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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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Teaching the RACE Strategy for Responding to Literature

If you’re a teacher who is new to teaching the RACE strategy for responding to literature or looking for a refresher on how to teach this important skill, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, I’ll share an overview of the RACE writing strategy, including what it is and tips for getting your students started.

So whether you’re just starting out or are looking for new ideas, read on to learn more about teaching the RACE strategy!

What is the RACE strategy?

The RACE strategy is a method for teaching students to write well-developed constructed responses. RACE stands for Restate, Answer, Cite Evidence, Explain.

As you may have guessed, RACE is not just for literature responses! However, it does make a great tool to help learners construct their answers in a clear, logical format.

The strategy makes remembering everything a teacher wants when answering reading response questions easy. Many teachers even use an anchor chart or checklist that helps students remember the key steps.

Let’s look at each step of the RACE framework in more detail!

Restate the question.

The first thing your students will need to do when responding to a question is restate it so that the reader knows what they are answering.

The easiest way is teaching students to restate the question in a complete sentence. Model using examples like this one from The Giver, “The author of The Giver makes it clear that…” or “For readers to understand the main character Jonas fully, they must look at his relationship with his family members, especially his younger sister.”

Teach students to be specific in their sentence starters. In the example above, they wouldn’t want to say something as simple as “his relationship with his sister”. It won’t make sense on its own!

For struggling learners, you may want to provide sentence stems. These help model how to take part of the question and turn it into the main idea or topic sentence.

Answer the question.

For any written response to literature, the most important step of the RACE writing strategy is to answer the question .

It’s important to teach students to give a clear answer that matches the question. This will be the statement that students plan to support with text evidence.

A good example would be if the question asks, “How does Jonas’ relationship with his sister change throughout the novel?”, a well-written answer might be “Jonas’ relationship with his sister changes from one of competition to one of care and protection.”

Cite evidence.

The next step is to cite evidence. This means selecting specific pieces of text that support the answer.

This is where having a close read of the text pays off! Students should underline, highlight, or otherwise mark relevant passages as they read.

When writing the response, they can easily find the needed evidence.

Remember to teach students to cite at least two pieces of evidence; more is better. This can include using direct quotes from the text. Just make sure that students understand how to format and cite these properly. This includes how to use quotation marks.

Explain the evidence.

After students have selected their evidence, it’s time to explain why that evidence matters.

Students need to connect the relevant evidence back to the answer. It is also where they show how it supports their claim. For example, students might write, “The quote on page 47 shows how Jonas’ sister becomes an important part of his life, which supports the idea that their relationship changed from competition to care.”

This is also a good time to remind students to explain the context surrounding the evidence in their own words. What was happening in the story at that moment? What do we know about the characters involved? Answering these types of questions will help students write stronger explanations.

The Benefits of using the RACE strategy for responses to literature

RACE is a helpful reimagining of the traditional paragraph structure teachers have instructed for decades: restate, answer the question, cite evidence from the text, and explain how the evidence proves your point.

The RACE strategy includes all of those elements but asks students to order them in a way that reads naturally as a paragraph rather than as four disconnected sentences.

Here are several benefits of using this strategy to help students structure better responses to literature:

The RACE strategy provides an excellent teaching opportunity for introducing students to writing with text evidence.

By practicing using their own ideas and citing specific examples from literature or other informational texts to support them, students will gain confidence in their ability to use text-based evidence in their writing—an essential skill for any student and one that will be especially helpful as students progress through school and as begin thinking about SATs, AP Exams, and college admissions essays!

The RACE strategy allows teachers to assess students’ understanding of a text and where misconceptions may have occurred.

When asked to support their answers with evidence from the text, it becomes immediately apparent whether or not learners have grasped the big ideas.

This is valuable information for teachers, who can use that data to inform further instruction.

The strategy gives an explicit structure to literature responses to help reduce overwhelm for struggling learners.

Many students become overwhelmed when looking at a blank page and figuring out how to start writing their thoughts about what they’ve read.

The RACE strategy offers a step-by-step guide that removes some of that anxiety by breaking the task into manageable chunks.

This can be especially helpful for struggling writers or those with learning disabilities, who may benefit from having a clear template to follow.

RACE can be used with any literature or informational text. The great thing about the RACE strategy is that it can be applied to just about any literature or informational text, making it an extremely versatile tool for teachers.

How to Teach Students to Write Constructed Responses with the RACE acronym

Teachers can introduce the RACE strategy to their students in a few different ways. I recommend modeling using a shared text regardless of how you do this. You’ll want to have a pre-developed question that you can respond to, along with the RACE acronym as a guide. You might even consider doing this model using the same question format that students will be responding to for their own reading as independent practice.

As you write, be sure to point out how each element of the response corresponds to one of the steps in the RACE strategy. You can also provide students with a printable handout or graphic organizer that outlines the steps of RACE so that they can refer to it as they write.

Once students are familiar with the basics of the RACE strategy, you can have them practice applying it to various literary texts and even to responses to questions in other subject areas.

Start by giving them a prompt or question to answer, then give them time to write their responses.

Afterward, you can review each student’s response and offer feedback on how well they applied the RACE strategy.

Here are a few more tips for introducing this strategy to your learners:

• Shorter is better. In the early stages, you’ll want to use shorter texts to introduce and practice using the strategy so you don’t overwhelm learners. Short stories, picture books, or even short passages offer opportunities to respond to literature that doesn’t cause struggling readers or writers to shut down.
• Start early. Introduce this strategy early on in the school year using shared texts. This will allow you to assess students’ understanding and provide targeted instruction and support as needed.
• Teach each step individually. Initially, it’s often helpful to focus on one step of the RACE strategy at a time. For example, you might want to teach students how to restate a question before moving on to how to answer it. This allows students to master each skill before moving on to the next one.
• Use sentence starters. Sentence starters can be a helpful way to scaffold student responses, especially in the early stages of learning how to use the RACE strategy. You can provide sentence starters for each step of the process, or even create a fill-in-the-blank template for students to write their responses.
• Don’t overdo it. The RACE strategy is just one tool that you can use to help students respond to literature. Use it when it makes sense, but don’t feel like you have to use it for every single literature response.
• Teach students a system to check if their answer is complete. There are many ways to do this, but my favorite is having students color-code their responses. They can highlight or underline with one color for the restatement sentence, a different color for citing evidence, and the third color for their explanation.

When students use the RACE strategy, they can write a thorough response to literature questions.

While there are many ways to respond to literature, the RACE strategy is an excellent framework for any text.

Teachers who implement this strategy in their classrooms will likely find that their students are better able to answer questions about what they’ve read and that they can support their answers with strong evidence from the text.

Ideal for teaching before introducing book clubs or novel studies , this response strategy is a valuable tool for any teacher looking to help their students write constructed responses, including paragraph responses to literature.

• K-12 Outreach
• 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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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. 

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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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• Read more about: Paragraph Writing , RACE Writing Strategy , Writing

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RACES Writing Strategy Activities for the Elementary Classroom

• ELA , ELA/Writing , For Teachers , Literacy

The world of writing—from building basic sentences to drafting an essay—often feels like a labyrinth to our young learners, and this challenge seems to spike when it comes to supporting claims with evidence from a text. However, here’s some good news—the RACES writing strategy is here, like a guiding North Star, ready to navigate students through this tricky terrain. 

Why you should use RACES Writing Strategy Activities

The RACES Acronym in writing stands for R estate the question, A nswer the question, C ite Evidence, E xplain, and S ummarize.

Implementing the RACES writing strategy means that students are methodically ensuring they’ve included all necessary components in their written responses. Over time, this process is internalized, evolving into a natural part of their writing practice.

The RACES writing method has brought about remarkable improvements in my students’ writing over the years, and I’m eager for your students to enjoy similar progress! I’ve crafted 20 practice pages (10 informational and 10 literary) to facilitate students’ journey through the RACES writing strategy.

These done-for-you RACES writing strategy activities can be an exceptional addition to your elementary classroom!

#1 High Interest Texts

Using high-interest texts makes teaching the RACES writing strategy a whole lot easier and fun! Why? Because when kids are interested in what they’re reading, they’re more eager to dive in, understand, and respond to it. Just imagine them enthusiastically restating a question about the immortal jellyfish or citing evidence about the invention of the airplane! 

Using engaging texts makes the RACES strategy less of a task and more of an adventure. Plus, when they’re engaged, they’re more likely to explain their ideas clearly and even enjoy summarizing what they’ve learned. Most importantly, using texts that they love gives them the confidence to write better, making learning a fun and rewarding journey.

#2 RACES graphic organizer, sentence stems and checklist for support and scaffolding

Imagine giving your students a roadmap for writing – a clear path to express their thoughts more effectively. That’s precisely what these RACES graphic organizers, sentence stems, and checklists can do! 

This strategy can simplify the daunting task of writing by breaking it into manageable steps. 

• The graphic organizer can visually guide students on structuring their responses – from restating the question, answering it, citing evidence, explaining their point of view, and finally summarizing their thoughts. 
• The sentence stems can provide a starting point, reducing the pressure of finding the ‘perfect’ words and kick-starting their writing process. 

This combination of tools is like giving students a recipe for writing success. By using these, they’ll gain a deeper understanding of writing structures, learn to articulate their thoughts more clearly, and ultimately, become more confident writers. Now, isn’t that an exciting journey to embark upon in your classroom?

#3 Modeling using the provided teacher example

Using the prepared teacher model/answer key is a great way to demonstrate the RACES writing strategy. This approach allows you to dissect a completed piece of writing and highlight how each element of the RACES strategy has been used. Begin by sharing your model, and then meticulously walk through each step.

Demonstrating this process with a teacher model helps students visualize how the RACES strategy transforms into a cohesive, well-structured written response. They can refer back to this model as they apply the RACES strategy in their own writing, serving as a valuable guide on their journey to mastering written responses.

Now that we know the WHY, let’s dive into WHAT is included in this resource…

• TWENTY practice pages with high interest texts to help your students master the RACES writing strategy 
• Each passage is accompanied by a graphic organizer with sentence stems and a checklist for writing support and scaffolding
• Every high interest passage includes a writing page for students to convert their graphic organizer into a cohesive paragraph
• Teacher examples for each passage to model and provide exemplars for students

What Teachers are Saying:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My students really liked this.  The graphic organizer worked well for them, and it was a nice way of having them practice RACE.  There were a good number of passages, which gave the students some choice.” -Beth A.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My students struggle with writing.  I love how this resource breaks down the steps for students to go through.  It helped to ease them through the writing process.” -Marla F

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This has been a wonderful addition to my test prep. My students are really getting these constructed responses. I started out doing the first 4 together, then they did the next 3 in partners, then they did the last 3 on their own. It’s been very beneficial for my class. Thank you!” -Rachel S.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I teach RACES every year. This provided such an easy way to model the process for students! The texts are high interest and engaging!” -Erica T.

Harness the power of the RACES writing strategy to transform your students into more proficient writers. With engaging high-interest texts, clear graphic organizers, and illustrative teacher models, you have the tools to guide them towards success. Together, we can turn the daunting maze of writing into an enjoyable journey! Want to read more about how to implement RACES writing? Check out this blog post!

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Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

Tips for Teaching RACE Constructed Response Strategy

I remember the shift from multiple choice reading assessments to constructed response reading questions like it was yesterday. When we first made the shift, we got everything from blank stares (because they didn’t understand the question), to single-word answers, simple phrases, off-topic answers, and let’s not even talk about grammar and spelling. Hint: It was rough. 😛

My grade-level team and I had to come up with a plan and fast. One strategy we implemented that made a huge difference was teaching the students to use the RACE acronym when answering constructed response questions. However, there were some learning curves, as with any new strategy. This post will break down the RACE strategy, why I chose this strategy, and tips for each part of the strategy.

Why Use The RACE Strategy for Constructed Response Reading Questions?

First, RACE is an acronym that helps guide students through the process of answering constructed questions in reading. The RACE acronym stands for:

R – Restate the question.

A – Answer the question completely.

C – Cite evidence from the text.

E – Explain the text evidence.

There are many different constructed response strategies and acronyms that are available to students. I chose to use the RACE strategy because of the importance put on restating the question and the fact that the students have to take their answer a step further by explaining how the evidence they cited supports their answer.

With that being said, any acronym and constructed response strategy you teach will work if you teach each step strategically and support students as needed. How do you do that? I am glad you asked…keep reading for all my tips and my recommended resources, including freebies.

Tips for Teaching Constructed Response with the RACE Acronym

1.) Practice with short texts specifically to teach the RACE strategy FIRST. Introducing it in a nonthreatening way with short texts will allow the students to learn the process and importance before moving on to lengthy grade level texts.

Click here to see the RACE practice booklet in my TpT store that I use to introduce my students to the RACE strategy.

2.) Start the year off teaching the RACE strategy (or whichever constructed response strategy you choose), so your students have all year to practice it. The sooner the better. Please don’t try and implement this in the weeks leading up to the test. #spokenfromexperience

3.) Embed the use of the RACE strategy in read alouds and guided reading throughout the year. One easy way to do this is through sticky note evidence collection. For example: “In this section, we learn just how greedy the character is. Look for evidence in the text to support this conclusion.” The students flag or jot down the evidence and then we discuss it and sometimes compile it into written responses using the RACE acronym.

4.) Teach each step in the RACE strategy on its own and let them build on each other. I teach R (restating the question), and we practice. Then, we move on to A (answering the question completely), and we practice and talk about the importance of using complete sentences, making sure we answer all parts of the question, using key vocabulary, etc. That usually takes one day, but sometimes two. The next 2-3 days focus on teaching C and E (how to pull relevant evidence, cite that evidence, and then explain it). The C and E are the ones that we spend ALL YEAR practicing and refining.

5.) Teach the students to write the acronym on their paper beside each question AND check off each part as they complete it. I do give my students posters and bookmarks to remind them of each part (see Tip #7 for freebies), but ultimately, the responsibility needs to be on the students because they can’t use those resources on state assessments.

6.) Another tip that I have done is to have the students color code the different parts of their response. This is an engaging way for the students to make sure they include everything needed. I like to do this every now and then throughout the year, and my students love it.

Grab the RACE Strategy printables shown here for FREE!

7.) Scaffold the students with reminders. This can be done through bookmarks, RACE strategy posters glued into reader’s notebooks, RACE anchor charts hung in a prominent location, or by creating RACE toolkits with bags, containers, or by putting the RACE strategy posters on a ring.

Click here to grab all of the RACE tools shown above for FREE from my TpT store. Many of these tools will be referred to in the next section as we take a look at each step.

R – Restate the Question

I learned several years ago that my students need explicit practice with this part of RACE.  One way that I do is this is through lots and lots of practice, but I also like to incorporate some fun activities.

One of the activities I use are these Restate the Question puzzles. The students have to read the question puzzle piece and find the restatement that matches. The questions are all focused on reading standards, so it will be a nice review of key vocabulary, as well.

To get these Restate the Question puzzles for free (and even more resources for teaching students to restate questions), click here!

Another activity that my students really enjoy is my Restate the Question Bingo. The students really enjoy playing this and even request it when we have a few extra minutes to spare.

Besides teaching this skill explicitly and reviewing with the activities above, here are two more ways that I help my students:

• Have them answer questions verbally in complete sentences. Just doing this simple strategy throughout the year will make a huge difference in their ability to restate questions in complete sentences in a written format.
• Have the students restate the question orally and in writing (leaving the answer part blank) before they even begin to answer the question. We do this with math constructed response tasks , too, and it makes a huge difference in ensuring the students understand what the question is asking them.

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Restate the Question Practice BUNDLE

A – answer the question completely.

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but one thing that I do for this that really helps is have my students check off the question as they answer it. This really helps ensure they answer the question completely if there is more than one part. They simply place a small check mark above the part of the question after they have answered it.

I also teach my students the importance of ensuring they use vocabulary from the text and don’t use pronouns for characters until after they have introduced them in their response.

C- Cite Evidence from the Text

Citing the textual evidence is the part of answering reading constructed response questions that can be the trickiest. Here are the strategies we use:

1. I teach several mini-lessons that focus specifically on finding and collecting textual evidence to support points, inferences, or answers. I do these mainly through our read alouds so it integrates nicely. I use these two text evidence printables that are included in the RACE toolkit also linked above.

2. When we use passages, my students are taught to underline the evidence from the text that supports their answers.

3. I explicitly teach the different ways to cite evidence from the text. I do teach both types but, honestly, I prefer to have my students paraphrase the evidence in their own words. This keeps them from plagiarizing and having an answer that is not their original thoughts.

4. Provide sentence stems for the students to use when they are citing their evidence.

5. Teach my students the power of 3. This means that they try to provide three pieces of evidence to support their answer. We do talk about how sometimes three pieces of evidence may not be available. However, teaching them the power of 3 and that the more evidence you provide, the more difficult it is to refute the answer keeps them searching for more relevant evidence to use.

If you need several engaging resources in a variety for formats for teaching students to find and summarize text evidence, check out this resource!

Text Evidence Activities | Citing Text Evidence

E – explain the evidence.

This step was the bane of my existence for a long time. For the life of me, I could not figure out a way to help my students explain their evidence without just restating it.

Finally, I had a light bulb moment and came up with two strategies to help.

1. I taught the importance of not only providing valid evidence but also explaining it using a detective analogy. As a class, we discussed how a detective collects all of the evidence but doesn’t just plop the evidence down on his boss’s desk. He has to explain how each piece of evidence proves his case.

2. I also came up with some simple sentence stems that would both help my students explain their evidence and show them the importance of explaining it to begin with. The stems helped them understand that they need to show why the textual evidence even matters through their explanation.

Click here to grab the posters I use for helping my students explain their evidence.

Want more tips for answering constructed response reading questions? Click here to read even more tips for helping your students master answering constructed response reading questions.

Do you use the RACE strategy for constructed response reading questions? Or another constructed response strategy? Let me know in the comments. I love hearing all of the different strategies teachers use.

And don’t forget to grab the free charts and posters to make your own RACE toolkits to help your students master reading constructed response questions by clicking here.

Share the Knowledge!

Reader interactions, 25 comments.

March 1, 2018 at 10:25 am

Thank you for the RACE mini book! I use RACE in my class and we even added an S to the ending, so that students understand to end with a strong thought to keep the reader thinking about the topic.

March 7, 2018 at 12:35 pm

I can’t seem to find the RACE Question puzzles?

April 6, 2021 at 3:48 pm

September 30, 2021 at 6:50 pm

You have to subscribe to the blog page to be sent the puzzle’s 🙂

February 11, 2019 at 4:03 pm

Hi! I am a third grade teacher and use a strategy that I came up with called, “R.A.T.S.” (Restate, Answer, Track down evidence, & Summarize & connect.) It is a younger, kid friendly method for grades 1-4 with motions to help kiddos remember the important parts of forming their constructed response answers. Feel free to check it out at my tpt store; http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/Oceans-of-Ideas-Teaching-with Jen. I would love your suggestions or feedback. Thanks for sharing your strategy with us!

May 13, 2019 at 9:20 pm

I am not a teacher; I am the parent of a child in elementary school. My child has been given an assignment in which he is to use the RACE strategy. The assignment simply consist of a question that asks what does one think a specific quote means. How would you answer this, using the RACE strategy, when there is no additional text?

May 14, 2019 at 6:55 pm

Hi Debbie, for this example, the evidence that he or she would cite would be a combination of words/phrases from the quote and background knowledge. Here is an example:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”.

To me, this quote means that Martin Luther King wants people to not be judged by race but instead by how they behave and treat others. The evidence from the quote that supports this is when King says “not judged by the color of their skin.” This phrase shows that he does not wish for people to be judged based on their race. Also, he says “by the content of their character” which means the kind of person they are on the inside and how they treat others.

The C is pulled from the quote itself and the E is pulled from the interpretation of the evidence.

Hope this helps!

August 14, 2019 at 5:43 pm

As stated below the RACE strategy puzzle picture, “To get these Restate the Question puzzles for free, simply join my email list using the form below. Due to the nature of the questions and reading vocabulary, these are best for 4th and 5th graders,” I entered my email, but I did not receive an email back regarding the free item. Please advise how I may receive the puzzles.

Thanks so much.

August 16, 2019 at 10:29 am

Hi Rona, just sent you an email. 🙂

August 15, 2019 at 8:36 pm

Want to learn about the RACE strategy

August 23, 2019 at 3:02 pm

Hi – Could you also send me the freebies to my email? The auto-responder did not work.

September 8, 2019 at 4:43 pm

Hi Anita, I am showing the email was sent. Were you able to access it?

October 9, 2019 at 10:54 pm

Hi Jennifer,

Loving your stuff! Like some of the others above, I couldn’t find the Restate the Question Puzzles in the freebies. Can you send me a link or tell me exactly where I might find them?

Thanks in advance, Darrin

October 9, 2019 at 10:58 pm

Got the 2nd email and the puzzles – thanks!

October 17, 2019 at 11:06 pm

hi, I am a student and im wondering why is the race strategy important how can it help us in the future because im want to animate when im older.

December 1, 2019 at 9:54 am

Hi Jennifer! 👋 Do you have any tips for the restate/answer piece of RACE? My kid’s want to write them as two separate sentences, but I feel like they should be one. Sometimes I can see them being two sentences…but not really? …Any suggestions? Thanks! Kaitlin

January 2, 2020 at 6:12 pm

Hi Kaitlin, My students restate by writing a cloze sentence and answer by turning it into a complete sentence. Jennifer, I hope you do’t mind me chiming in.

February 6, 2020 at 2:30 pm

Is there a text that goes along with your exemplar writing in the tool kit?

April 23, 2020 at 8:19 pm

What mentor text do you use to teach this strategy? I read someplace that you start out with a mentor text. Since I use mentor texts to teach with, I would like to know what you use.

October 13, 2020 at 5:21 pm

I found this blog very useful! I am also interested in freebies.

August 12, 2021 at 1:58 pm

This so cool! This website is VERY reliable. I am actually a 7th grade student, and we’re doing CRQ’s. This really helped me out! Thank you!

November 4, 2021 at 9:35 am

I love your material!! We use RACE in 3rd grade this year. When the students are struggling to restate and answer in the same sentence, how do you navigate that and direct them? 3rd grade has more beefy responses and sometimes restating and answering in one sentence doesn’t make sense. Any suggestions? Thanks!! Also, I’d love your freebies! Unsure if I need to subscribe somewhere or you add me to a list!

March 17, 2022 at 11:03 am

Hello, I am wondering if you would use RACE with all types of writing responses (opinion, informative, and narrative). Thank you so much! Lisa Pruitt

March 28, 2023 at 4:53 am

Get a wonderful membership on watching group sex of hot babies😍. girlsway promo codes

April 25, 2023 at 7:30 am

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I’m Jennifer Findley: a teacher, mother, and avid reader. I believe that with the right resources, mindset, and strategies, all students can achieve at high levels and learn to love learning. My goal is to provide resources and strategies to inspire you and help make this belief a reality for your students.

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Complete Guideline On What is Race Writing Strategy & How to Teach It

No matter how many people you speak with, they all say the same thing: we struggle with writing. Putting their thoughts on paper is tough for them, whether it's making complete sentences or creating essays. One major problem is that students find it hard to use evidence to back up their arguments. But luckily, the RACE writing strategy might make a big difference.

What does race stand for in writing?

Race writing acronym for R means to restate the question, A means to answer all the questions of the section, C means to cite the evidence as support, and E means to explain how the evidence backs up your claim. The S in races stands for summarizing your response.   When students follow all of these steps in their responses, they can produce work that is well-rounded, thoughtful, and relevant to the question. Teaching them this technique is, therefore, a good idea, particularly if they struggle with writing lengthy reports. Here's more information about each section in case you're unsure:

Restate the question

The topic sentence for the student's response is a restatement of the question. It is not necessary for each letter of RACE/RACES to stand alone as a complete sentence. In the same sentence, the R and the A are frequently combined. Remember that writing is a personalized skill with multiple approaches.

Answer the question

Children should first respond to the original question in general terms before going into further detail. Usually, the first few sentences will provide context for the upcoming paragraphs by outlining the reasons behind their particular viewpoint.

Students must also ensure that they respond to every aspect of the question. Unluckily, they frequently provide incomplete responses to questions, which results in a deduction of points.

Cite the evidence

Students need to understand the meaning of "cite." You can associate the word "cite" with the idea of "sight," having the reader go back and see the solution with their own eyes. Making that connection may assist in recalling the meaning, particularly if "cite" is a new word for them.

Additionally, students can use concepts and words directly from the text at this point. Teachers should explicitly teach older students how to quote the text in quotation marks in a follow-up lesson. Younger learners don't need to quote the text in order to understand what it says.

Explain your answer

It's crucial to bring everything together with a statement that summarizes your response as the final step. If you're having difficulty coming up with something to write, try answering questions like "So what?" or "What does that prove?". In other words, you must explain the reason why the evidence backs up your claim. 

Summarize your response

Similar to a summary or closing statement in a paragraph, this serves as a reminder of the main idea. It brings the response to an end.

What is a race writing strategy?

This method is called RACE or RACES. It's like a step-by-step guide to write better short answers. When it comes to writing, having these guides is helpful because it can be hard. With RACE strategy writing, students can make sure they include all the important parts in their answers. Over time, using the RACE writing strategy will become a natural part of their writing process. It is very crucial to teach effective strategies to students to make their writing tasks easier. 

The races strategy for writing works so well. It supports your students in doing what a skilled writer would always do without thinking about it. Students receive tools and assistance to help them grasp how to restate questions in full sentences. For certain students, the topic can be rather challenging.

After the question has been revised, they may also need to provide evidence for their answers. In the end, provide a thorough explanation of how they came to their conclusion. Students can write clearly and competently by using RACE's straightforward, easy to remember guidelines, which offer answers, arguments, solutions, and proof of their thought processes.

When can you use the race writing strategy?

The racer writing strategy is perfect for students of all age groups. It is also an excellent method for teaching homeschooled students critical writing skills that are needed for expository essay writing, informational texts, the ELA test, and any other situation where they must be able to write well-supported responses!

Let’s have a look at some scenarios where race strategy reading and writing helps:

Standardized Exams for ELA 

The Common Core emphasizes how crucial it is to back up your responses with textual evidence. More than ever, students are expected to write brief responses. Students respond in writing to open-ended questions based on stories, articles, or poems they read or hear, and they answer multiple-choice questions based on brief passages they have read.

Expository writing

This kind of writing shares real facts, not made-up stories. It's like the foundation for understanding the world. You see it a lot in guides on websites and encyclopedias that teach you how to do things or explain facts.

Informational writing

After that, there's something called informational writing. It's like writing a real and true story to teach the reader about a particular topic. This type of writing uses special methods to help the reader find the important stuff and understand what it's all about.

In the past ten years, a general consensus has been built that reading and writing abilities are related. As a result, rather than teaching reading and writing separately as in earlier models, the trend has been to teach them simultaneously. It makes sense that research has shown (Savage J, 1998) that these skills are acquired concurrently as part of a collaborative process. Thus, it makes sense to incorporate writing and reading into a single learning strategy, such as the RACE  writing strategy.

How to Teach Race Strategy Writing Effectively?

There are various ways to teach race writing strategy to learners. You know your students best, so you can select and tailor your instruction to their needs. Here are some general pointers to remember.

Select the suitable text for race strategy

Of course, it's up to your students to select the appropriate text. There are numerous applications for the RACE/RACES strategy that they can use with any text. However, here is some simple advice for effective teaching.

Start with a straightforward paragraph on reading comprehension. It needs to be both understandable to students and substantial enough to include details. Rather than concentrating on comprehending the text, we want to continue answering the question. It works best for this purpose, to start with a simple passage on an interesting subject. Learners can eventually be challenged with more complex text as they gain proficiency.

Make changes based on the needs of the students

With RACE/RACES, differentiation is quite simple and easy. To make it easy for your struggling and special education students, select passages that your students are familiar with in some way. For instance, you may select a text that they have already read or a topic that has been studied before.

Employ a variety of reading resources 

We know the importance of providing a diverse range of reading materials for our students. You can use the RACE/RACES strategy for any type of reading. As students get used to the RACE/RACES approach, you can select any kind of reading material that can be effective.

Another way to differentiate instruction is to assign multiple passages to students with different skill levels in your classroom. Here are some ideas for when it's time to give the texts more diversity and difficulty:

• Change the text's length.
• Change up the genre: expository, persuasive, nonfiction, fiction, etc.
• Change complexity
• Differentiate the questions
• Use passages in pairs.

Apply color coding to draw attention

Highlight and underline text as you go through the RACE-RACES steps, and use different colors to color-code each step. After that, carry on with the think-aloud and modeling for as long as the students require.

Teach vocabulary and important terms

Explain key terms and techniques as you "think aloud." As you teach, make frequent use of the terms every day. Students should acquire new words and vocabulary when they hear them frequently and naturally. 

Provide visuals for easy reference

In your classroom, post visuals and invite the class to examine them. Posters are excellent visual representations that can be displayed in the classroom. You can work in small groups or as a class to create anchor charts.

The RACE/RACES bookmarks can be used by students as desk or notebook references. Several copies of the bookmark references to be kept in notebooks at home and at school could be beneficial for them.

Consider reviewing and pacing

You may teach one, two, or more steps each day. The age and skill level of your students determines the pace. It is necessary to continually model and practice the RACE/RACES approach. Students should first practice as a group, together, before being progressively allowed to become more independent.

Race strategy anchor chart

Make an anchor chart with the key components of the skill as you teach the RACE strategy. Students can review what you've taught them by using an anchor chart, which you can write on whiteboard paper or anchor chart paper. Provide a brief explanation of each RACE strategy step on your anchor chart. Include any sentence starters that you would like your students to use.

You can also learn “ how to write a college essay ”with the help of our expert guide.

Final Thoughts

You should give the RACE writing strategy a try if you haven't already when instructing students on how to write paragraphs or constructed responses! Because it gives them a structure to follow, offers sentence stems, supports each stage of the paragraph-writing process, and can be applied to essay writing as well, hence it's an excellent way to scaffold students' writing skills.

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Persuasive essay topics – how to choose one for you, how to write a persuasive essay- expert tips.

Faulkner's Fast Five

Creating Classroom Success Stories

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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The Effectiveness of Using a Written Response Strategy for Responding to Texts

by Lindsey Nichols, University of Bridgeport

Author’s Note: Lindsey Nichols, School of Education, University of Bridgeport. This research was submitted in partial fulfillment for the Reading and Language Arts Consultant Sixth Year Certification Program with Dr. Patricia Mulcahy-Ernt, Advisor, University of Bridgeport.

This study examined the effectiveness of using the RACE strategy in students’ written responses to text. The strategy was taught to sixth grade students in an average level reading class in order to determine if it helps students write more thorough, elaborated, and organized responses to texts. The students were given a pre-assessment prior to learning the RACE strategy and a post assessment upon three months of practice applying the strategy in their own written responses. It was predicted that the RACE strategy would help students to write more thorough, organized, and elaborated responses to text and improve students’ scores on reading assessments containing open-ended responses. The RACE strategy did have a significant effect on students’ reading assessment scores, and the overall quality of the students’ written responses improved.

RACE Strategy: The Effectiveness of using a Written Response Strategy for Responding to Texts.

Students in classrooms across the nation are being asked to demonstrate their reading comprehension of both expository and narrative texts through their written responses on state and district assessments. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which have been accepted by forty-five states, emphasize higher-level comprehension skills to a greater degree than previous standards. Reading and writing are equally important according to the new standards.

Reading is now being assessed through student writing.

The current study was designed to determine the effectiveness of using RACE as a response strategy when composing a written response to text. It was predicted that students who accurately use the RACE response strategy would have improved scores on the school’s benchmark assessments and the state reading assessments, and that the overall quality of their written responses to text would improve.

RACE is an acronym that reminds students of the specific criteria needed in a quality written response. The R in RACE represents the topic sentence in which the student restates the question, framing the entire response. The A signifies the answer to the question, articulating the student’s thoughts and/or ideas. The C represents the text citations, which are needed to support the answers. Finally, the E reminds the student to explain how textual evidence supports the answers, concluding the responses.

In the past decade there has been an emphasis on the connection between reading and writing. In todays’ classrooms, reading and writing are taught together rather than in isolation from one another. “A growing body of research has demonstrated that reading and writing are closely related and that both processes can be learned better in connection with each other rather than in isolation. Making meaning is the core of the reading-writing connection ” (Savage, 1998, p. 342). Both involve critical thinking skills. “Today’s readers are asked to integrate information from several texts and to explain relationships between the ideas and author’s craft. The CCSS expect students to cite evidence as they explain what the text teaches in their writing” (Calkins, Ehrenworth, & Lehman, 2012, p. 41).

Under the new Common Core Standards, by the third grade students are expected to explicitly refer to the text and cite specific examples and pages to support their written responses. By fifth grade, students must accurately use quotes from the text to explicitly explain their answers. As a reading teacher, I frequently ask my students to demonstrate their thinking about a text through an open-ended written response. In the book, Pathways to the Common Core , Calkins et al., (2012) state that, “The ability to convey knowledge is becoming just as important as knowledge itself” (p.110). The more students write about literature the more proficient they become with reading and writing; therefore, their reading comprehension increases. Students need specific strategies when writing an open-ended response text. “Reading-writing connections must be made explicit. The transfer of knowledge between reading and writing is not automatic. Writers construct meaning as they select words and craft language structures so that they will convey on paper this meaning to others” (Savage, 1998, p. 344-346).

Many students struggle with writing quality answers to the open-ended comprehension questions on reading assessments. Teachers do their best to explain to students how to formulate and write a written response to text, but there is no specific formula that students learn year after year for something they are constantly asked to do. Students now more than ever need to be able to effectively demonstrate their reading comprehension through their written responses with the new Common Core Standards that are currently taking effect.

The stakes have been raised for students’ written responses to text. Student responses and scores on district and state testing are compared between classrooms as well as between different schools and districts within each state. In her book, Teaching Written Response to Text , Nancy Boyles explains, “We should not assume that children can automatically translate their thinking out loud about text into thinking on paper” (Boyles, 2002, p.2). To help students write clear and logical responses to text, they need to be familiar with the expository text structure.

During my first few years of teaching, I noticed that my students’ written responses to text lacked specific information, organization, and overall quality. In addition, several teachers that I spoke with at the elementary and middle-school level also expressed that getting students to write quality responses to text was a common challenge. One teacher commented that her students’ responses, “lacked organization and elaboration.” It is my hope that students’ responses to text will improve through the use of the RACE strategy.

A written response to text is a form of expository writing and can be explicitly taught just as the five-paragraph essay is taught in classrooms. Teachers must make students aware of the type of information that should be included in their responses and how each response should be organized. Calkins states, “It is important to teach students how to organize and elaborate on facts and ideas, to decide on priorities, to look at information through different lenses, and to entertain questions” (Calkins et. al., 2012, p.153). The CCSS expect that students can independently include a variety of types of evidence (e.g., facts, definitions, quotes) and use language that connects that evidence within their writing. Under these new standards, students learn to craft their writing, find key details, elaborate on the details, and include them within their own writing in a way that clearly expresses their ideas.

A typical written response to text contains a topic sentence, some details from the text and/or quotes, and a concluding sentence. In order to write a quality response to texts, students need to have a solid comprehension of the text. “We cannot expect students to respond to literature they don’t understand” (Boyles, 2002, p.28). Writing a thorough, organized, response requires good instruction in the process of writing. Explicit instruction (also known as direct instruction) is important to teaching students how to write effective responses. It sets the purpose for learning and provides clear explanations of what to do. It begins by modeling the process and is followed by multiple opportunities for guided practice until students gain independence. This is the gradual release of responsibility to the students.

Teachers often ask students to add more details to their written work, but students typically do not understand what the teacher means when he or she says this. “This may mean adding a physical description, a private thought, a gesture, dialogue, a comparison, examples, and/or anecdotes. Teachers sometimes assume that students understand exactly what the word ‘details’ means” (Boyles, 2002, p. 14.) Teaching students what adding details means and showing them modeled examples of responses with the ideal number of details helps them to better understand what to do when they are asked to add more details to their written work.

Methodology

Participants.

Participants included thirty-one sixth grade middle schools students from a rural community. The students were of average ability and placed in an average level reading class. Class placements were determined based on the Connecticut Mastery Test results from the previous school year and teacher recommendations.

Students read four passages and answered eight open-ended responses on both the pre- assessment and post assessment. The reading passages and questions were taken from 4th- Generation CMT Language Arts Coach books. The written responses of the students were measured using the same criteria as the Connecticut Mastery Test. Students responses were scored with a 0, 1, or 2.

Students were given a pre-assessment at the beginning of the school year prior to any instruction on the RACE written response strategy. The pre-assessment contained three reading passages along with eight open-ended responses for students to answer which were based on the readings. Unlimited time was given to all participants to complete the assessment. A post-assessment was administered after three months of explicit instruction and guided practice on how to effectively use the RACE strategy. The post-assessment was in the same format as the pre-assessment. An unlimited amount of time was given to read the passages and write eight responses to the open-ended questions.

The written response strategy used during the study was termed RACE. RACE is an acronym that reminds students of the specific criteria needed in a quality written response. The strategy is a tool to help students write more thorough, elaborated, and structured responses to text. The RACE written response strategy was shared with me by a fellow colleague. My colleague had observed her mentor teacher use the strategy during her student teaching. It is unknown where or from whom this strategy originates.

The purpose of this research study was to determine if using the RACE strategy would improve the overall quality of students’ written response on reading assessments containing open- ended responses. Although, there may be some relationship between using the RACE strategy and students’ reading comprehension, the central purpose of the strategy is to improve written responses to text using specific textual evidence which is needed to support their answers. A strategy poster explaining RACE was posted in the classroom and a copy was given to the students to use as a resource when writing a response to text.

The RACE strategy was taught at the beginning of the school year in order to allow students multiple opportunities to practice it and become proficient using it. A poster containing the acronym RACE and the meaning of each letter was posted in the classroom so that students were constantly aware of the criteria needed in order to write a well-crafted written response to text.

Instruction began by first making sure students were aware of what the questions were really asking. This was done by showing students how to carefully read the questions and highlight key words or phrases. This step was modeled for the students until they were able to recognize the key words and phrases on their own.

Once students had analyzed the questions and determined the type of information needed to answer the question they began using RACE. The R in RACE represents the topic sentence in which the student restates the question, framing the entire response. This demonstrates that the student understands what the question is asking. The A signifies the answer to the question, articulating the student’s thoughts and/or ideas. The C represents the text citations, which are needed to support their answers. The citations must be relevant and meaningful to the answer. Finally, the E reminds the students to explain how their textual evidence supports their answers, concluding the responses.

In order for the students to accurately do this, the RACE written response strategy must be modeled and many opportunities for guided practice must be given.

The RACE strategy was explicitly taught to the students beginning the day after the pre- assessment was administered. Using a PowerPoint presentation, students were introduced to the term and what it represented. The students looked at actual samples of student responses and how the strategy applied to the responses. They were able to see the difference between responses that were general and vague when the strategy was not used, compared to the responses that were more detailed and organized when the strategy was applied. Just as with teaching any new skill or concept, it was important to model the use of the strategy first. In order to show each element of the strategy, I would highlight or color code each part of the acronym in a sample response. This helped students visualize each step of the strategy. For example, R is highlighted in red, A in blue, C in green, and E in yellow. The students could then look at the modeled responses and clearly identify how each part of the strategy was used to create a complete response.

Students were continuously exposed to the strategy during the three months time between the pre-assessment and the post-assessment. Initially, the strategy was modeled using a picture book. Students were asked to identify which word best described the main character. Through the use of think alouds, the students were always aware of my thought process as I was responding to the question. When the response was complete, I asked several students to color code my response.

The Value of a Sample Response

“Good written responses don’t magically occur in most students’ writings. Students need help with understanding how to write with clarity, organization and insight. If you want your students to delve into characters’ motivations and choices, you may need to model your own response in front of them and help them pick out the words writers use to get across a point” (Boyles, 2002, p. 17). Many great literature teachers model writing assignments in front of their students – perhaps writing on the overhead or on chart paper and thinking aloud as they go. This makes the composing process more visible to students. In addition to modeling their own writing, teachers can save student samples and use them (anonymously) as examples in later classes.

The initial data taken from the pre-assessment of the thirty-one students indicated that 36% of the students passed or reached the goal score of 10 points or higher on the pre-assessment. Sixty-four percent of the students failed or did not meet goal on the pre-assessment. The majority of students appeared to struggle with the phrasing and/or the format of their responses during the pre-assessment. The results showed that many students also struggled citing specific text details and/or explaining their responses.

The data from the post-assessment show that 67% of the students passed or met goal and 33% of the students failed or did not meet goal. Goal was a score of 10 points or higher. There was a significant increase in the number of students who passed from the pre-assessment to the post- assessment. It appears that the RACE written response strategy was effective in helping students write more thorough, organized, and elaborated responses to the texts.

Out of the thirty-one students who participated in the study approximately 80% of the students’ scores increased from the pre- assessment to the post-assessment. This does not mean that everyone whose score increased passed or met goal on the test, but rather it shows the percentage of students who displayed growth from the September assessment to the December assessment. On average, students’ scores increased by 2.3 points and students whose scores decreased did so by an average 3.44 points.

The purpose of this study was to determine if using the RACE written response strategy helped to improve the overall quality of students’ written responses to texts. It was predicted that when applying the strategy to their open-ended response, students would have more thorough, organized, and elaborated written responses. The results of the study showed that using the RACE strategy when answering open-ended responses did in fact help to improve students’ responses overall. The hypothesis was supported in this study. Of the thirty-one students analyzed during the research, 80% of the students’ scores increased after being taught how to use and apply the RACE strategy to their own written responses. Not all of the 80% of students whose scores increased reached goal. The students whose scores increased did so by an average of 2.3 points; however, the students whose scores decreased from the pre- assessment to the post assessment decreased by an average of 3.44 points.

It is interesting to see that although only nineteen percent of the students’ scores decreased, their scores decreased by a greater numbers of points than the number of points the students’ scores increased. It is unclear as to why this may have happened, but it may be due to poor comprehension of the text. The texts given to the students were selected from the 4th-Generation CMT Language Arts Coach books. All of the texts students were asked to read were at the sixth grade reading level. Students’ interest level in the text topics from the pre-assessment to the post- assessment may have decreased or may have been a contributing factor as to why some students’ scores were lower on the post-assessment.

Both the pre-assessment and the post- assessment were given at the same time of day for the students; however, the time of the school year in which the tests were given may have also affected the scores. The post-assessment was given close to the holiday break when students’ excitement level tends to be much higher and their concentration is lacking.

The RACE written response strategy may not improve students’ reading comprehension, but rather helps educators understand students’ thinking about a particular text. The strategy allows students to better organize and elaborate their written responses clearly showing their thinking on paper. Students not only answer the questions when using the strategy but are also able to support their answers with specific text citations and explain how the citations they chose help to support their answers. In conclusion, the results of this study show that the RACE written response strategy is effective in helping students improve the quality of their responses with respect to organization, elaboration, fluency, and thoroughness.

Boyles, N. (2002). That’s a great answer . Gainesville, FL: Maupin House Publishers Inc.

Boyles, N. (2004). Constructing meaning through kid-friendly comprehension strategy instruction. Gainesville, FL: Maupin House Publishers Inc.

Calkins L., Ehrenworth M., & Lehan C. (2012). Pathways to the common core: Accelerating achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heineman.

Cooper, J., Kiger, N. (2003). Literacy: Helping children construct meaning, 5th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Lipson, M. Y., & Wixson, K. K. (2009). Assessment & instruction of reading and writing difficulties: An interactive approach, 4th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Miller, D. (2009). The book whisperer: Awakening the inner reader in every child. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Savage J. (1998). Teaching reading & writing: Combining skills, strategies, and literature, 2nd ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Trewartha, J., Winter M. (2006). 4th Generation CMT Coach, Language arts, Grade 6. New York, NY: Triumph Learning.

Vacca, J., Vacca, R. (2008). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

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