter A&S projects into shows and competitions. They are also designed for judges as guides to scoring entries. Anyone is welcome to use our rubrics, they are not reserved for Kingdom events and are meant to help standardize expectations throughout the Sylvan realm. If everyone knows what to expect while working on their projects, and expectations are set for entrants and judges, then we should arrive at an objective scoring platform throughout our Kingdom, with some room for subjective opinion as well.
| Category | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation Does your project entry come with a journal? See our guide for details on the core questions. |
• The entry came without a journal. | • The entry journal shares basic information, answering 1 or 2 core questions. | • The entry journal solidly answered 3-4 core questions, and includes 1 or 2 visual aids (ex. photographs or drawings). | • The entry journal answers up to 5 core questions, in detail, and includes several visual aids. | • The entry journal answers up to 6 core questions in detail, and includes visual aids that show the item in different stages of construction. | • The entry journal answers all 7 core questions in detail with visual aids including step-by-step photos that show construction from beginning to end. |
| Materials & Method What materials or ingredients did you use? Which method, tools did you need to create it? Do you know if these are similar to those used in period? |
• The entry came without a journal. • The entry uses simple, easy to work with modern materials and/or methods. |
• The journal indicates the entrant used easy, modern materials and/or methods. | • The entrant used some project-correct OR some period correct materials / method(s). | • The entrant used mostly project-correct OR mostly period-correct materials / methods. • The entrant shared an example of similar materials / method(s) in period. |
• Used mostly project correct AND mostly period-correct materials / methods. • The entrant shared an example of the same materials / methods in period. |
• The entrant used project-correct AND period-correct materials / methods. • The entrant shared several examples of the same materials / methods in period. |
| Workmanship & Skill Did you need a lot of skill to create your project? Do you know if these are similar skills as used in period? |
• The entry came without a journal. • The entry shows basic skills. |
• The entry was not very hard to make, using no more than a couple of steps, and did not take much effort. | • The entry took more than one or two steps to make, OR took some effort. | • The entry took more than one or two steps to make, AND took some effort. • The entrant shared an example of a similar skill used in period. |
• The entry was hard to make, took several steps, and took quite some effort. • The entrant shared an example of the same skill in period. |
• The entry was a challenge to make, took many steps, and took quite some effort. • The entrant shared several examples of the same skill in period. |
| Historical Context Did you base your project on a period pre-1600 example? Can you tell us more about it? Or other, similar, examples? |
• The entry came without a journal and the judges don’t know for sure. | • The entry is not based on a period example, although it looks medieval-ish. | • Example is mostly period. • The entry is a wide mix of time, periods, places and cultures. |
• Example is period. • The separate parts of the entry are not from the same time/place/culture, but are from a similar time/place/culture. |
• Example is period. • Most parts are from the same time/place/culture, and some parts are from a related time/place/culture. |
• Example(s) are period. • A significant number of parts are from the same time period, place and culture. |
| Assistance How much help did you get from your parent or instructor? Help for safety is always a-OK! |
• The entry came without a journal and the judges don’t know for sure. | • The youth does not read or write well so the adult did the research & journal. • Youth made the entry with hands-on help from an adult (great way to learn!) |
• The adult guided the research & journal; the youth was interviewed to show understanding of their project. • Youth shadowed an adult to make their entry (good start!) |
• The adult suggested research; youth filled in an Easy-Doc (or similar interview) as their journal. • Youth made their entry, with adult close by and help as needed (well done!) |
• Adult assisted research; youth made journal unassisted. • Youth made their entry with occasional adult help, on stand-by (perfect!) |
• Youth researched and wrote journal unassisted by adult. • Youth did not need adult help, and completed the project on their own (high five!) |
Main Rubrics Page | Material Culture | Live Performance | Research Paper