Moodle Evaluations Color Key
Below is an explanation of the colors your evaluator uses to highlight parts of your essay. When you see a word, phrase, or sentence highlighted in a certain color, check this guide for an explanation of the writing issue that color addresses. When your evaluator reads and comments on your essay, she or he looks at a variety of writing issues, from grammar to paragraph construction to overall content. Many of the colors below are used to highlight grammar errors, but don’t forget to pay attention to comments your evaluator makes in blue and to the ones made at the end of your essay, because these comments will tell you your essay’s strengths and the areas you can improve on in future work. Hopefully, this color code will help you to recognize some aspects of writing you need to continue to work on. Remember, if you revise any of the writing that you have evaluated through Moodle, the evaluator's comments are only a starting place. Each piece of writing is unique!
Blue – Evaluator’s comments: This color is the most important color in the evaluation, as it is used for the "holistic" aspects of writing, such as student strengths, writing issues that are general to the whole essay or a section of the essay (multiple paragraphs, transitions, organization, etc.), idea development, parts of an essay that lack clarity, or other assignment-specific comments.
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Word and Sentence Level Issues
(Note: The evaluator will not necessarily highlight every word and sentence level issue in a piece of writing. If you are to revise any writing that you submit originally as a Wiki, it is still your responsibility to "close read" the essay in your revision process. In other words, if you are to revise a piece of writing that you submitted as a Wiki, you will almost always need to do more than "fix" the word and sentence level issues that are highlighted in colors.)
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Green – Run-on sentence: A run-on sentence has at least two independent clauses, but the two clauses have been combined without a proper connection. When two independent clauses are connected by only a comma, they constitute a run-on sentence that is called a comma-splice. When you use a comma to connect two independent clauses, it must be accompanied by a conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so).
EXAMPLE: They weren't dangerous criminals they were detectives in disguise.
CORRECTED: They weren’t dangerous criminals; they were detectives in disguise.
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Red – Punctuation error: Punctuation errors could refer to missing, incorrect, or extra commas, periods, apostrophes, semi-colons, colons, or hyphens.
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Brown – Verb tense / subject-verb agreement: Brown shows that the writer has used the incorrect verb tense.
VERB TENSE EXAMPLE: While Barbara puts on her glasses, the doorbell rang.
CORRECTED: While Barbara put on her glasses, the doorbell rang.
OR While Barbara puts on her glasses, the doorbell rings.
The present tense indicates that something is happening or being now. The simple past tense indicates that something happened in the past. And the past participle form indicates that something happened in the past prior to another action.
Note: When writing about literature, the accepted convention is to write in the present tense.
A lack of Subject/Verb agreement means the writer has paired a singular subject with a plural verb or a plural subject with a singular verb. Make sure the number (singular or plural) of the verb matches the number of the subject.
SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT
EXAMPLE: Annie and her brothers is at school.
CORRECTED: Annie and her brothers are at school.
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Pink – Spelling Error: To help improve your spelling: use a spell checker, the dictionary, or memory devices; sound it out; or keep a list of words that often give you trouble.
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Orange – Word choice: This color indicates that the writer has used a word incorrectly or inappropriately. Either the meaning of the word used doesn’t fit the writer’s intentions, or the writer has used language that doesn’t match the appropriate tone of the assignment.
EXAMPLE: Misused words: I except your apology.
CORRECTED: I accept your apology.
EXAMPLE: Inappropriate tone: I totally think my cousin Jake is super lame.
CORRECTED: I think my cousin Jake isn’t very mature.
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Purple – Sentence fragment: Fragments are incomplete sentences. A sentence fragment cannot stand by itself; it doesn’t contain even one independent clause. Usually, the fragment is missing a subject or a main verb or both. Or, the fragment might be disconnected from another clause with a period.
EXAMPLE: No main verb: A movie with action.
CORRECTED: This movie has a lot of action.
EXAMPLE:
No subject: Which is why we believe the tax override should be passed.
CORRECTED: Additional funding for schools will allow students to continue to learn music and art, which is why we believe the tax override should be passed.
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Aqua – Sentence Variety: Try using a variety of sentence types: simple (one independent clause); compound (more than one independent clause); complex (one independent clause and at least one dependent clause); compound-complex (more than one independent clause and at least one dependent clause).
EXAMPLES:
Simple: We drove from Connecticut to Tennessee in one day.
Compound: We were exhausted, but we arrived in time for my grandpa’s birthday party.
Complex: Although he is now 79 years old, he still claims to be 65.
Compound-Complex: After it was all over, my grandpa claimed he knew we were planning something; however, we think he was really surprised.
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Yellow – Capitalization error: Only capitalize the first word of every sentence; the first-person singular pronoun, I; proper nouns; and names of relationships only when they are a part of or a substitute for a person's name.
EXAMPLE: uncle pete.
CORRECTED: Uncle Pete.