how to use race in a essay

Writing About Race, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Disability

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As language evolves alongside our understanding of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and disability, it is important for writers to make informed choices about their language and to take responsibility for those choices. Accurate language is important in writing about people respectfully and in crafting effective arguments your audience can trust. This handout includes writing practices and language tips to help you discuss various groups of people respectfully and without perpetuating stereotypes.

Best Practices

• Use people-first language. Use terms that focus on people rather than on the method of categorization to ensure your language is not dehumanizing. For example, use “people with mental illness” rather than “the mentally ill,” “people with disabilities” rather than “disabled people,” and “enslaved peoples” rather than “slaves.”
• Don’t use adjectives as nouns.   Using adjectives as nouns is not only grammatically incorrect, it is often demeaning to the people you are describing. For example, use “Black people,” not “Blacks.”
• Avoid terms that imply inferiority or superiority.   Replace terms that evaluate or might imply inferiority/superiority with non-judgmental language. For example, use “low socioeconomic status” rather than “low class,” or “historically marginalized population” rather than “minority.”
• Be specific.  When these descriptors are relevant, be as specific as possible to avoid inaccurate or generalized statements. For example, use “Dominicans” rather than “Hispanics,” or “people who use wheelchairs” rather than “people with disabilities.”

Writing About Race and Ethnicity

When writing about race and ethnicity, use the following tips to guide you:

• Capitalize racial/ethnic groups, such as Black, Asian, and Native American. Depending on the context, white may or may not be capitalized.
• African Americans migrated to northern cities. (noun)
• African-American literature. (adjective)
• The terms Latino/Latina/Latin are used mostly in the US to refer to US residents with ties to Latin America .

Umbrella Terms

• Avoid the term “minority” if possible. “Minority” is often used to describe groups of people who are not part of the majority. This term is being phased out because it may imply inferiority and because minorities often are not in the numerical minority. An alternative might be “historically marginalized populations.” If it is not possible to avoid using “minority,” qualify the term with the appropriate specific descriptor: “religious minority” rather than “minority.”
• Note that the terms “people of color” and “non-white” are acceptable in some fields and contexts but not in others. Check with your professor if you’re uncertain whether a term is acceptable.  

Writing About Socioeconomic Status

When writing about socioeconomic status, use the following tips to guide you:

• “Avoid using terms like “high class” or “low class,” or even “upper class” or “lower class,” because they have been used historically in an evaluative way. Also avoid “low brow” and “high brow.” Instead, if you must incorporate adjectives like “high” or “low,” use the term “high” or “low socioeconomic status” to avoid judgmental language.
• The word “status” (without the qualifier of “socioeconomic”) is not interchangeable with “class” because “status” can refer to other measures such as popularity.
• When possible, use specific metrics: common ones include level of educational attainment, occupation, and income.Use specific language that describes what is important to the analysis.
• Be aware of numbers: there are no distinct indicators of “high” and “low,” but there are percentages that make it easy to determine, via income bracket for example, where on a range an individual falls.

General Guidelines

When writing about disability, use the following tips to guide you:

• uses a wheelchair rather than confined to a wheelchair
• diagnosed with bipolar disorder rather than suffers from bipolar disorder
• person with a physical disability rather than physically challenged
• Do not use victimizing language such as afflicted, restricted, stricken, suffering, and unfortunate.
• Do not call someone ‘brave’ or ‘heroic’ simply for living with a disability.
• Avoid the term “handicapped,” as some find it insensitive. Note that it is widely used as a legal term in documents, on signs, etc.
• Do not use disabilities as nouns to refer to people. For example, use “people with mental illnesses” not “the mentally ill.”
• Avoid using the language of disability as metaphor, which stigmatizes people with disabilities, such as lame (lame idea), blind (blind luck), paralyzed (paralyzed with indecision), deaf (deaf ears), crazy, insane, moron, crippling, disabling, and the like.
• Capitalize a group name when stressing the fact that they are a cultural community (e.g. Deaf culture); do not capitalize when referring only to the disability.

Referring to people without disabilities

Use “people without disabilities,” or “neurotypical individuals” for mental disabilities.  The term “able-bodied” may be appropriate in some disciplines. Do not use terms like “normal” or “healthy” to describe people without disabilities.

Writing with Outdated/Problematic Sources

  When analyzing or referencing a source that uses harmful language (slurs, violent rhetoric, etc.), either:

• Explain that the author or character uses harmful language without stating it verbatim. For example: “The author uses an ableist slur when discussing [context of the quote], indicating that [analysis].”
• Acknowledge its offensive nature in your analysis if you must quote the harmful language verbatim.

Do not change the quote or omit harmful language without acknowledging it. If you must use outdated and problematic sources, it is best to acknowledge any harmful language or rhetoric and discuss how it impacts the use and meaning of the text in your analysis.

Note that if you do need to use dated terminology in discussing the subjects in a historical context, continue to use contemporary language in your own discussion and analysis.

If you are still unsure of what language to use after reading this, consult your professor, classmates, writing center tutors, or current academic readings in the discipline for more guidance.

As we have noted, language is complex and constantly evolving. We will update this resource to reflect changes in language use and guidelines. We also welcome suggestions for revisions to this handout. Please contact the Writing Center with any questions or suggestions.

Thank you to the following people who contributed to earlier versions of this resource: Emma Bowman ’15, Krista Hesdorfer ’14, Jessica LeBow ’15, Rohini Tashima ’15, Sharon Williams, Amit Taneja, Phyllis Breland, and Professors Jessica Burke, Dan Chambliss, Christine Fernández, Todd Franklin, Cara Jones, Esther Kanipe, Elizabeth Lee, Celeste Day Moore, Andrea Murray, Kyoko Omori, Ann Owen, and Steven Wu.

Adapted from prior Writing Center resource “Writing about Race, Ethnicity, Social Class, and Disability.”

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April 21, 2021

RACE Writing Strategy Examples: Student Guide and Grading Guide

RACE Writing Strategy responses are quite easy to grade. Teachers have asked me for tips and example responses. Today I’ll be sharing everything I have learned about grading RACE strategy responses quickly and efficiently!

Don’t know about teaching the RACE Writing Strategy? Read all you need to know about it here!

Tip 1: Use the Checklist

Just like you teach your students to write with the checklist, it is also helpful to grade with the checklist. As you read each response, make a small check mark beside each letter. This gives your students visual feedback about which parts of the assignment they have successfully completed. Additionally, it gives you a quick and easy reference for assigning a score.

Tip 2: Easy Scoring

There are four parts to the RACE Strategy, so scoring a response is easy.

Each step in the RACE strategy=25%, with successful use of all parts of the RACE strategy equaling 100%.

For example: if a student re-states the question, answers it, provides one citation, and explains, that would be 100%. If they did RAC, but did not explain the importance of their quotations, then they will score a 75%.

Tip 3: Answers will Vary

There is almost always more than one way to successfully respond to a question. As long as students are getting the fundamentals of responding in a paragraph and citing the text, consider it a win!

Tip 4: Save and Share Exemplar Responses

I have found that students love to share their responses when they’ve really nailed the assignment. The more your students can see examples of well-written paragraphs, the more they’ll understand how to write one on their own. Take some time to ask for volunteers to share their responses with the class. Praise students for making progress, and model well-written examples.

Tip 5: Feedback for Improvement

While providing scores and checkmarks is essential, offering constructive feedback is equally important for student growth. Take a moment to jot down specific comments about what the student did well and areas where they can improve. Encourage them to focus on enhancing certain aspects of their response, such as providing more in-depth explanations, strengthening their citations, or refining their restatement of the question. Constructive feedback not only guides students towards improvement but also reinforces the importance of continuous learning and refinement of their writing skills.

Consider scheduling brief one-on-one conferences with students to discuss their graded responses, addressing any questions they may have and offering personalized tips for enhancement. This individualized attention can foster a deeper understanding of the RACE Strategy and help students take ownership of their writing progress.

Paired Passages

If you are grading a response to paired passages , the RACE strategy can be modified to RACCE (since students should cite BOTH texts). In this case, each part of the response is worth 20%. If students complete each part, they will score 100%.

The predictable routine of writing using the RACE Strategy is one of the reasons I love it so much. Kids become very familiar with it, and before long, they’re using it on their own without being prompted. I’ve seen some of my most struggling writers find success with this method. With repeated practice, your students will be writing evidence-based passages like pros!

Get resources for teaching the RACE Writing Strategy here!

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How to Use the RACE Writing Strategy with Students

• For Teachers , Literacy , Tips & Tricks

It doesn’t matter how many teachers I talk to, there is always a common thread: our students struggle with writing. Whether it’s mastering complete sentences or writing an essay, writing seems to always be a tough skill for students to master. In particular, I’ve heard from many teachers (and seen it myself) that students struggle to use evidence to support their claims. Luckily, that can change with the RACE writing strategy.

What is the RACE Writing Strategy?

This strategy is commonly referred to as RACE or RACES, and it’s an acronym that stands for restate the question, answer the question, cite evidence from the text, explain how the evidence proves your answer, and (optional) summarize.

Essentially, it’s an outline and scaffold our students can use as they get better at writing short answer responses. When it comes to writing, I say there you can never have too many scaffolds because we already know it’s a challenging skill.

When using the RACE writing strategy, students are essentially “checking off” that they have each element needed in a written response. And after a while, the process will become a natural part of writing.

How to Teach the RACE Writing Strategy

Getting students to use the RACE writing strategy isn’t too challenging, but you can’t expect them to figure it out alone. If you just hand them a worksheet or graphic organizer, you’ll probably be bombarded with questions and get some interesting writing samples back. That’s stressful for you and your students.

Instead, take it slow and gradually ease into the RACE writing strategy. Here is what I’d recommend –

#1 Model RACE . Start by completing some whole class exercises and model for students exactly what RACE looks like. 

You can read a text together as a class, and then write the response on the projector or whiteboard. I liked to have students write along with me as well, and then glue the example into their journals.

#2 Get clear on vocabulary . If students don’t know what cite or evidence means, they’ll never be able to independently use the RACE writing strategy. 

Make sure you directly teach the key vocabulary and provide examples of each. You can add these words to your Word Wall or make an anchor chart. I also have a RACE bulletin board resource that you can use for displaying the process.

#3 Chunk the assignment. Before you turn students loose to write an entire RACE paragraph, break it down step by step. 

The first time students work independently, have them just restate the question. Then the next time, have them restate the question and answer the question. Continue building on the next element over time.

#4 Provide feedback to students . You don’t need to grade every single RACE writing sample, but students should be getting feedback as they learn.

You can do this in a few ways. You can walk around the classroom during writing time and stop at each desk to check-in. You can call students over to your desk and provide quick feedback on their writing. Or you can call students for a small group where you review the writing pieces and assist.

Done-for-You RACE Resource

Hopefully, by this point, you’ve figured out why I love the RACE writing strategy so much. It made a significant difference in my students’ writing abilities, and I want your students to experience that same level of mastery.

I created a done-for-you RACE resource that guides students through the process and makes it easy for you to plan, prep, and implement the RACE writing strategy.

This resource is perfect for students who are beginners to RACE or who need some extra help reviewing. Here’s a peek inside the resource –

• There are ten practice pages to help students master RACE (five fiction and five informational)
• Each passage comes with a graphic organizer and checklist to provide writing support and scaffolding to students
• Each passage comes with a writing page , so students can turn their graphic organizer into a paragraph
• There are teacher examples for each passage , so you can model for students and provide examples

I hope this blog helped you brainstorm some ideas for teaching the RACE writing strategy to students. Don’t worry if it takes some time for your students to master it. Text support and evidence are tricky skills! RACE will help.

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• RACES Writing Strategy

The RACES writing strategy is an acronym that stands for the following components:

This refers to restating or rephrasing the question or prompt in your own words to ensure that you understand it correctly.

Provide a clear and concise answer to the question or prompt. This is the main part of your response and should directly address what is being asked.

Support your answer with evidence or examples. This could involve referencing specific facts, data, quotations, or other sources of information that support your response. Citing your sources helps to strengthen your argument and provide credibility to your writing.

Elaborate on your answer and provide further clarification or reasoning. Explain how your evidence or examples support your answer and demonstrate your understanding of the topic.

Summarize your response by restating your main points and bringing your writing to a conclusion. This helps to reinforce your main argument and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Google Doc of the student graphic

The strategy provides a simple and structured framework for students to follow when responding to questions or prompts. It helps them develop their writing skills by encouraging them to restate the question, provide a clear answer, support their answer with evidence, explain their reasoning, and summarize their response.

By introducing the RACES strategy to students, teachers can help them organize their thoughts, express their ideas more effectively, and develop critical thinking skills. The strategy can be applied to various types of writing tasks, including short responses, paragraph writing, or longer compositions.

However, it's important to adapt the strategy to the age and abilities of the students. For younger elementary students, the concept of citing sources may be simplified to using examples from the text or personal experiences. Teachers can provide guidance and support as students learn to apply the different components of the RACES strategy in their writing.

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RACE Writing Strategy: Unlock Your Potential in 4 Easy Steps

by Checking Education August 7, 2023, 11:06 am

Level up your writing with a proven method. The RACE writing strategy provides the practice, structure, and focus to transform writing from a struggle into a process. This systematic approach is invaluable for all writers – students, professionals, hobbyists – seeking to master clear, compelling communication. Let the steps of RACE – Restating, Answering, Citing evidence, and Explaining guide you in structuring your thoughts logically. Unlock your full potential as a writer.

Table of Contents

Introduction: unleashing the power of the race writing strategy, constructed response, text evidence, text-based questions, quality responses, sentence starters, explain terms, providing feedback, race writing strategy in action, top takeaways for teaching race, the benefits of the race writing strategy, faqs (frequently asked questions).

Writing is a skill that requires practice, structure, and a clear understanding of the message you want to convey. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or an aspiring writer, finding an effective writing strategy can significantly enhance your ability to communicate your thoughts and ideas. The RACE writing strategy is a comprehensive approach that can help you achieve just that.

RACE Writing Strategy

The  RACE writing strategy  is a step-by-step process to help students write high-quality responses to  text-based questions . It stands for:

• Restate the question  – Convert the question into a statement
• Answer the question  – Respond directly and completely
• Cite text evidence  – Use quotes or paraphrases from the text
• Explain the evidence – Describe how the evidence supports the answer

Some teachers also include an S at the end for “ S ummarize”, making it the RACES strategy.

By following these steps, students have a clear structure to help them construct cohesive, well-supported written responses.

RACE provides critical scaffolds to walk students through complex processes like:

• Analyzing a text
• Selecting relevant evidence
• Making connections between details and central ideas

This formula works for responding to comprehension questions about any text students read. It is commonly used for short answer questions on standardized tests.

A  constructed response is a type of short written answer that requires students to demonstrate an understanding of a text they have read. Constructed responses are often used in ELA classes and on standardized tests.

Constructed responses allow students to:

• Show comprehension of complex texts
• Use evidence to support their ideas
• Explain their thinking process

However, many students struggle with constructed responses. This is where the  RACE strategy  comes in handy as a step-by-step guide for students to follow.

To successfully write constructed responses using the RACE strategy, students should:

• Carefully  restate the question  in their own words
• Provide a direct  answer to the question  that is logical and complete
• Use quotes, paraphrases, examples, details
• Use proper formatting for citations
• Explain the evidence  by connecting it back to the answer and showing how it is relevant
• Summarize the response  with a concluding statement (optional)

Teachers play a crucial role in modeling strong constructed responses using think-aloud and providing feedback to students. It is also vital to  explain terms  like “cite” and “evidence” so students understand what is expected.  Sentence starters  like “According to the text…” are helpful  scaffolds  when first learning to cite evidence.

With sufficient modeling and practice using short, familiar texts, students can gain confidence in writing constructed responses independently. The  RACE strategy  transforms what can be an overwhelming task into a simple step-by-step process. Constructed responses allow teachers to assess student comprehension while helping students build essential reading, writing, and analytical skills.

The ability to appropriately cite  text evidence  is an essential skill for students to master.  Text evidence refers to specific details and examples from a text that supports inferences, analysis, answers to questions, and overall comprehension.

There are several types of  text evidence  students can draw from:

• Direct quotes  – Word-for-word citations from the text enclosed in quotation marks
• Paraphrases  – Key details or ideas restated in the student’s own words
• Summaries  – Brief overview of main ideas or plot points
• Examples  – Specific illustrations or scenarios from the text
• Statistics and facts  – Numerical data or concrete details provided

Strong  constructed responses  rely heavily on relevant  text evidence  to back up the student’s assertions. Without supporting details from the passage, the response lacks credibility and thoroughness.

When first learning to cite  text evidence , students should be provided with  scaffolds  to assist them:

• Sentence starters  – “According to the text…” “In paragraph __, the author states…”
• Graphic organizers  – Spaces to record key quotes, facts, examples
• Think-aloud  – Teacher models finding and citing  text evidence

Teachers should also  explain  terms like “cite” and “evidence” to ensure understanding. Students may need practice:

• Locating relevant details in the text
• Formatting direct quotes with quotation marks
• Embedding quotes fluidly within a sentence

The  RACE strategy  provides built-in steps for  citing text evidence  and  explaining  its significance. This type of clear structure gives students confidence.

With time and feedback, students will internalize how to smoothly integrate  text evidence  into constructed responses. They will begin to instinctively know when a point needs backing up with direct support from the passage.

Citing strong  text evidence  elevates the quality of student writing. It demonstrates comprehension, critical thinking , and attention to detail.

Text-based questions  require students to draw information and evidence from a provided passage in order to construct a response. These types of comprehension questions assess whether students understand what they have read.

Text-based questions  may ask students to:

• Identify key details
• Analyze character motivations
• Discern main ideas
• Make inferences
• Explain themes
• Compare and contrast

There are two main types of  text-based questions :

• Explicit  – Answers are stated clearly in the text
• Implicit  – Answers are implied but not directly stated

Implicit questions can be tricky because they involve more analysis and interpretation. Students must “read between the lines” to craft an answer based on clues in the passage.

The  RACE strategy  is a helpful tool for approaching any type of  text-based question :

• Restate  the question
• Answer  the question fully
• Cite text evidence  to support
• Explain  how evidence links to answer

Constructed responses  allow students to demonstrate comprehension of texts through written  answers to text-based questions . Using the scaffolded RACE approach can build student confidence in writing quality responses.

Teachers should model how to carefully read passages and identify relevant details to cite as  text evidence .  Think-alouds  are very effective to reveal the thinking process. Students also benefit from seeing strong and weak sample responses to  text-based questions  and discussing their differences.

Regular practice with  text-based questions  develops critical skills:

• Close reading
• Making connections
• Supporting claims

Students become adept at pulling out key details and crafting cohesive written responses. Mastering  text-based questions  prepares students for success on standardized assessments. The structured  RACE strategy  promotes writing proficiency.

Writing effective responses to questions requires an understanding of what comprises a  quality response . Students who are equipped with this knowledge are able to self-monitor and improve their own work.

There are several hallmarks of  quality responses :

• Restate  the question or prompt
• Provide a direct  answer to the question
• Use a blend of direct quotes and paraphrases
• Make explicit connections
• Use transition words and varied sentence starters
• Objective tone and formal style
• Free of grammatical errors
• Follows proper conventions for citing sources

The  RACE strategy  incorporates many of these key components of strong responses. RACE provides a formula to ensure responses are logical, thorough, and supported.

To boost the level of student responses, teachers can:

• Model  writing  quality responses through think-aloud
• Share anonymized examples of high- and low-quality responses
• Provide targeted  feedback  on student drafts
• Teach lessons on text conventions and structures
• Create rubrics and checklists outlining expectations

With sufficient modeling, practice, and guidance, students will internalize the elements of  quality responses . They will be equipped to monitor their own work by asking:

• Did I completely  restate and answer  the question?
• Is my  text evidence  relevant and formatted correctly?
• Did I fully  explain  how the evidence supports my answer?

Producing consistent  quality responses  requires commitment from both teachers and students. However, it is a foundational skill that will serve students well in ELA classes, on standardized tests, and beyond.

Sentence starters , also called sentence stems, provide students with useful scaffolds to begin crafting constructed responses. These open-ended prompts offer a frame that students can fill in with their own words and ideas.

Common  sentence starters  for the RACE strategy include:

• According to the passage…
• The question asks…
• Based on the text…
• The evidence shows…
• This means that…
• The key points are…
• In paragraph __, it states…
• For example, the author writes…
• The passage mentions…
• This supports the answer because…
• This quote connects to the overall idea that…
• The character’s actions reveal…

Sentence starters  serve several purposes:

• Help reluctant writers get started
• Provide a model for constructing grammatically correct sentences
• Organize and logically connect ideas
• Keep responses focused and on-topic

Teachers should  model  using  sentence starters extensively through think-aloud before expecting students to apply them independently. Students may also benefit from receiving a  visual reference  of sample starters specific to each step of the RACE strategy.

Over time, the goal is for students to move away from relying heavily on starters and to internalize techniques for writing solid introductory sentences independently. However, many students continue to find them useful tools throughout their academic careers.

Targeted  feedback  from teachers can point out where and how students are utilizing sentence starters effectively versus missing opportunities to implement them to shape awkward sentences. With scaffolded practice,  sentence starters can significantly improve the clarity and flow of student-constructed responses. They help organize key ideas logically so that responses are cohesive and complete.

One of the most effective ways for teachers to promote student mastery of the RACE strategy is through  modeling .  Modeling  is the process of verbally explaining one’s thought process while demonstrating a skill.

Modeling  serves several purposes:

• Allows teachers to make their thinking visible to students
• Breaks down complex processes into manageable steps
• Provides examples of high-quality work
• Builds student confidence to try skills independently

There are a few approaches teachers can take to  model  the RACE strategy:

• Think-aloud  – Narrate your thoughts as you write a response in front of students
• Provide an exemplar – Show a strong sample and explain its features
• Co-construct – Elicit ideas from class to collaboratively build a response
• Annotate – Project a response and add comments explaining each part

When  modeling :

• Use simple, familiar texts students can comprehend
• Incorporate  feedback  and praise for good attempts
• Emphasize key terms like “cite” and “evidence”
• Highlight how you decide which  text evidence  to select
• Note how you check your work matches the question

Modeling  should be accompanied by opportunities for guided practice with partners or small groups, followed by independent work once students have observed sufficient examples.

Teachers can use prompts or questions from existing materials, or create their own  text-based questions  for  modeling  RACE responses tailored to their class’s needs. Over time,  modeling  can move from very explicit to a quick think-aloud demonstrating only one or two key steps.

Frequent  teacher modeling  builds student confidence and understanding of written constructed responses. Hearing the teacher’s internal dialogue makes the writing process transparent and manageable. Through observation and progressive practice, students will pick up techniques for crafting logical, well-supported responses.

The RACE strategy relies heavily on academic vocabulary like “cite,” “evidence,” “restate,” and “explain.” Students cannot be expected to automatically grasp these terms’ nuanced meanings. Teachers must take time to directly  explain  and define these crucial words.

Here are some best practices for  explaining  key terms:

• Don’t assume prior student knowledge
• Model using terms in context through think-aloud
• Relate terms to concrete examples from texts
• Create child-friendly definitions
• Make anchor charts/visual aids as references
• Use multimedia methods like short videos
• Have students restate definitions in their own words
• Reinforce terms frequently in instruction

For example, to introduce “cite”:

• Model  finding a detail in a text and saying “I want to  cite  this as evidence…”
• Define cite as “to quote or reference a source”
• Show examples of properly formatted citations
• Have students identify citations in sample responses
• Prompt students to  cite  details as they respond orally

Without explicit efforts to  explain  terms and model their use, students may misuse or avoid these words altogether. Giving students ample opportunities to paraphrase definitions and apply terms correctly is key.

Teachers should continuously monitor student writing for proper use of taught vocabulary. Targeted  feedback  can address misunderstandings or gaps. Unfamiliar terms may require reteaching in multiple lessons before their meanings stick.

Investing significant time in  explaining  the language of constructed responses pays dividends. Students feel empowered to incorporate academic vocabulary purposefully into their writing, which elevates the sophistication of their work.

Regular  feedback  is essential for students to improve their skills in writing constructed responses using the RACE strategy.  Constructive feedback  from teachers helps identify where students are excelling and where they need more support.

There are several effective methods for delivering  feedback :

• Model  sample responses and highlight strong elements
• Create rubrics/checklists aligned with standards
• Use strategic questioning to prompt self-assessment
• Mark up student work samples, focusing on patterns
• Conference 1-on-1 to discuss strengths and next steps
• Facilitate peer review sessions with clear guidelines

Feedback  should:

• Be specific and objective
• Target small manageable growth areas
• Focus on the work, not the student
• Include positive reinforcement
• Direct students to resources for improvement

For example, strong  feedback  might state:

• “You did a nice job  restating the question  in your own words. Next time, try adding more  text evidence  to support your points.”
• “Your  evidence  doesn’t seem to match your  answer  here. How could you explain the connection more clearly?”

Students should be taught to internalize  feedback  and apply it to improve subsequent work. Comments should act as helpful coaching, not criticism.

Teachers should provide  feedback  frequently in the early stages of learning RACE, tapering off as students become more proficient. Timely  feedback  paired with opportunities to practice applying suggestions accelerates student growth. It develops metacognitive skills vital for academic writing.

Scaffolds  are instructional supports that help students successfully master new skills , especially challenging ones like constructing written responses. The RACE strategy provides built-in scaffolds by breaking down the complex process. Additional  scaffolds  can make learning more accessible.

Some helpful  scaffolds  for the RACE strategy include:

• Graphic organizers  – Visual templates that organize steps/key information
• Sentence frames  – Starters like “According to the text…”
• Checklists – A list of criteria students can self-check
• Exemplars  – Models of high-quality work with annotations
• Collaborative writing  – Partners or small groups write together
• Oral rehearsal  – Practice responding out loud before writing

These supports temporarily assist students in:

• Organizing ideas logically
• Using proper vocabulary and conventions
• Making step-by-step progress
• Monitoring comprehension

Teachers should use  modeling  and  think-aloud  to demonstrate how to effectively apply provided  scaffolds . With time and  feedback , students will gain confidence and proficiency, requiring less support.

Gradually  release responsibility  to students by:

• Reducing scaffold quantity
• Encouraging self-monitoring skills
• Fading prompts over time

The ultimate goal is independent mastery. However, many students will continue benefiting from occasional  scaffolds  as needed, even once proficient.

Strategic use of research-based  scaffolds  enhances student success with constructed response writing.  Scaffolds  level the playing field while building essential skills that transfer to future learning.

Let’s walk through RACE step-by-step using an example text and constructed response question:

Passage: The Capybara is a large, friendly rodent that lives in South America. It is extremely social and can be found in groups of up to 100 individuals. Capybaras communicate through sounds like barks, grunts, and purrs. They spend much of their time in water and can swim very well. Capybaras have webbed feet and eyes, ears, and nostrils set high on their heads, which allows them to sense predators while remaining mostly submerged.

Question: How do the physical characteristics of capybaras help them thrive in their native environment? Use evidence from the text to support your response.

Restate the Question

Convert the question into a statement that establishes the topic.

The capybara’s physical traits allow it to prosper in its natural habitat, which is South America.

Answer the Question

Provide a direct response in your own words.

The webbed feet, along with eyes/ears/nostrils located high on its head, enable the capybara to swim easily and watch for predators while remaining underwater.

Cite Text Evidence

Incorporate quotes, examples, or data from the text to support the answer. Use proper formatting.

According to the passage, capybaras “have webbed feet and eyes, ears, and nostrils set high on their heads” which lets them “sense predators while remaining mostly submerged.”

Explain How Evidence Supports Answer

Elaborate on how the cited evidence connects back to and helps justify the answer.

This evidence shows capybaras’ special physical features allow them to swim and swim underwater safely. Their webbed feet act as paddles for swimming, while the high-set facial features help them stay aware of danger while underwater.

Implementing the RACE strategy effectively requires commitment and practice over time. Here are some key tips:

• Start early in the year with simple texts
• Model each step thoroughly before expecting independence
• Provide clear reference guides like anchor charts
• Break down academic vocabulary like “cite”
• Use think-aloud to reveal thought processes
• Review student drafts and offer feedback
• Gradually release responsibility as students gain skills

RACE facilitates sophisticated analysis and writing even for elementary students. With sufficient support, they will be equipped to tackle high-quality constructed responses across ELA and content areas!

The structured RACE approach takes the anxiety out of text-based writing. Try this indispensable strategy in your classroom and watch as students thrive in responding to complex texts.

Transform your writing with the RACE strategy and reap the rewards:

• Get organized . RACE provides a clear, logical structure to wrangle thoughts and ideas into a cohesive flow.
• Research like a pro . The emphasis on citing evidence boosts reading comprehension and research abilities.
• Communicate with clarity . Following the focused RACE steps results in clear, concise sentences and ideas.
• Create engaging content . Incorporate conversational tone and relatable examples to connect with readers.
• Deliver a polished product . The editing stage ensures writing is error-free and flows seamlessly from start to finish.
• RACE facilitates writing that is organized, researched, clear, captivating, and polished – a winning combination!

Well… In conclusion… The RACE strategy provides a structured framework to guide students in writing quality constructed responses.

This simple acronym transforms what can be an overwhelming writing task into manageable, logical steps:

First , restate the question or prompt in your own words to establish the topic and goals of the response.

Next , directly answer all parts of the question as thoroughly as possible.

The response should then incorporate textual evidence, including direct quotes, paraphrases, examples, and facts from the passage. Proper formatting of citations is key.

Finally , explain how the cited evidence directly connects back to and supports the answer provided earlier. An optional fifth step is to summarize the overall response in a concluding statement.

Hope this article is useful.

Happy writings…

Q: What types of writing can I use RACE for?

A: The RACE strategy is extremely versatile – it can be applied to any style of writing including essays, articles, reports, creative pieces, and more.

Q: How long does it take to get good at RACE?

A: Mastery varies, but with regular practice, you’ll gradually improve. Consistent application is key to enhancing your skills over time.

Q: Can non-native speakers use RACE effectively?

A: Definitely! RACE is a universal strategy that can help any writer boost their skills, regardless of background.

Q: Will RACE make my persuasive writing better?

A: Yes! RACE helps you organize thoughts coherently and engagingly, perfect for enhancing persuasive writing abilities.

Q: Where can I learn more about the RACE strategy?

A: There are many online articles, books, and writing guides offering more tips and insights on effectively implementing the RACE approach.

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What is the RACE Writing Strategy?

Want your students to become experts at writing structured responses? Then you definitely want to keep reading to find out how to teach them to use the RACE Writing Strategy.

The RACE writing strategy is a tool used in education to guide students through the process of crafting thoughtful, structured responses to essay questions or prompts. In a nutshell, it teaches students how to construct a complete response with evidence and their own thinking. 

Want to know what RACE stands for, how to teach the strategy and ways to practice this strategy in the classroom? Keep reading because we are diving into all of this!

Understanding the RACE Strategy

When we talk about the RACE writing strategy, we mean a simple and straightforward method that helps students craft detailed and organized responses in writing.

The RACE Strategy Acronym

The purpose of RACE is to provide your students with a clear structure for writing, especially when they are answering questions or even writing essays.

Here’s what each letter in RACE stands for:

• R:  Restate the question
• A:  Answer the question
• C:  Cite the evidence
• E:  Explain your thinking

By following these steps, we can teach students to create thorough and well-supported responses that are easy to follow.

Why should you teach this strategy to students?

When you teach this, students will become experts at writing well-structured responses to text-based questions with evidence and clear explanations   with the RACE acronym. This will help them on standardized tests and answering short and long essay questions.

Implementing the RACE Writing Strategy

When we discuss writing strategies, RACE is a systematic method we use to help students develop detailed and well-structured written responses. Let’s take a closer look at the steps and what students need to do for each:

1. Restate the Question

First, we always begin by rephrasing the question or prompt in our own words. This step is crucial because it shows we understand what’s being asked. Reiterating it also helps to lay the foundation for a well-organized answer that directly tackles the question.

For example, if students have a question such as “How does photosynthesis benefit plants?” we could teach them to rephrase it like this: “Plants benefit from photosynthesis because…”

2. Answer the Question

Next, the task is to answer the question directly. Clarity is the key here and the goal is to be as specific as possible without beating around the bush. For example, if the question asks for our opinion, we will just say it directly to make sure our answer is clear and easy to understand.

3. Citing Evidence

When we get down to the nitty-gritty of the RACE writing strategy, citing evidence is the chance to show that we’ve done our homework. It’s about backing up your points with solid proof.

Choosing Evidence

We’ve got to be picky when choosing evidence because not all information is created equal. If you are talking about something like climate change, then you have to be careful about what information you use.

Not all facts are the same, so we have to choose the best ones that really support what we’re saying. For example, try using real numbers and information from scientists or even quotes from experts. This helps to make sure that every piece of information we use helps to prove our point.

Integrating Evidence

Now, to really fit the evidence into your writing, use clear, simple sentences to add it in. Here’s a great tip: use phrases like “Purdue University says” or “The author says” to add evidence smoothly. This makes the writing sound natural and not just like a bunch of random facts. It also shows that we’re not just guessing—we’re actually using what we know!

4. Explanation of Evidence

In the RACE writing strategy, after giving evidence, the next step is to dig into explaining what the evidence shows and how it helps to support the answer.

Teach students to ask themselves these questions during the final step of the strategy:

• Did I add evidence to support the answer?
• Did I copy or paraphrase evidence from the text?
• Did I use “quotation marks” if I copied exact words?

Race Strategy Practice Worksheets

Want some ready-made, low-prep RACE writing strategy passages and practice worksheets ? These are perfect for fast  test prep , centers, independent work, homework, early finishers and so much more!

These practice pages are for 3rd-6th graders and includes several components:

• A text passage to read.
• Open-ended questions that prompt students to respond using the RACE strategy.
• Spaces for students to  Restate  the question,  Answer  directly,  Cite  evidence, and  Explain  their reasoning.

RACE Anchor Charts

It’s essential for students to have a clear and straightforward anchor chart and you get plenty of them in this bundle . These anchor chart visuals breaks down the steps and provides a reference for kids to use whenever they need it.

Final Thoughts on the RACE Response Strategy:

As we wrap up talking all about the RACE writing strategy , let’s think about how reflecting and revising are super important in this process.

• The RACE strategy gives us a solid way to write.
• It helps us include and mention evidence from the text.
• Explaining the evidence is really important for making our points strong.

When we teach the RACE strategy to students, we’re providing them with a clear method for crafting their answers. It’s essential for them to practice this approach so they can feel confident and independent when responding to questions!

Do you use the RACE Strategy in writing?

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5.3: Writing about Race, Ethnic, and Cultural Identity: A Process Approach

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To review, race, ethnic, and cultural identity theory provides us with a particular lens to use when we read and interpret works of literature. Such reading and interpreting, however, never happens after just a first reading; in fact, all critics reread works multiple times before venturing an interpretation. You can see, then, the connection between reading and writing: as Chapter 1 indicates, writers create multiple drafts before settling for a finished product. The writing process, in turn, is dependent on the multiple rereadings you have performed to gather evidence for your essay. It’s important that you integrate the reading and writing process together. As a model, use the following ten-step plan as you write using race, ethnic, and cultural identity theory:

• Carefully read the work you will analyze.
• Formulate a general question after your initial reading that identifies a problem—a tension—related to a historical or cultural issue.
• Reread the work , paying particular attention to the question you posed. Take notes, which should be focused on your central question. Write an exploratory journal entry or blog post that allows you to play with ideas.
• What does the work mean?
• How does the work demonstrate the theme you’ve identified using a new historical approach?
• “So what” is significant about the work? That is, why is it important for you to write about this work? What will readers learn from reading your interpretation? How does the theory you apply illuminate the work’s meaning?
• Reread the text to gather textual evidence for support.
• Construct an informal outline that demonstrates how you will support your interpretation.
• Write a first draft.
• Receive feedback from peers and your instructor via peer review and conferencing with your instructor (if possible).
• Revise the paper , which will include revising your original thesis statement and restructuring your paper to best support the thesis. Note: You probably will revise many times, so it is important to receive feedback at every draft stage if possible.
• Edit and proofread for correctness, clarity, and style.

We recommend that you follow this process for every paper that you write from this textbook. Of course, these steps can be modified to fit your writing process, but the plan does ensure that you will engage in a thorough reading of the text as you work through the writing process, which demands that you allow plenty of time for reading, reflecting, writing, reviewing, and revising.

Peer Reviewing

A central stage in the writing process is the feedback stage, in which you receive revision suggestions from classmates and your instructor. By receiving feedback on your paper, you will be able to make more intelligent revision decisions. Furthermore, by reading and responding to your peers’ papers, you become a more astute reader, which will help when you revise your own papers. In Chapter 10, you will find peer-review sheets for each chapter.

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Using the RACE Strategy for Text Evidence

How to Teach Constructed Response Using the RACE Strategy

Constructed response questions can be scary at first. Scary to teach and scary to write! Using the RACE Strategy will help ensure students get this skill right, every time!

I mean, when you compare writing a constructed response to answering a multiple-choice question, well, there really is  no  contest.

Constructed Response makes multiple-choice questions seem so simple to complete.

Since we know that students need to be able to write constructed responses, I was so happy when I was introduced to the RACE strategy.

It took the fright out of teaching constructed responses for text evidence.

The RACE Strategy gave me a step-by-step template to teach my students precisely what to do.

Even though writing constructed responses are still challenging, when you teach your students the RACE strategy and give them lots of opportunities for practice, your students will master it!

What is the RACE Strategy? So, just what is the RACE strategy? RACE is an acronym that helps students remember which steps and in which order to write a constructed response.

R = Restate the Question

The first step is to change the question into a statement.

This is also known as restating the question.

Students need to remove the question word like who, what, when, where, or why and then restate the keywords.

For example, if the question was, “Why did Jill decide to give her mother a jewelry box?” the answer would start this way, “Jill decided to give her mother a jewelry box because.”

A = Answer the Question After restating the question, the second step is to finish the sentence and answer the question.

Students may use their knowledge and inferences from the text to identify the answer.

Here are a few tips for this. 

1) Students must answer the specific question being asked.

2) Students also need to answer every part of the question.  Sometimes questions have more than one part. 3) T hey need to list the character’s name before using a pronoun like he/she/they.

C = Cite Text Evidence Citing evidence is the tricky part.

First, kids need to find relevant evidence to support their answer.

Then, they must write it correctly using a sentence stem

According to the text…

• The author stated…
• In the second paragraph…
• The author mentioned…
• On the third page…
• The text stated…
• Based on the text…

To teach this skill, I make an anchor chart with the question stems and put them up when we start to work on citing evidence.

Once kids memorize a few question stems, this part of the RACE strategy goes much more smoothly.

I make sure students know to quote the text  exactly as it is written  and use quotation marks correctly too.

E = Explain What it Means

The last part of the Constructed Response is where kids tell how their text evidence proves their point.

Again, some simple sentence starters help kids stay on track here.

Here are a few examples of sentence starters that help students begin to Explain: 

• This proves
• This is a good example of
• This means that

When I teach the RACE strategy, I give the kids an overview of a completed constructed response example, so they can see where we’re going.

Then, I break it down into separate parts and teach each one before putting it all together.

By the time kids reach my fourth or fifth-grade class, most students at my school have had teachers who have required them to answer a question using a restatement.

Students aren’t doing constructed responses yet, but most are fairly comfortable with restating a question.

Because of this, I might spend a few days teaching or reviewing the restating and answering part.

I teach the  Restating  and  Answering  together since they usually form one sentence.

Then, I move to  Citing  text evidence, which takes much longer to teach.

The  Explaining  part goes pretty quickly after that.

Once I’ve taught all of the components, it’s time for students to practice putting it all together.

To do this, we read a short text as a class.

It might be a Scholastic News article, a page from  Chicken Soup for the Soul,  or a passage I’ve created.

Finally, I model (with their input) a Constructed Response using a RACE template from The Teacher Next Door’s Text Evidence Differentiated Unit

I project it on the smartboard so everyone can see it.

The next day, we repeat this with a different passage in pairs.

When students are finished, we go over it together to compare notes when they’re finished. After that, it is time to work on it independently.

A few notes…

• Make sure to start teaching the RACE strategy early in the year, so there’s plenty of time to practice.  If you teach this strategy right before standardized testing, it will not be very effective.
• Start with short passages. One page is ideal. Giving students practice with shorter texts will help them gain confidence for the longer texts in the future.  Baby steps, right?
• You’ll want students to write constructed responses repeatedly, but NOT for every passage they read.
• Constructed responses are somewhat of a chore, even with an excellent strategy like RACE.
• I try not to burn kids out on any one thing so that they dread it. It would be like asking them to write a five-paragraph essay each day. No one wants to do that. So, my advice is to give them a good foundation for how to write them and then sprinkle them in now and then throughout the year. Spiral practice is key!

You can apply the RACE Strategy to any set of materials that you have on hand. However, The Teacher Next Door knows how time consuming it can be to search for standards-aligned and grade level appropriate materials.

To save you time, The Teacher Next Door has created a Text Evidence Differentiated Unit with everything you need for students to master this skill!

The Text Evidence Differentiated Unit contains:

• 10 color coding passages
• 8 practice passages
• 3 sets of text evidence games (with 32 task cards in each set)
• Posters for the entire RACE Strategy

The entire unit is differentiated for you! Each passage comes in  three  different levels, and the three games are differentiated too!

Click here to check this unit out! 

Want to give this Text Evidence Differentiated Passage a spin for FREE? 

If you’d like to read more about how to teach text evidence, we have another post you may want to read :

Citing Text Evidence in 6 Steps.

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Race and Ethnicity

Race is a concept of human classification scheme based on visible features including eye color, skin color, the texture of the hair and other facial and bodily characteristics. Through these features, humans are ten categorized into distinct groups of population and this is enhanced by the fact that the characteristics are fully inherited.

Across the globe, debate on the topic of race has dominated for centuries. This is especially due to the resultant discrimination meted on the basis of these differences. Consequently, a lot of controversy surrounds the issue of race socially, politically but also in the scientific world.

According to many sociologists, race is more of a modern idea rather than a historical. This is based on overwhelming evidence that in ancient days physical differences mattered least. Most divisions were as a result of status, religion, language and even class.

Most controversy originates from the need to understand whether the beliefs associated with racial differences have any genetic or biological basis. Classification of races is mainly done in reference to the geographical origin of the people. The African are indigenous to the African continent: Caucasian are natives of Europe, the greater Asian represents the Mongols, Micronesians and Polynesians: Amerindian are from the American continent while the Australoid are from Australia. However, the common definition of race regroups these categories in accordance to skin color as black, white and brown. The groups described above can then fall into either of these skin color groupings (Origin of the Races, 2010, par6).

It is possible to believe that since the concept of race was a social description of genetic and biological differences then the biologists would agree with these assertions. However, this is not true due to several facts which biologists considered. First, race when defined in line with who resides in what continent is highly discontinuous as it was clear that there were different races sharing a continent. Secondly, there is continuity in genetic variations even in the socially defined race groupings.

This implies that even in people within the same race, there were distinct racial differences hence begging the question whether the socially defined race was actually a biologically unifying factor. Biologists estimate that 85% of total biological variations exist within a unitary local population. This means that the differences among a racial group such as Caucasians are much more compared to those obtained from the difference between the Caucasians and Africans (Sternberg, Elena & Kidd, 2005, p49).

In addition, biologists found out that the various races were not distinct but rather shared a single lineage as well as a single evolutionary path. Therefore there is no proven genetic value derived from the concept of race. Other scientists have declared that there is absolutely no scientific foundation linking race, intelligence and genetics.

Still, a trait such as skin color is completely independent of other traits such as eye shape, blood type, hair texture and other such differences. This means that it cannot be correct to group people using a group of features (Race the power of an illusion, 2010, par3).

What is clear to all is that all human beings in the modern day belong to the same biological sub-species referred to biologically as Homo sapiens sapiens. It has been proven that humans of different races are at least four times more biologically similar in comparison to the different types of chimpanzees which would ordinarily be seen as being looking alike.

It is clear that the original definition of race in terms of the external features of the facial formation and skin color did not capture the scientific fact which show that the genetic differences which result to these changes account to an insignificant proportion of the gene controlling the human genome.

Despite the fact that it is clear that race is not biological, it remains very real. It is still considered an important factor which gives people different levels of access to opportunities. The most visible aspect is the enormous advantages available to white people. This cuts across many sectors of human life and affects all humanity regardless of knowledge of existence.

This being the case, I find it difficult to understand the source of great social tensions across the globe based on race and ethnicity. There is enormous evidence of people being discriminated against on the basis of race. In fact countries such as the US have legislation guarding against discrimination on basis of race in different areas.

The findings define a stack reality which must be respected by all human beings. The idea of view persons of a different race as being inferior or superior is totally unfounded and goes against scientific findings.

Consequently these facts offer a source of unity for the entire humanity. Humanity should understand the need to scrap the racial boundaries not only for the sake of peace but also for fairness. Just because someone is white does not imply that he/she is closer to you than the black one. This is because it could even be true that you have more in common with the black one than the white one.

Reference List

Origin of the Races, 2010. Race Facts. Web.

Race the power of an illusion, 2010. What is race? . Web.

Sternberg, J., Elena L. & Kidd, K. 2005. Intelligence, Race, and Genetics. The American Psychological Association Vol. 60(1), 46–59 . Web.

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IvyPanda. (2018, May 18). Race and Ethnicity. https://ivypanda.com/essays/race-and-ethnicity/

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How to Talk About Race on College Applications, According to Admissions Experts

R afael Figueroa, dean of college guidance at Albuquerque Academy, was in the middle of tutoring Native American and Native Hawaiian students on how to write college application essays when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the race-conscious college admissions processes at Harvard and the University of North Carolina are unconstitutional .

Earlier in the week, he told the students that they shouldn’t feel like they need to talk about their ethnicity in their essays. But after the June 29 Supreme Court ruling , he backtracked. “If I told you that you didn’t have to write about your native or cultural identity, you need to get ready to do another supplemental essay” on it or prepare a story that can fit into short answer questions, he says he told them.

For high school seniors of color applying to colleges in the coming years, the essay and short answer sections will take on newfound importance. Chief Justice John Roberts suggested as much when he wrote in his majority opinion, “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise.” That “discussion” is usually in an essay, and many colleges have additional short-answer questions that allow students to expand more on their background and where they grew up.

“The essay is going to take up a lot more space than maybe it has in the past because people are going to be really trying to understand who this person is that is going to come into our community,” says Timothy Fields, senior associate dean of undergraduate admission at Emory University.

Now, college admissions officers are trying to figure out how to advise high schoolers on their application materials to give them the best chance to showcase their background under the new rules, which will no longer allow colleges or universities to use race as an explicit factor in admissions decisions .

Shereem Herndon-Brown, who co-wrote The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions with Fields, says students of color can convey their racial and ethnic backgrounds by writing about their families and their upbringing. “I’ve worked with students for years who have written amazing essays about how they spend Yom Kippur with their family, which clearly signals to a college that they are Jewish—how they listened to the conversations from their grandfather about escaping parts of Europe… Their international or immigrant story comes through whether it’s from the Holocaust or Croatia or the Ukraine. These are stories that kind of smack colleges in the face about culture.”

“Right now, we’re asking Black and brown kids to smack colleges in the face about being Black and brown,” he continues. “And, admittedly, I am mixed about the necessity to do it. But I think the only way to do it is through writing.”

Read More: The ‘Infamous 96’ Know Firsthand What Happens When Affirmative Action Is Banned

Students of color who are involved in extracurriculars that are related to diversity efforts should talk about those prominently in their college essays, other experts say. Maude Bond, director of college counseling at Cate School in Santa Barbara County, California, cites one recent applicant she counseled who wrote her college essay about an internship with an anti-racism group and how it helped her highlight the experiences of Asian American Pacific Islanders in the area.

Bond also says there are plenty of ways for people of color to emphasize their resilience and describe the character traits they learned from overcoming adversity: “Living in a society where you’re navigating racism every day makes you very compassionate.” she says. “It gives you a different sense of empathy and understanding. Not having the same resources as people that you grow up with makes you more creative and innovative.” These, she argues, are characteristics students should highlight in their personal essays.

Adam Nguyen, a former Columbia University admissions officer who now counsels college applicants via his firm Ivy Link, will also encourage students of color to ask their teachers and college guidance counselors to hint at their race or ethnicity in their recommendation letters. “That’s where they could talk about your racial background,” Nguyen says. “Just because you can’t see what’s written doesn’t mean you can’t influence how or what is said about you.”

Yet as the essay portions of college applications gain more importance, the process of reading applications will take a lot longer, raising the question of whether college admissions offices have enough staffers to get through the applications. “There are not enough admission officers in the industry to read that way,” says Michael Pina, director of admission at the University of Richmond.

That could make it even more difficult for students to get the individual attention required to gain acceptance to the most elite colleges. Multiple college admissions experts say college-bound students will need to apply to a broader range of schools. “You should still apply to those 1% of colleges…but you should think about the places that are producing high-quality graduates that are less selective,” says Pina.

One thing more Black students should consider, Fields argues, is applying to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). (In fact, Fields, a graduate of Morehouse College, claims that may now be “necessary” for some students.) “There’s something to be said, for a Black person to be in a majority environment someplace that they are celebrated, not tolerated,” Fields says. “There’s something to be said about being in an environment where you don’t have to justify why you’re here.”

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How to teach the race writing strategy.

Teachers and students rely on the RACE or RACES writing strategies to construct high-quality answers using text evidence.

WHAT IS THE RACE – RACES WRITING RESPONSE STRATEGY?

Students and teachers rely on the RACE – RACES written response strategy for a good reason. It’s a simple method for teaching students how to answer text-based questions.

RACE – RACES helps students remember the key components of a quality response as they answer questions about a passage, story, or text.

Many students aren’t sure how to begin when faced with writing out answers about what they’ve read. This easy-to-use method gives students confidence. Moreover, it’s a concrete strategy they can use in all subject areas.

WHY SHOULD TEACHERS USE RACE/RACES?

Students struggle to write complete answers to text-based questions on tests, quizzes, assignments, and high-stakes tests. RACE/RACES is a step-by-step formula that can be used across all subject areas, leading to increased confidence.

All students benefit from explicit writing instruction. However, reluctant writers require direct instruction on what to write and how to write it. In addition, they should practice regularly to improve their skills.

The RACE/RACES strategy helps students organize their thinking and writing. Students add details, such as citing text evidence and extending their answers, as they follow the steps of the acronym. As a result, students learn essential skills as they practice writing clear and complete responses.

What do the letters in RACE – RACES mean?

First, you need to choose either RACE or RACES for your instruction. RACE/RACES are acronyms that stand for the following writing strategies:

R  – Restate the question

A  – Answer the question

C  – Cite the text evidence

E  – Explain and extend the evidence

S  – Summarize your answer

*Some teachers prefer ACE or ACES. Choose the method that best suits your students and your curriculum. 

The R in RACE/RACES means “Restate the question.”

Restating the question becomes the topic sentence for the student’s answer. Each letter of RACE/RACES doesn’t have to be a complete sentence on its own. The R is often combined with the A in the same sentence. Remember – writing is individualized, and there’s more than one way of doing it.

The A stands for “Answer the question.”

Students provide the answer to the question in their own words. Unfortunately, many students resist taking the time to refer back to the text. I stress to my students that they need to look back in the reading to find the answer, even if they think they already know it.

Additionally, students need to make sure they answer all parts of the question . Unfortunately, students often answer only part of the question, causing them to lose points.

The C stands for “Cite the text evidence.”

First, students must understand what “cite” means. I often link “cite” to the word “sight” and connect it to looking back at the reading and seeing the answer with their eyes. Building that connection may help some students remember the meaning, especially if “cite” is a new word for them.

I also tell my students this step is where they need to use words and ideas straight from the text. In a follow-up lesson, older students should quote the text using quotation marks, which teachers should directly teach. Younger students can tell what the text says without directly quoting the text.

All students benefit from practicing with sentence starters (also called sentence stems). Sentence starters are the beginnings of sentences that allow students to fill in the blanks with the text evidence. Students (especially struggling students) find them very helpful for this step of the writing process.

Some examples are:

“The text states ___”

“The author explains ___”

There are many good sentence starter choices for students. They should use the ones they’re most comfortable with, and that come most naturally. (If you’re looking for a set you can display in your classroom, see the section at the end for links to matching sentence starter sets!)

The E stands for “Explain and extend the evidence.”

Lots of e’s! This step directs students to expand on their answers. They should explain the answer and text evidence using their own words. They should also provide examples to clarify their explanations.

The S (if you choose to use it) stands for “Summarize your answer.”

Like a summary/closing sentence in paragraph writing, this works as a restatement of the topic sentence. It concludes the response.

How do I teach the RACE/RACES method?

As with any instruction, there are many right ways of teaching a topic. You know your students best, so you can choose and adjust your teaching to their needs. Below are some general guidelines to keep in mind.

1. Choose the right text for the RACE/RACES strategy

Of course, choosing the right text depends entirely on your students. Students can apply the RACE/RACES strategy to any text, so you have many options. But I can offer you the following tips for successful instruction.

Begin with a simple reading comprehension paragraph.  It must be simple enough for students to understand yet meaty enough to contain details. We want to keep the focus on answering the question rather than understanding the text. For this purpose, I’ve found it best to begin with a basic passage on an exciting topic .

Eventually, as students practice and improve their skills, you can challenge them with more complex text.

2. Differentiate for students and their needs

Differentiating is pretty easy and straightforward when using RACE/RACES. 

During the introduction phase or for struggling students and special education students, choose passages that are familiar in some way to your students. For example, you might select a previously studied topic or a text that students have already read.

3. Use different types of reading materials

We know the importance of exposing our students to a wide variety of reading materials. RACE/RACES can be used for all types of reading. So, as students become accustomed to the RACE/RACES strategy, y ou can choose any genre or style of reading material and feel confident it will work well.

You may also differentiate by choosing several passages of varying levels for different ability levels in your classroom.

When it’s time to add variety and challenge to the texts, here are some suggestions:

• Vary the text length
• Vary the genre – fiction, nonfiction, persuasion, expository, etc.
• Vary the complexity
• Vary the question types
• Use paired passages

4. Teach important words and terms

• Explain the important terms and methods as you “think aloud.”
• Use the terms frequently each day as you teach. Students learn new words and vocabulary best when they hear it often in a natural way. 

5. Use color-coding to highlight

As you’re working through the steps of RACE – RACES, highlight and underline text as you color-code each step using different colors. Then, continue the modeling and think-aloud for as long as students need.

6. Offer visuals for easy reference

Hang visual references in your classroom and encourage students to refer to them. Posters make great visual representations hanging in the classroom. Anchor charts can be developed as a class or in small groups.

Students can use the RACE/RACES bookmarks as references taped to notebooks or desks. Students may benefit from receiving multiple copies of the bookmark references to be kept in notebooks at school and at home.

7. Think about pacing and reviewing

You can teach one step per day, two steps, or more. The pace depends on the age and ability level of your students.

The RACE/RACES strategy must be modeled and practiced many times.  The practice should occur as a group, together at first, and then students can be gradually released to independence.

A Quick RACE – RACES Recap:

• Explain important terms and steps as you “think aloud.”
• Model the steps as the class watches.
• Begin encouraging students to contribute their own ideas. Students can read passages and develop answers to text-based questions as a large group, small group, and with partners.
• Transition students to independence after ensuring they understand what’s expected of them.
• Use important terms daily as you teach. Students will gain a deeper understanding as they hear important words used naturally and frequently. 

Over time, keep students’ writing skills sharp by continuing to spiral back to practice the RACE – RACES writing technique.

The continued practice may not make students’ writing perfect, but it can help make their skills permanent and keep it fresh in their minds.

Looking for SENTENCE STARTERS?

If you need some Sentence Starters ready to be printed and hung in your classroom, check out the Sentence Starters sets at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. There are two different styles for you to look over.

These sentence starters are also known as writing stems , sentence stems , and constructed response starters .

Want to learn more about citing text evidence?

Your students can successfully cite text evidence when responding to reading comprehension questions.

Step-by-step on how to teach your students to cite text evidence in their reading.

How to Teach Compare and Contrast Essays .

Help students write high-quality responses and prepare for tests with Sentence Starters.

If you use a PLOT DIAGRAM, this article shows you How to Use the Plot Diagram for Teaching. 

Hi, I’m Jules

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Style guides

Inclusive writing: ethnicity and race, definitions, general guidance, specific terminology, broad terminology, further resources.

A social construct used to categorise groups of people, usually based on perceived physical characteristics or shared ancestry.

Racialised categorisations may have characteristics associated with them that have no biological basis, and they have fuelled discrimination, violence and global power imbalances for centuries.

However, the University recognises that racial identity is important to some people and can provide a way for marginalised groups to collectively share support, build community, or protest and tackle prejudice.

A term used to describe a social group with a shared cultural identity, which may include language, traditions, geographic origin, religion, cultural expression or customs.

An ethnic group can often be chosen by an individual, as opposed to a race, which is often ascribed to a person or group without their input.

• Only refer to people’s ethnicity if it is relevant to the context in which you are writing.
• Always avoid and seek to challenge offensive terminology, racial slurs, and any language that uses racial or ethnic stereotypes.
• Avoid using broad terms like ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ or ‘BAME’. Be as specific as possible when referring to a person or group’s background or heritage. (See Broad terminology for more information.)
• If you are writing about or to a particular person, use the language with which they identify themselves. If you’re unsure, ask them what they would prefer.
• Remember that some people identify with more than one ethnic group or a mixed ethnic group.
• It is important to be clear and specific when you are writing about or to international audiences on subjects of ethnicity or race, as the terminology used in other countries will not be the same as in the UK.
• Do not use racial or ethnic terms as nouns, such as ‘Blacks’ or ‘Asians’. Use adjectives instead: ‘Black people’, ‘people from Asian backgrounds’ or ‘people who identify as Black’.
• Consider whether it is more appropriate to use language like ‘students from Black backgrounds’ rather than ‘Black students’, as some people prefer to put the person first and their ethnic group afterwards.
• You can use ‘background’ or ‘heritage’ to refer to an ethnic group that someone identifies with.
• Some people may use the term ‘racialised’ to describe a group or person that has been unwillingly categorised by others as belonging to a certain ‘race’.
• Capitalise names of all ethnic groups – for example, ‘Black’, ‘South Asian’, ‘White’, ‘Irish Traveller’, ‘Chinese’.
• Use ‘White’ rather than ‘Caucasian’.
• Do not hyphenate compound adjectives or nouns such as ‘African Caribbean’, ‘African American’, ‘Black British’.
• Use ‘African Caribbean’ rather than ‘Afro Caribbean’.
• Use ‘people of mixed heritage’ or ‘people of mixed background’ rather than ‘mixed race people’.
• If you need a list of ethnicities for data collection or reporting (for example, providing choices in a form), you can use this list from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) . There is also a list of ethnic groups on the gov.uk website .

The University recognises the diverse experiences of multiple ethnicities, and we want to reflect this in our writing.

• There is not a universally supported term for referring to minority ethnic groups.
• In the past, the University has used ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ (or ‘BAME’) as a broad umbrella term – for example, for data collection, reporting, or bringing different groups together for purposes like anti-racism.
• This terminology encourages a binary approach, which only recognises those who identify as White as a distinct ethnic group.
• The term is not widely understood, and can include different groups in different contexts.
• We should use language that acknowledges a greater range of experiences and backgrounds and more accurately represents our University community.
• Instead of using ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ or ‘BAME’, use precise terminology to describe the specific ethnicity of a person or group.
• Do not simply replace ‘BAME’ with ‘minority ethnic’. First, always consider whether you can use more specific language.
• Remember that this term uses ‘minority’ in a UK context, whereas UK minority ethnic groups are often a global majority.
• The terminology ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ / ‘BAME’ may still appear in legacy webpages, publications or other materials. We will continue to update these areas, with the aim of the terminology ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ / ‘BAME’ becoming redundant over time.

Terminology relating to ethnicity and race is rapidly evolving. We will continue to consult with our staff and students as we work to refine our approach to writing about ethnicity and race. We will update this guidance in future to reflect the outcome of these discussions.

• The University of Bristol is determined to tackling racial discrimination in all its forms. For information about the University’s approach to anti-racism, see our Anti-racism at Bristol webpages . 
• To find further information about behaviour that is not tolerated at the University, and report unacceptable behaviour, visit our pages for students or staff .
• The inclusive writing guidance on nationality may also be useful.

Other sections

• Accessibility and readability
• Nationality
• Religion, faith and belief
• Sex and gender
• Sexual orientation
• Socioeconomic status

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A FORMULA FOR SUCCESSFUL WRITING INSTRUCTION SERIES: #3 The RACE Paragraph

The next stop on my formula for successful writing instruction is the easy-peasy RACE formula.  (You can see Part 1 here and Part 2 here .) Stay with me now… you’ve probably seen the RACE strategy done before.  You may even have something similar to it.  Whatever works for you and your students is awesome.  I, however, go about it a tad differently because when I am teaching basic paragraph writing, I do like to give something for students to use from start to finish.  Plus, this method reminds them of the key ingredients AND can easily be branched into a full essay because it functions like a “mini” essay in and of itself.  I like to start small so students can sink their teeth into something before they tackle a larger assignment. I even review and use the RACE strategy near the beginning of the semester with my junior honors English students. There’s nothing wrong with review, and I feel more comfortable knowing they have a solid foundation for structure.  Here’s what my RACE writing strategy looks like:

Step 1: Teach the process. I almost never assume students know what I want and require. It just works out so much better when I tell AND show them my expectations. The same is true with writing – especially with writing.  To teach the RACE formula, I go full out with a PPT slide show and cute sketch notes . It helps define the terms and gives students something to use as reference when they are on their own.

Step 2: Look at samples and annotate and discuss. This step goes back to making sure students understand expectations. Giving them an exemplar helps them know where they are going. I also show them errant and emerging paragraphs, too, so they can see the entire spectrum. Take a look at my video tutorial for my Red-Light Green-Light strategy   for analyzing model student papers.

Step 3: Practice together and annotate and discuss.  Choose a prompt from a text you’ve been reading in class, or if you are using my teaching pack , use the provided stimulus and prompt.  Sometimes I’ll have students attempt the first sentence alone. Other times I’ll start it by modeling my thinking aloud. I’m always modeling aloud, come to think of it. (Or maybe that’s just talking to myself LOL)!  Sometimes, I write the parts of the formula on slips of paper and randomly give them out to students, so they have to chime in when it’s their turn.  It just depends on where my students are and where I need to meet them. Then we just spiral and go with the flow from there.  It really does take a lot of patience and time to write a paragraph together in class. It also takes a lot of willingness to step back on my part and let students work through it. Many times I am putting them on the spot, so they have to feel comfortable speaking out and making mistakes.  I give them time and space to think.  Then as we are working back through what we’ve written, I model revision, and we come to conclusions together about what worked and what didn’t.  I take it one step further right then, too, and we brainstorm how to fix those mistakes and just improve what we’ve done.

Step 4: Write individually. With a fresh prompt and stimuli, it is important for students to take everything they’ve learned now and compose their own paragraph. Again, I give them time and space to think and write.   It is important to note here that this method is designed to work for constructed responses with a text.  Students see that modeled all the way through the lesson, so be sure to choose material for them that aligns with that process.

Step 5: Review and reflect and revise.  Lastly, I always give my students feedback on what they’ve written. My RACE teaching pack comes with a rubric, but you could even just do a check list.  Sometimes I do that, too.  Again, it just depends on what my students need.  Occasionally, we will take one of our previous RACE paragraphs and revise it.  That is a critical part of the learning process as well.

If you are looking for an entire writing curriculum , take a look at my full writing curriculum that is flexible and complete enough for any ELA classroom!

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Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century

Doing Race focuses on race and ethnicity in everyday life: what they are, how they work, and why they matter. Going to school and work, renting an apartment or buying a house, watching television, voting, listening to music, reading books and newspapers, attending religious services, and going to the doctor are all everyday activities that are influenced by assumptions about who counts, whom to trust, whom to care about, whom to include, and why. Race and ethnicity are powerful precisely because they organize modern society and play a large role in fueling violence around the globe. Doing Race is targeted to undergraduates; it begins with an introductory essay and includes original essays by well-known scholars. Drawing on the latest science and scholarship, the collected essays emphasize that race and ethnicity are not things that people or groups have or are, but rather sets of actions that people do. Doing Race provides compelling evidence that we are not yet in a “post-race” world and that race and ethnicity matter for everyone. Since race and ethnicity are the products of human actions, we can do them differently. Like studying the human genome or the laws of economics, understanding race and ethnicity is a necessary part of a twenty first century education.

About the Author

PAULA M. L. MOYA, is the Danily C. and Laura Louise Bell Professor of the Humanities and Professor of English at Stanford University. She is the Burton J. and Deedee McMurtry University Fellow in Undergraduate Education and a 2019-20 Fellow at the Center for the Study of Behavioral Sciences.

Moya’s teaching and research focus on twentieth-century and early twenty-first century literary studies, feminist theory, critical theory, narrative theory, American cultural studies, interdisciplinary approaches to race and ethnicity, and Chicanx and U.S. Latinx studies.

She is the author of  The Social Imperative: Race, Close Reading, and Contemporary Literary Criticism  (Stanford UP 2016) and  Learning From Experience: Minority Identities, Multicultural Struggles  (UC Press 2002) and has co-edited three collections of original essays,  Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century  (W.W. Norton, Inc. 2010),  Identity Politics Reconsidered  (Palgrave 2006) and  Reclaiming Identity: Realist Theory and the Predicament of Postmodernism  (UC Press 2000). 

Previously Moya served as the Director of the Program of Modern Thought and Literature, Vice Chair of the Department of English, Director of the Research Institute of Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and also the Director of the Undergraduate Program of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. 

She is a recipient of the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, a Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellowship, the Outstanding Chicana/o Faculty Member award. She has been a Brown Faculty Fellow, a Clayman Institute Fellow, a CCSRE Faculty Research Fellow, and a Clayman Beyond Bias Fellow. 

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Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century

Doing Race focuses on race and ethnicity in everyday life: what they are, how they work, and why they matter. Going to school and work, renting an apartment or buying a house, watching television, voting, listening to music, reading books and newspapers, attending religious services, and going to the doctor are all everyday activities that are influenced by assumptions about who counts, whom to trust, whom to care about, whom to include, and why. Race and ethnicity are powerful precisely because they organize modern society and play a large role in fueling violence around the globe. Doing Race is targeted to undergraduates; it begins with an introductory essay and includes original essays by well-known scholars. Drawing on the latest science and scholarship, the collected essays emphasize that race and ethnicity are not things that people or groups have or are , but rather sets of actions that people do . Doing Race provides compelling evidence that we are not yet in a “post-race” world and that race and ethnicity matter for everyone. Since race and ethnicity are the products of human actions, we can do them differently. Like studying the human genome or the laws of economics, understanding race and ethnicity is a necessary part of a twenty first century education.

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Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century

A collection of new essays by an interdisciplinary team of authors that gives a comprehensive introduction to race and ethnicity. Doing Race focuses on race and ethnicity in everyday life: what they are, how they work, and why they matter. Going to school and work, renting an apartment or buying a house, watching television, voting, listening to music, reading books and newspapers, attending religious services, and going to the doctor are all everyday activities that are influenced by assumptions about who counts, whom to trust, whom to care about, whom to include, and why. Race and ethnicity are powerful precisely because they organize modern society and play a large role in fueling violence around the globe. Doing Race is targeted to undergraduates; it begins with an introductory essay and includes original essays by well-known scholars. Drawing on the latest science and scholarship, the collected essays emphasize that race and ethnicity are not things that people or groups have or are , but rather sets of actions that people do . Doing Race provides compelling evidence that we are not yet in a “post-race” world and that race and ethnicity matter for everyone. Since race and ethnicity are the products of human actions, we can do them differently. Like studying the human genome or the laws of economics, understanding race and ethnicity is a necessary part of a twenty first century education.