STEP 2: Restate the question.
Students need to know that only their responses are read. Teachers/Scorers don't read the original prompt. Thus, constructed responses have to provide context and make sense all by themselves. Teach students to restate the question by rearranging the words in the original prompt. Model how to do this; then invite students to participate orally.
TIP: Require that students avoid pronouns in their responses. Use specific nouns, rather than he, she, it, etc. This helps bring context to the response when the scorer is assessing it.
STEP 3: Provide a general answer.
The first sentence should include a restatement of the prompt and a general answer with no details. This sentence serves as a topic sentence to the specific details and examples that will follow. (Students often give too many details in their opening sentence. When they do that, there is nowhere for their thinking to go. Encourage them to slow down their thinking.)
TIP: After introducing the concept of a general answer, then outlaw the use of "because" in any first sentence of a CR. If students include "because," they will likely reveal details that should be saved for the supporting sentences.
STEP 4: Skim the text.
Students cannot provide the general answer if they didn't first think of specific details. It's the synthesis or conclusion of the relevant textual details that helps them to develop the topic sentence. So when it's time to go into the text for proof, students should know precisely which details they are looking for--it's just a matter of locating them. This requires skimming.
Model how you slide your index finger down the margin of the relevant paragraphs. Tell students that your eyes are pulling through each line quickly looking for certain words/phrases.
TIP: Explain that skimming is not plowing through the paragraphs or rereading the entire text. Rather, demonstrate how to first get in the vicinity of the details. Show students how to navigate the text quickly using text features and text structures.
STEP 5: Cite multiple author details.
The details students pull from the text are proof that their general answer (Step 3) is correct. And the proof must come in multiple examples. If students provide only one detail, then they aren't fulfilling the prompt requirement of "Use details from the reading." Notice "details" is plural. The expectation is that students find two or more examples.
TIP: Sometimes students provide two text details that are essentially repeats of one another. To ensure students are referencing two different examples, encourage them to look in different portions/paragraphs of the text.
STEP 6: End with why the evidence fits.
At this point, the scorer is thinking...So what? What do the details prove? Show students how to wrap up a response by explaining or interpreting their evidence. When practicing these concluding statements, provide students with sentence starters. This shows...This demonstrates...I believe...Now I know...This proves...
