A free rubric maker for teachers: no sign-in, prints, pastes into Docs

Peabody Teach's rubric maker is free, needs no sign-in and shows no ads: build an analytic rubric (criteria down the side, levels across the top) or a single-point rubric, give any row double or triple weight, then print it landscape or copy it as a real table into Google Docs or Word. It also opens any of 80 premade rubrics, each written in three grade bands (K–2, 3–5 and 6–8), so you can start from a finished rubric instead of a blank grid. Peabody is free through the end of 2026.

This post is about our own tool, so read it as that. Everything below comes from the maker's code and pages as they stood on 30 October 2026, including what it doesn't do.

The problem a rubric maker should solve

A rubric is useful the day before the assignment, when you hand it out so students can see what a top score looks like. That is also the evening you have the least time. Many rubric sites ask you to make an account before you can type a cell, and one long-running maker, rubric-maker.com, says it is no longer taking new accounts and will be offline at the end of 2026. We wanted the opposite: open the page, change the words, print.

What the rubric maker does

Levels and points

The default levels are Exceeds (4), Meets (3), Approaching (2) and Beginning (1). You can rename any level and change its points. The most a criterion can earn is the top level's points times its weight, and the maximum score is the sum of those, shown above the grid. A rubric with four criteria where one counts twice tops out at 20 points on the default scale.

Single-point rubrics

Switch "Kind of rubric" to Single-point and each criterion becomes one standard, what meeting the goal looks like, with blank space on both sides for your comments. It suits drafts and conferences, where you want to write a sentence rather than circle a number.

Starting points

The maker has three templates written for the site: Writing (six traits), Oral presentation and Project. Below them is a link to the premade rubrics: 40 of them, from presentation and essay to lab report, debate, poster, group work, reading aloud and coding project. Each page has three tables:

• K–2: three levels (Wow! / Yes / Not yet), no points by default, and cells short enough to read aloud to a child.
• 3–5: four levels with points, plain words, and one row that counts twice.
• 6–8: four levels with points and the same goals asked of an older student: evidence, structure, audience.

Every row also has an "I can" line, such as "I can tell what my talk is about." On a premade rubric page you can print that list as a student checklist. In the maker, those same lines become the standards when you switch to Single-point.

Build one in five minutes

1. Open teach.peabody.kids/make/rubric. It starts on the six-trait writing template.
2. Pick a template from "Start from a template", or go to the premade rubrics, choose one and press "Open in the maker" under the grade band you teach.
3. Type a title. Choose the number of levels and criteria with the buttons; new rows and columns appear blank, and cells you already wrote stay.
4. Rewrite the cells. Each holds up to 220 characters, and the maker warns you when the text would print very small.
5. Set a weight on the row that matters most this time. If the assignment is about the argument, give the claim ×2.
6. Press Print, or "Copy as a table" and paste into Google Docs. Choose "Save as PDF" as the printer to keep a file.

That is the whole loop. The rubric is on the screen as a printable sheet the whole time, so what you see is what prints.

Try it tonight

• Hand it out with the assignment. Students plan to the top column before they start, not after you grade.
• Self-assessment: students circle the level they think they earned, then you circle yours and compare.
• Peer review on two rows only: pairs score each other's draft on two criteria. A whole rubric is too much for a classmate.
• Co-write it: open a template on the projector and let the class reword each cell in their own words.
• Print the "I can" checklist from a premade page and tape it inside a folder for the unit.

What it doesn't do

We'd rather say this plainly.

• No account, so no cloud saving. Your rubric is kept in this browser and in the page's link, after the # sign, which our server never receives. Clear your browser data or switch computers and it is gone. To keep it, copy the page link (it carries the rubric), paste the table into your own document, or save a PDF.
• No AI drafting. Nothing is written for you when you press a button. The templates and the 80 premade rubrics were written ahead of time and checked by a person, so the same page gives the same rubric tomorrow.
• No grading inside the tool. It doesn't store scores or students. You circle on paper or type in your own document.
• Eight criteria and five levels at most, on one landscape page. If cells run long, the maker tells you they will print in small type.
• No standards codes. The premade rubrics use plain, general criteria, not any state's codes. Add your own in a cell if your school asks for them.

Questions

Is the rubric maker really free?

Yes. The rubric maker and all 80 premade rubrics need no sign-in and show no ads, and Peabody is free through the end of 2026. You can print, copy and change any rubric.

Can I put the rubric in Google Docs?

Yes. Press "Copy as a table" in the maker, or "Copy for Google Docs" on a premade rubric page, then paste. Docs and Word keep it as a table with borders. A spreadsheet gets the same rubric as tab-separated rows.

What is a single-point rubric?

A rubric with one column for the standard, what meeting the goal looks like, and blank columns either side: one for areas for growth and one for evidence of going beyond. It gives feedback in words instead of a score. In the maker it is one switch.

Where is my rubric saved?

In your browser on that computer, and in the page's link after the #. Nothing is sent to Peabody's server. Copy the link, paste the table into a document or save a PDF if you want to keep it somewhere else.

Peabody is also a free reading site for kids: the stories your students can read at home are at peabody.kids.