Writing Good Responses:
OPEN ENDED
RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Open-Ended Questions:
There are many different kinds of test
questions, from multiple choice to short
answer. Open-ended questions require
that you answer in your own words, and
your success depends on a few simple
elements.
Open-Ended Responses:
Your score on open-ended responses
depends on two things:
1)How well you understand the reading
selection
2)How well you express your answer in
writing
SLAMS Rules:
There are 5 simple rules to remember to
write good open-ended responses. We call
these the SLAMS rules. By the end of the
presentation, you will know what SLAMS
represents.
S L A M S
SLAMS Rules 1:
 Sentences
Always use complete sentences
when responding to an open-ended
question.
Examples 1:
 According to the selection, what can
African pouched rats be used for?
Bonnie’s answer:
finding mines
Although Bonnie’s answer is correct, she
would not get a good score on the test
because it is not in complete sentences.
Improved answer:
 Bonnie’s answer would have been better if
written like this:
Scientists have found that African giant
pouched rats can be used to sniff out buried
landmines. The rats have a very keen sense
of smell and can be trained to find mines
buried in the ground.
SLAMS Rules 2:
 Lines
Line length = Answer length
The number of lines on a test is a rough
guide for how long your answer
should be.
Lines…
 If you see 4 or 5 lines, you should probably
write about 3 or 4 sentences.
 If you see a whole page of lines, you should
probably write 1 or 2 paragraphs.
 If you see a whole page of lines, you should
write 3 or more paragraphs.
Example 2:
Shaun’s (not-so-good) answer:
How do African pouched rats differ from
ordinary rats?
They are bigger and have pouches._______
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Example 2:
Shaun’s IMPROVED answer:
How do African pouched rats differ from
ordinary rats?
African pouched rats are much bigger
than ordinary rats, even as large as a small
cat! They are also very smart and can be
trained to sniff out landmines or detect
tuberculosis in human saliva samples.
SLAMS Rules 3:
 Answer the Question
This might seem like a logical thing to do,
but many students do not give a good
answer because they do not understand
the question or do not fully answer it. Read
the question carefully and only give
information that actually answers that
question.
Examples 3:
In the wild, what do the giant rats use their
noses for?
Steve’s answer:
The giant rats have super-sensitive noses.
They can smell things you and I could never
smell. We can only smell strong things, like
burning toast or an apple pie cooking in the
oven. But the giant rats can smell much,
much better than that.
Examples 3:
In the wild, what do the giant rats use their
noses for?
David’s answer:
The giant rats use their super-sensitive noses
to sniff out buried food. They collect food in
their cheek pouches and then bury it. Then,
when they get hungry, they use their noses to
sniff out the buried food.
About Examples 3:
Although both answers are true, Steve’s does
not answer the question that is asked:
In the wild, what do the giant rats use their
noses for?
 Most of Steve’s facts are not from the reading passage.
 The question does not ask students to compare the
smelling ability of rats with that of humans, which is
what Steve wrote about.
Therefore, David’s answer is better
because it answers the question that
was asked!
SLAMS Rules 4:
 Mechanics Count!
Mechanics are important! (punctuation,
grammar, spelling) Your answer should
have no mistakes. You won’t get a low
score if you write a good, thorough
response with just a few small errors, but if
your answer has several mistakes, you
could lose major points.
Examples 4:
How can African rats help in the fight
against TB?
Maria’s answer:
The african giant rats can be used in labs to
indentify the spit from a person who has TB
they can be traned to spot the smell of spit.
From a TB pashunt. A human with a
micriscope can only looked at 20 spit samples
a day. But a giant rat can sniff 300 spit
samples an hour.
Examples 4:
Maria’s answer has a lot of good information, but
she would have gotten a much better score if she
had paid attention to mechanics. Her answer
includes
 4 spelling errors
 1 run-on sentence & 1 fragment
 3 mistakes in capitalization
 1 mistake in verb tense
Hint: all of the misspelled words can be found in
the written passage. All she had to do was look
back at the article!
SLAMS Rules 5:
 Support your answers with DETAILS
from the selection!
Support means to include information that explains
or adds to your answer. Supporting details make
your answer complete and thorough.
 For some questions, some or all of the support for your
answers must come from the reading selection you are
reading
 For other questions, it is okay to add your own opinions,
but you MUST include some information from the
selection, no matter what you write
Examples 5:
In training, were all the rats equally good at
sniffing out buried TNT?
Pat’s answer:
No. Some rats were no good.
Christy’s answer:
In training, some rats were better than others at sniffing out
buried TNT. The rat named Julie got a perfect score, and a rat
named Bean was also very good. The rats named Dina and
Bianca never did well.
Vincent’s answer:
Some rats were not as good as other rats. Maybe they were
just not naturally good sniffers, or maybe something was
wrong with their noses. Or maybe they were good sniffers, but
just couldn’t be trained.
Examples 5:
Pat’s answer: (Weak! Not enough supporting details!)
No. Some rats were no good.
Vincent’s answer: (Weak! Details did not come from passage!)
Some rats were not as good as other rats. Maybe they were
just not naturally good sniffers, or maybe something was
wrong with their noses. Or maybe they were good sniffers,
but just couldn’t be trained.
Christy’s answer: (Good! Supports answer with details from
passage!)
In training, some rats were better than others at sniffing out
buried TNT. The rat named Julie got a perfect score, and a rat
named Bean was also very good. The rats named Dina and
Bianca never did well.
SLAMS Rules:
 Sentences – always use complete sentences
 Lines – the number of lines gives you an idea
of how long your response should be
 Answer – read the question more than once
and make sure you answer it thoroughly
 Mechanics – Be careful not to make errors in
grammar, punctuation, capitalization, or
usage
 Support – support your answer with DETAILS
from the passage
You try the SLAMS rules:
On your own paper, write a response to this
question and use the SLAMS rules. Refer to
the passage for your details!
How did the scientists train the African giant
pouched rats to find buried landmines?
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