Open Response Questions

Whew!!  To ACE an open response question takes a lot of practice and hard work.  We have been working on mastering open response questions for a few weeks now, and we will continue to answer these types of questions for the rest of the year.  I am really trying to conference individually with the students and take this process slow before I let them answer on their own.  I expect them to be over the top answers when I do let them start answering individually. :)  They have an example in their reading notebook that they can refer back to at anytime and hopefully will use when they start answering on their own to make sure they meet the criteria.  In reading I will grade these questions for the content, so I will be looking to see if ALL the questions were answered correctly with evidence.  Also, I will be taking a writing grade on these questions.  In writing they will be graded over the open response format. 
1. )Topic sentence with an answer in the students own words 
2.)  Use a sentence starter
3.)  Cite evidence stating exactly what the text says and cite ALL questions 
4.)  Correctly use language (indent, sentences begin with capital letters, sentences end with punctuation marks, comma after sentence starter, beginning and ending quotes on evidence, spelling)
    *words that can be found in the story or question should not be misspelled*
5.) Write in complete sentences



 

Open Response Question Example

 

 

Open Response Question Rubric

Students can take their journals home any time.  Please make sure that if they do take their journal home they return it the next day, because we work out of the journals daily.