Many students can answer oral questions for a TRC or comprehension test, but they often struggle with the written constructed response where they have to write to answer a question using details from a text.
To help my students with writing a written response, I first work with them on 3 things when answering a question orally: 1) restate the question, 2) answer the question, 3) cite evidence, and 4) explain why it is the answer. I do this no matter the subject, especially in math. If they do not tell me the why, then I ask them to explain the why for everything that they answer. Before students can answer a question in written form, they must first answer the question orally.
I next teach my students the R.A.C.E. strategy in their writing. I tell my students that the restate is like the beginning which introduces what you are writing about. Make sure to tell students that when they write, that they must write so that whoever walks through the door knows exactly what they are thinking. If students don’t restate the question and start with cause or because, then they often lose focus. Answer is where student say what their answer is. Cite evidence is where students tell what information the story gives them so they know this is the answer. Explain is where students put the pieces together to make a main idea statement to pull all of the pieces together.
In order to teach my students how to write like this, I often have them examine good written responses for parts of the strategy. If students cannot tell what a written response needs to be improved upon, then how can they write a good written response. They need to look at other pieces of writing and their own pieces of writing to analyze, evaluate, and rewrite if needed to make it stronger.
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