Resources for Extended Response

from the GrowNetwork

What is extended response?

Extended-response items ask students to read a passage or story and then to generate a written response to an open-ended question, or prompt. Students should use specific reading skills and strategies for extended-response items.

Overview of extended-response items

An extended-response item usually has this structure:

· Passage

· Writing prompt

· Space to write

· Student-friendly rubric

Some extended-response items may have more than one writing prompt for a passage, and some may designate space for planning before the student writes his final answer. In addition, some extended-response items might ask students to synthesize information from two reading passages.

Frequently Asked Questions about extended-response items

· What skills are tested in extended-response items?

· How do I prepare my students for extended-response items?

· What strategies are helpful in analyzing extended-response items?

· Where can I find helpful graphic organizers for planning extended responses?

· Where can I find lesson plans and activities that complement the extended-response process?

What skills are tested in extended-response items?

Extended-response items require students to respond to their reading in an organized and thoughtful way. Students are evaluated on the quality of their writing, but more importantly they are evaluated on how effectively they demonstrate an understanding of the text and the related prompt. Thus, it is crucial that students develop their reading skills and strategies in the classroom and at home.

Reading skills that are often tested by extended-response items include:

· Identifying the main idea

· Sequencing story events

· Comparing and contrasting characters, themes, or story elements

· Interpreting figurative language and literary devices

· Making predictions

· Finding word meaning in context

· Making connections (text to self, text to text, text to world)

· Identifying cause and effect

· Recognizing types of writing (nonfiction, persuasive, instructions, et al.)

· Making inferences

· Identifying point of view and author's purpose

· Evaluating the clarity and organization of a passage

How do I prepare my students for extended-response items?

Establish a step-by-step process

When focusing on extended-response strategies in the classroom, teachers must outline a specific process.

· Read a passage or story.

· Read the writing prompt (which is based on a specific reading strategy).

· Use a graphic organizer.

· Write a response based on the graphic organizer. Revise the response based on a student-friendly rubric to help your students evaluate their own work. One example of an extended-response rubric which can be turned into a student-friendly rubric can be found at http://www.isbe.net/assessment/ readrubric.htm .

Model the process

When students first begin the extended-response process, the teacher must demonstrate every step.

· When reading a story or passage to the class, think aloud so that students see how you are reading and thinking critically.

· Discuss the prompt with the class and enter information into a graphic organizer for the entire class to see.

· As a class, write a response based on the graphic organizer.

· As a class, revise the response based on a student-friendly rubric.

Once the class has gone through this process from beginning to end, students are ready to go through the process with a small group or partner. Students who get many opportunities to practice this process will soon be able to complete extended-response items independently with confidence.

What strategies are helpful in analyzing extended-response items?

It is essential that students not only read and respond critically to writing prompts based on various reading strategies, but that they identify what reading strategy is being tested by different prompts. For example, students should know that a prompt that asks them to "explain" is really asking them to show, using specific details; similarly, students should know that a prompt that is asking them to "compare" is really asking for similarities and differences. Teachers must teach strategies for how to read a prompt and identify exactly what is being tested.

Students can analyze a task using the CUCC strategy outlined below:

· Circle key direction words.

· Underline information that accompanied key direction.

· Count up the number of parts needed for a complete answer (and then answer the questions).

· Check to be sure all parts of the task have been addressed.

Students can also use the Start with Sixteen strategy to prepare for an extended response for fiction or nonfiction:

· Choose a word to describe the main character.

· Choose a word to describe another important character.

· Choose two words which describe the setting.

· Choose two words which best describe the mood.

· Choose ten words which describe the sequence of events.

· Take the 16 words you have chosen and, adding a few more words for conjunctions, articles, and other important details, write two to three sentences which encompass all of the main story elements.

· You can now use these sentences as a springboard for a longer response.

Here is an example of this strategy in action, using Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White:

Lonely Wilbur
Creative Charlotte
Rural, Summer
Anxious, Inspiring
Fern saves Wilbur. Wilber and Charlotte become friends. Charlotte dies.

One summer in a rural town, a girl named Fern saves a little pig who she names Wilbur. Wilbur is lonely until he meets Charlotte, a creative spider who lives in the barn. Wilbur is anxious about his death, but Charlotte's friendship inspires him, even after she dies.