TAKS open-ended short
answers
Using the Jane Schaeffer Method
(ABC)
The Prompt
Before writing anything,
know your assignment—
READ THE QUESTION!
What are you being
asked to do?
Get Ready to Color Your
World!
Materials: When we write, we will use
black, blue, and red pens.
BLACK is the Answer (A)
BLUE is for Bringing in a quote (B)
RED is for making a Connection (C)
Sample Question
How would you describe the third
little pig in “The Three Little Pigs”?
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What are you being asked to do?
Step 1- Answer the question
A – Answer the question completely
Your first sentence should
reiterate the question and
present your idea
Answer the question…
In the fairy tale “The Three Little
Pigs,” the third pig is very wise.
Step 2 – Bring in a quote
B – Bring in a quote Start your
sentence with your own words…
Text Evidence = Supports for your answer (facts, quotes, examples, etc. from text)
Text Evidence can’t be argued with—a
quotation is evidence that supports your
point and comes straight from the story.
Bring in a quote…
Remembering his mother’s
warning about a wolf, he
“builds his house out of sturdy
brick.”
The sentence begins with the writer’s
own words/interpretation to set up
a quote from the actual story.
Step 3 - Connect
C – Connect your quote to your answer
through analysis, interpretation,
explanation, or insight into how the text
supports your opinion.
Begin your commentary with:
“This (action/trait) shows that…”
Connect!
This decision shows that the
third pig is intelligent
because he built his house
out of strong materials to
outwit the wolf.
Does It Flow?
Prompt: How would you describe the third
little pig in “The Three Little Pigs?”
In the fairy tale “The Three Little
Pigs,” the third pig is very wise.
Remembering his mother’s warning
about a wolf, he “builds his house out
of sturdy brick” and the wolf “huffed
and puffed” but could not blow the
house down. This decision shows that
the third pig is intelligent because he
built his house out of strong
materials to outwit the wolf.
Grading the TAKS Short Answers
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Scored on a four point scale
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0
1
2
3
=
=
=
=
Insufficient
Partially Sufficient
Sufficient
Exemplary
Your score for each response will be
based on your ability to write a
reasonable answer and support it with
evidence from the selection
Evidence = direct quotation
Sample Responses
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Let’s look at student samples and
scores for the following prompt…
Prompt:
What did the author learn from
her experience with the new
student in “The Spoils of War”?
Why do students score a “3”?
Due to the student’s lack of participation in class, the
author assumed he could not understand English, but
she was proven wrong by his test, as she says, “I had
never before sat transfixed in disbelief over a student
paper.” The author called upon the mysterious student
to explain his silence. “He was in a war, he said,
and…was lost for a long time in the jungles of
Vietnam…And after that”, he said, “…he couldn’t. He
just found it hard to be with people. To speak to
people.” She does not press the young man, but finds
herself with a new perspective. This young man shared
some of his suffering with her, and she learned that
you didn’t have to be killed in a war to lose your life.
***Both the student’s ideas and choice of text evidence are strong.
It is this combination that demonstrates the student’s depth of
understanding.
Why do students score a “2”?
From her experience with the traumatized
student the author learns that war has the
power to inflict invisible wounds. After being
lost “in the jungles of Vietnam,” this brilliant
student cannot speak in classroom discussion
and withdraws “as if attempting a disappearing
act.” Even though his wounds don’t bleed, they
cause him to feel pain and isolation.
“TEXT-LIGHT”
***The student’s text evidence does not support
the idea strongly enough to show a deep
understanding; usually because there is not enough
evidence presented.
Why do students score a “2”?
The author learned that appearances can be
deceptive. At first the author suspects that the
student is “barely literate” and that his silence is
nothing more than “arrogance.” Later she learns
that “He just found it hard to be with people, to
speak to people” because he was “lost in the
jungles of Vietnam.” While she doesn’t know
what happened, she can clearly see that he has
“an extraordinary mind” and “could do so much.”
“IDEA-LIGHT”
***The student’s idea is not as strong as his text
evidence. His idea may be too surface-level or
too briefly explained to show a deep
understanding of the selection.
Why do students score a “1”?
She learned from the experience that things
happen earlier in a person’s life have a lasting
effect on them. For example, since the
student was lost in the jungle, he feels
distant from other people because of that
experience.
***The student does not understand the
difference between a general text reference
and text evidence.
Why do students score a “1”?
The author of “The Spoils of War” learns from
her experience with the student that nothing
can really help him because of the jungle. The
boy stated, “Nothing can help” (paragraphs
15 – 19).
***The student includes both an idea and text
evidence, but instead of supporting the idea, the text
evidence merely repeats, or “ECHOES,” the idea.
Why do students score a “1”?
The author learned that the student did not
have trouble talking because he was Spanish,
but because he had been in a war and was lost
in the jungle and he probably felt isolated from
everyone else because of this. “You have a lot
to say. You write like this and you sit in class
like a statue?”
**The student’s choice of text evidence may
have some relationship to the idea but does not
clearly support it.
Why do students score a “1”?
The author learned that she should not judge
anyone by the way they appear. She initially
thought him to be “illiterate” and full of “arrogance
and scorn.” But as she read his paper and eventually
talked to him, she discovered his “extraordinary
mind” that was hidden by his experience in the war.
This author had learned that she was wrong about
what she thought about her student. “His face was
severely impassive…Close up there was nothing
arrogant about him.”
***The student’s text evidence is too partial to
support the idea. Partial text evidence is usually a result
of the student’s use of “snippets” (short phrases) only or
omission of essential information through the
inappropriate use of ellipses.
Why do students score a “1”?
She learned that she shouldn’t judge people by
the way they look or from their behavior. “His
first paper was a shocker. I was surprised to
receive it at all – I had him pegged as a sullen
type who would give up at the first difficult
assignment.” She eventually learned that his war
experiences wounded him and made it difficult to
talk, even though he was brilliant.
***The student introduces a new idea by
including a summary or commentary in the last
sentence of the response.
Why do students score a “1”?
She learned a lot about her student. “The next
day I called him over after class and asked if he
was aware that he had an extraordinary mind. He
said, yes, he was.” When she asked him what it
was all about, he told her.
***The student does not explain the idea
even though the question requires that he
do so. Because of this, the response cannot
be considered a sufficient answer.
Why do students score a “1”?
This author is even more opposed to the war
after meeting the young man in her class. She
gets to see a firsthand look at the “spoils of
war” and learns what it can do to a person’s
intelligence. She realizes that we are quick to
defend our country, but do not come “to the
defense of this country’s young men” to insure
that their lives don’t become the “spoils of war.”
***The student includes multiple ideas but does
not provide textual support for all of them.
Why do students score a “1”?
The author learned that things are not always
what they seem. The student “always sat in the
back row, as far away as he could get,” but when
he turns in his first exam, the author says, “He
knew Faulkner better than I did.” She didn’t know
what to think.
***The student’s idea needs to be clearer
and more specific – the idea may be general
or somewhat vague.
Why do students score a “1”?
She learns that a person’s past can interfere with
his present outlook on life. “He was in the
war…He was lost in the jungles of Vietnam.” This
is similar to what happened to my grandfather.
He has problems, and my aunt says they all
started when he was in Vietnam, just like the
student in “The Spoils of War.”
***The student is not focused enough on providing
a clear idea and text evidence; instead, he might
waste space by relating his idea to people or things
outside of the text.
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“…it was so often called a charm
that I was simple enough to
imagine it might be so”
“I might wish to put off this
birthmark of mortality by
relinquishing mortality itself”
“Remove it remove it whatever be
the cost, or we shall both go mad”
“Not even Aylmer now hated [the
birthmark] so much as she”
Sample response for “The
Birthmark” – ABC
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STEP 1 – Answer
Georgiana’s perception of the
birthmark changes from believing
that it makes her attractive to
wanting it removed at whatever
cost.
Sample response for “The
Birthmark” – AB(B)C
STEP 2 – Bring in a quote
Georgiana’s perception of the birthmark changes
from believing that it makes her attractive to
wanting it removed at whatever cost. When
Aylmer asked Georgiana if she had considered
removing her birthmark, she admitted, “it has so
often been called a charm that I was simple
enough to imagine it might be so.” However, right
before Aylmer offers her the elixir, she stated, “I
might wish to put off this birthmark of mortality
by relinquishing mortality itself.”
Sample response for “The
Birthmark” – AB(B)C
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STEP 3 - Connect
Georgiana’s perception of the birthmark changes
from believing that it makes her attractive to
wanting it removed at whatever cost. When Aylmer
asked Georgiana if she had considered removing her
birthmark, she admitted, “it has so often been called
a charm that I was simple enough to imagine it
might be so.” However, right before Aylmer offers
her the elixir, she stated, “I might wish to put off
this birthmark of mortality by relinquishing mortality
itself.” This The conversations between Georgiana
and Aylmer show that Georgiana’s perception of her
birthmark changed drastically from the beginning to
the end of the story.
CROSSOVER Question – ABBC
A similar characteristic that Heidi and Georgiana
both share is that both women are willing to change
their natural appearance for others. In “The
Birthmark,” Georgiana aims to please Aylmer and
says, ”Remove it, whatever be the cost or we shall
both go mad!” She knows that Aylmer might go
“mad” if she does not rid herself of the birthmark.
In “Heidi Montag’s Plastic Surgery: Obsession or
Addiction?” the author says Heidi was “teased when
[she] was younger…which [made her] feel pressure
to be more attractive.” Both women feel the
pressure to change their appearance for others and
eventually do so.