This week you wrote a three-paragraph explanation of artificial intelligence for a Year 8 reader who has used AI but doesn't understand how it works. Now you'll read another student's piece and judge how strong it is. Working through how assessors evaluate informative writing builds your ability to apply the same lens to your own work.
Part 1
The Assessor Scorecard for
Informative – Informative report
Strong informative writing carries the reader through accurate, well-chosen ideas in a structure they can follow without effort. Ideas alone won't help if they're scattered; clean structure won't help if the ideas are vague.
Ideas & Content
The right details selected from the source, explained accurately for a Year 8 reader.
Enough specific detail that the reader understands not just 'what' but 'how' or 'why'.
Material chosen because it serves the task — not filler or off-topic content.
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Specific detail: not 'uses AI' but 'Netflix recommends shows based on your watching history'.
Structure & Cohesion
An introduction that signals what the reader will learn.
Body paragraphs that flow logically, each building on the last.
Transitions and a conclusion that tie the explanation together — not just a stop.
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Logical progression: readers move step-by-step through the explanation, not jumping between unrelated ideas.
Audience & Purpose
Language pitched for a Year 8 reader who has used AI but doesn't understand the mechanics.
Jargon introduced with an explanation, not assumed.
Analogies and examples that make sense to this specific reader.
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Explanation level: pitched so Year 8 readers learn something without feeling talked down to.
Language Choices
Precise nouns and verbs over vague ones like 'things' or 'stuff'.
Active voice that names the actor, not passive hedging.
Varied vocabulary that avoids tiring the reader with repetition.
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Precise verbs and nouns: machine learning systems identify patterns' beats 'things learn stuff'.
Conventions
Accurate spelling, punctuation and complete sentence structures.
Consistent tense — mainly present for explanation.
Proper punctuation around examples or quoted material.
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Clean, consistent writing: no spelling errors, sentences complete and grammatically sound.
Part 2
Today’s Marking Targets
Task in one sentence
Write a three-paragraph informative report explaining what artificial intelligence is, how it works at a basic level and where it appears, for a Year 8 reader with no AI knowledge.
Let’s Focus
Three strands matter most this week: Ideas & Content, Structure & Cohesion and Language Choices. How you select and explain ideas decides whether the reader actually learns. The paragraph transitions decide whether they can follow. Precise language decides whether complex ideas land.
Ideas & Content
Assessors look for evidence that you understand AI and can select specific, relevant detail. Strong ideas are explained accurately — not just naming examples, but showing how they work or why they matter. You include detail that helps the reader and leave out material that is too complex or irrelevant.
What markers scan for
- Specific examples of AI in use, such as voice assistants or recommendation systems.
- Explanations of how AI learns — from data, by identifying patterns.
- Details chosen because they help a Year 8 reader grasp the core concept.
Score Bands
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Basic
Some correct information appears, but ideas are vague or examples sit without explanation.
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Strong
Clearly explains what AI is, supported by specific examples and accurate detail a Year 8 reader can grasp.
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Excellent
Well-chosen ideas build a coherent explanation; examples are specific and purposeful throughout.
Structure & Cohesion
Each paragraph in a three-paragraph piece has a clear job: what AI is, how it works, or where it appears. The three must connect. The reader should see why paragraph two builds on paragraph one, and how paragraph three applies the earlier explanations.
What markers scan for
- Opening sentences that signal what each paragraph is about.
- Transitions between paragraphs that link new ideas to earlier ones.
- Sentence-to-sentence flow within paragraphs — no jumping around.
Score Bands
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Basic
Paragraphs are topically related, but connections are weak and transitions minimal.
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Strong
Each paragraph has a clear opening and explicit links to the ideas before it.
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Excellent
Paragraphs are tightly organised; transitions remind the reader of earlier explanations before moving forward.
Language Choices
Vague language undermines explanations of complex ideas. Strong informative writing names things exactly: not 'AI is useful' but 'AI identifies patterns in data'. Active voice and varied vocabulary make the explanation clearer and more interesting.
What markers scan for
- Specific nouns and verbs — no repeated 'thing' or 'stuff'.
- Varied vocabulary instead of the same verb used five times.
- Active voice where it strengthens the explanation of how AI works.
Score Bands
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Basic
Vague or repeated words appear often; explanations lack the precision needed for clarity.
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Strong
Language is generally precise; technical terms are used correctly and vocabulary is varied.
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Excellent
Language is precise and carefully chosen throughout; technical concepts are named exactly.
Now read · Student sample
What Artificial Intelligence Is
Year 8 sample · \~300 words
Student sample for assessment
Written by a Year 8 student in Adelaide, South Australia.
Artificial intelligence is technology that can do things that normally need human brains. Basically, AI works by learning from huge amounts of data rather than being told exact instructions for every situation. For example, when you use your phone, lots of AI is helping. The biggest use of AI right now is in things like voice assistants and on streaming platforms. These systems learn from watching what you do and then they suggest things they think you might like. Machine learning is the name for this, and it's basically when a system gets better at its job by looking at loads of data and finding patterns in it. There are so many places where AI shows up in your daily life that you probably don't even realise. Recommendation systems on Netflix and Spotify are trained using information about what you watch and listen to, so they can suggest stuff you might enjoy. Another really important place AI is used is in navigation apps like Google Maps—they use data from millions of phones to work out what the quickest route is. Spam filters on email are basically AI systems that have learned to spot the difference between real messages and junk. Things like voice assistants, self-driving cars and even medical technology all rely on AI to process information and make decisions about what to do. So basically, AI is just computers learning patterns from data instead of being given exact rules. The main difference between normal computers and AI is that AI can improve by itself when it sees more data. There's no way around it—artificial intelligence is already a big part of how technology works in the world. In the future, AI will probably be used in even more ways that we can't predict yet.
