Helping Kids Succeed on Open Response Questions

Haverhill Middle School teachers

November 3, 2009

Essential Questions

• How can we help students slow down, focus on the text, and monitor their understanding while reading?

• What are the elements of a high-scoring open response answer?

• How can we help students include those elements so they can achieve high scores?

The MCAS is a Reading Test.

Your Classroom MCAS

• Includes texts from different genres.

•Includes texts from different genres.

• Teacher questions in class discussion determine overall student comprehension.

• Multiple choice questions determine overall student comprehension.

“The Contender”

• Read “The Contender.” DO NOT read the test questions first.

• As you read, note strategies that you use to make sense of the text.

• Do the multiple choice questions.• Do the Open Response question.• Note any strategies or procedures

you use to answer the questions

Reading Strategies You Used

Question-Answering Strategies You Used

Getting Ready to Read: PSST!!

Purpose Setting Statement (PSST!) In italics at the very beginning of the text.

Includes key words to identify genre and focus for the reading.

Each text has different purpose and focus; reader’s strategies will vary with text.

Students need to choose what best response and approach will be.

Stop and Think Strategies

• Write a short SUMMARY. Summary of facts (“the lines”)

Summary of inferences (“between the lines”)

• Ask a QUESTION.• DRAW a picture.

Modeling the Strategies

• Think-alouds

• Stress importance of “tracks in the snow”: making thinking visible

• Students use strategy notes to talk with each other, as a whole class and in small groups

• Students prepare and give think-alouds

Multiple Choice = Reading Task

Students need to have justification from the text for their answers.

• THE TEST IS NOT A test of what they remember About what THEY would do or think

• STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO Locate a paragraph where their answer was

found Describe in words their reasoning for their

answer

Open Response

• OR’s assess reading comprehension and content only (not writing skill)

• Students must answer the question asked

• Answers are found or implied in text• Answers should be supported with details, evidence from text

• Conventions/organization are NOT scored

Open Response = Reading Task

Your Classroom Open-Response

Teacher asks questions in class discussion about larger ideas in text.

Open-response question asks about larger ideas in text.

Students answer orally.

Students answer in written form.

Using Colors to Plan an OR Answer

• Choose any two colors for students to associate with parts of a successful response.

FROM YOUR HEAD (Answer and explanation/elaboration---Ideas)

FROM THE TEXT (Evidence from the passage---Support)

• We will be using red for Ideas and green for support

• Model to students how to analyze their responses using these colors.

How to Answer an ELAOpen-response Question

Read the question carefully.Explain your answer.Add supporting details.Double-check your work.

Approaching the Open-Response

Read the question carefully.

Explain your answer.

Add supporting details.

Double-check your work.

Colored OR Question for “The Contender”

Based on the excerpt, explain what Donatelli means when he says, “Everybody wants to be a champion. That’s not enough.” Support your answer with relevant and specific details from the excerpt.

Rereading with a Purpose

• Students have already read the article once, for overall understanding and made “tracks in the snow.”

• They have also reread certain paragraphs in order to answer their Multiple Choice questions, so they are familiar with the article content.

• Now they should reread or skim with a focus: find interesting facts and elaboration and/or support.

• They can star the facts and put “S” beside the support/elaboration.

Helping Students Plan Answers

ANSWER EVIDENCE

“It says…”

SAY MORE

“This Shows that…”Hard work “you get up at 5:30..”

“You run every day, rain or snow”

“Jump rope, stretching exercises, sit-ups, push-ups

“No pies and cakes, no soda.” ”(par. 31-33)

To be a boxer--

Slave every single day

do hard physical exercises over and over

give up what you love-- sleep, junk food, late nights, free time

Keep going, with no guarantee of success

“All this sacrifice… nine times out of ten.” Par 34

Keep going even if you may not make it to the top

Be mentally tough, ignore doubts.

Desire, heart “You have to start by wanting to be a contender… heart will take him.” (par. 48)

Really want to box, for its own sake, not to get fame and attention.

love the competition, the feeling of doing your absolute best, challenging yourself

Open-Response Rubric

• 4 = Clear, complete & accurate explanation; specific detail.

• 3 = Mostly clear complete & accurate explanation; general detail.

• 2 = Partial explanation; limited detail.

• 1 = Minimal explanation; little or no detail.

Open-Response Rubric

• 4 = Clear, complete & accurate explanation; specific detail.

• 3 = Mostly clear complete & accurate explanation; general detail.

• 2 = Partial explanation; limited detail.

• 1 = Minimal explanation; little or no detail.

Looking at Performance Standards

• Found in “anchor” papers Student work that demonstrates examples of work at score points 0 - 4

Scoring is matching an answer to the question’s rubric and anchor papers

*Marking up/coloring text is a teaching technique and is not a DESE program or strategy

Now Let’s Use the Colors to Analyze the Anchors

Putting This Into Practice

• Working with a partner at your table, read and score the responses in the Practice Set.

• Record the score and reason on Scoring Chart.

• Be ready to share. We will discuss each piece as a group at the end.

Which Strategies or Activities Do You Plan to Try Out in Your Classroom?

TIME FOR LUNCH!

See you at 12:30!

“Brothers and Sisters:”Try Out the Strategies

• Read “Brothers and Sisters…” Don’t read the questions first!

• As you read, try out making “tracks in the snow:” summary, question, picture.

• Note what additional knowledge or strategies kids might need to make sense of the passage

• Do the multiple choice and record where in the text you found the answers

Thoughts on Strategies

Thoughts on Multiple Choice

Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

Fiction• Narrative mode

• Teach students to identify character, conflict, and plot elements to fully understand

the text.

Non-Fiction• Narrative, persuasive,

informational, descriptive, compare/contrast…

• Teach students to correctly use headings, images, captions, and sidebars to understand the text.

Fiction vs. Non-Fiction OR Questions

FICTION• Commonly asks for

inference.• Student must state

inference(s)• Student must support

inference(s) with evidence from text.

• Student must explain how evidence supports inference(s).

NON-FICTION• Commonly asks for

answers right in text.• Student must state

answer(s).• Student must elaborate or

explain answer(s) using support from text and/or own ideas grounded in text.

Past Grade 6 OR Questions

• Based on the selection, describe how the Japanese paper house was designed to be flexible and convenient for daily life. (08)

• Based on the article, explain how dogs are trained to be actors and how they are treated while working. (07)

• In Paragraph 1, the author states that if you have not heard about hypothermia, it is “something you should know about.” Using information from the article, explain the most likely reason the author makes this statement. (08)

How to Answer an ELAOpen-response Question

Read the question carefully.Explain your answer.Add supporting details.Double-check your work.

Using Colors to Analyze Student Work

• Answer(s), often from the text (Red)

• Details from the text that support or elaborate the answer(s) (Green)

Approaching the Open-Response

Read the question carefully.

Explain your answer.

Add supporting details.

Double-check your work.

Open-Response Rubric

• 4 = Clear, complete & accurate explanation; specific detail.

• 3 = Mostly clear complete & accurate explanation; general detail.

• 2 = Partial explanation; limited detail.

• 1 = Minimal explanation; little or no detail.

Open-Response Rubric

• 4 = Clear, complete & accurate explanation; specific detail.

• 3 = Mostly clear complete & accurate explanation; general detail.

• 2 = Partial explanation; limited detail.

• 1 = Minimal explanation; little or no detail.

Colored OR Question for “Brothers and Sisters”

Based on the article, explain how siblings can work together to get along. Support your answer with important information from the article.

Finish the Planning Chart

ANSWER EVIDENCE

“It says…”

SAY MORE

“This means/shows that…”

Make rules p. 15 “Decide what bugs you, then set ground rules”

You have to be fair and follow the rules, too

Ex: Keep out

Now Let’s Use the Colors to Analyze Student Work

Active Reading is Not Just for MCAS!!

• Strategies supported by research (Reading Next 2004)

Explicit teaching of strategies• Word attack, fluency, vocabulary• Comprehension - summary (synthesis), inference, etc• Consistent reinforcement throughout school

Strategies embedded in subject-matter content

Modeling by a proficient readers (“think alouds”)

Opportunity for choice Use of multiple types of texts Collaboration Writing instruction and technology use

Practicing Active Reading in Class

• Teachers plan and model active reading strategy

• Students practice and demonstrate skill in strategies in variety of materials In groups Orally Individually In writing

• Teachers scaffold down support

The Progress from Dependence to Independence

Students take the MCAS test ALONE

YOUR CHALLENGE:

How can you plan your year so that your students feel ready and confident by MCAS time---prepared for independence?

A Useful Mnemonic for Planning

• TIC Teacher in center

• TAC Teacher as coach

• TOE Teacher on edge

Tic-Tac-Toe in Action

• TICTeacher models strategies in Think-Alouds

• TAC“Brain Game:” while reading as a whole class,

teacher asks students to orally model strategies

• TOEStudents prepare and give Think-Alouds in small

groupsStudents discuss questions/ideas in small groupsStudents practice strategies in writing while

reading on their own

Which Strategies or Activities Do You Plan to Try Out in Your Classroom?