How Do I Teach the Extended Response Item?
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 studentfriendly rubric to help your students evaluate their own work. One example of an extendedresponse 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.
Where can I find helpful graphic organizers for planning extended responses?
Graphic Organizers
Teaching Today: This Week’s Tips
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/6
This Teaching Today webpage, by Glencoe Online, offers activities and downloadable graphic
organizers, including a K-W-L chart.
Free-ology: Free Graphic Organizers
http://www.freeology.com/graphicorgs/
This webpage has over 15 graphic organizers, each with information on how best to use them
for instruction in your classroom.
Where can I find lesson plans and activities that complement the extended-response process?
Lesson Plans
The Educator’s Reference Desk: Literature All Grades
http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/lessons.cgi/Language_Arts/Literature
This webpage has over 30 links to literature-based lesson plans, including character analysis,
poetry analysis, and identification of figurative language.
Education World ® : Literature Lesson Plans Grades 3–12
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/ah.shtml#lang
This Education World ® webpage has over 40 links to literature-based lesson plans, including
expository writing and critical analysis.
Teachnet: Lesson Plans for Reading — All Grades
http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/langarts/reading/index.html
This webpage has over 10 links to reading lesson plans including sequencing, book report
ideas, and modeling practices. New lesson plans are added on an ongoing basis.
Propaganda Techniques Grades 4 – 12
http://www.col-ed.org/cur/lang/lang25.txt
This lesson has students analyze advertisements to identify five propaganda techniques
(Bandwagon, Testimonial, Transfer, Repetition, Emotional Words) and then create their own
advertisement using one or more of these techniques.
Activities and Projects
Reading Response Journals — All Grades
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/profdev/ profdev085.shtml
This Education World ® professional development article outlines effective ways students can
respond to what they have read by maintaining reading response journals and responding to
different prompts given by the teacher. Here, you will also find links to additional resources
about reading response strategies.
Romeo and Juliet Newspaper — All Grades
http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/2937.html
This class project is an exciting way to familiarize students with the purpose of different types
of writing.
Online Resources
Instructional Resources for Concepts and Organization of Nonfiction
Exploring How Section Headings Support Understanding of Expository Texts
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=24
This ReadWriteThink lesson plan guides students in an exploration of topics and subtopics in
nonfiction texts. Students become aware of the purpose for section headings and sharpen
strategies for understanding the organization of nonfiction texts.
Martin Luther King Jr.: A Fact or Opinion Activity
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/02/lp248-01.shtml
This Education World (R) lesson plan reinforces understanding of the differences between
fact and opinion in nonfiction writing.
Traveling Terrain: Comprehending Nonfiction Text on the Web
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=98
Students explore a website to search for specific information within nonfiction texts and to
identify text features using this ReadWriteThink lesson.
Reading Instructional Resource Databases
National Council of Teachers of English
http://www.ncte.org
NCTE is devoted to improving the teaching of English Language Arts at all levels by addressing
classroom and professional concerns.
The International Reading Association
http://www.reading.org
Resources for teachers, reading specialists, tutors, and others concerned about literacy.
The Children's Literature Web Guide
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/
This guide has links to children's literature, as well as lesson plans, discussion boards and
quick reference lists of award-winning and best-selling books for kids.
Educator's Reference Desk
http://www.eduref.org
The Educator's Reference Desk provides education information to teachers, librarians,
counselors, administrators, parents, and anyone interested in education.
Can Teach
http://www.canteach.ca/
A non-commercial site created to assist teachers in finding and using resources online.