Short Responses

How to write a constructed response/short answer response

by Ms. Adeniyi

Constructed responses/Short-answer response,

think R A C E:

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​Restate the question asked

Answer the question

Cite evidence from the text

Elaborate your answer

Restate the Question

​Change the question into a statement.

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​Remove the question word like who, what, when, where, or why but restate the keywords in the question.

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​Example: Why did Jamarcus decide to work harder in class?

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​The answer will start this way, Jamarcus decided to work harder in class because . . . .

Answer the ​Question

​TIPS:

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1. Make sure to answer the specific question being asked.

2. Answer every part of the question. Sometimes questions have more than one part.

3. List the character’s name first, before using a pronoun like he/she/they.

Finish the sentence and answer the question.

​Cite Text Evidence

​If answering a short - response question, or constructed response question, textual evidence is needed to support the response.

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Use sentence stems:

​EXAMPLES

According to the text. . .

​The author stated. . .

​In the first/second/third paragraph, the author mentioned . . .

​The text stated. . .

​Elaborate

​Explain what the evidence means and how it proves your point.

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​Use sentence stems for guidance.

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​EXAMPLES:

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​This proves. . .

​This is a good example of . . .

​This means that . . .

Open Ended

How can a student get an A in Ms. Adeniyi's class?

Remember to restate the question before answering it!