R.A.C.E. Strategy :: Written Response

Reading Response / R.A.C.E. Strategy

E - EXPLAIN your own personal understanding of this information.

Isaac Fox Elementary

This shows that Williams believes that using goats to eat the unwanted plants saves the rivers and dogs from harmful chemicals. I had a neighbor with a goat, and that goal ate everything-clothes, toys, flowers. Eating plants would be no problem for a goat.

Let's try it together!

Copy the following question into your writer's notebook:

5th Grade / SpiceBurger

C – CITE EVIDENCE (exact words/specific examples) from the text that support your answer.

R – RESTATE the question

What is the main reason why Williams did not want to use chemicals to kill plants and

unwanted vegetation?

• Prove it! Identify where the answer is found.
• If you use someone else's exact words you NEED to put them in quotation marks ("Quotes").
• You want to be selective about the evidence you choose to include in your response. Be sure to choose evidence that BEST SUPPORTS YOUR ANSWER.

The person reading your answer should be able to understand exactly what you are talking about without seeing the question.

This information can be found right in the question! Use the question stem to

begin response.

What is the R.A.C.E. strategy & how does it work?

"In the reading pasage..." -or- "In the story..."

"I think..." -or- "I believe..."

The R.A.C.E strategy is a method used to thoroughly answer a question. First, writers restate the question in a full sentence (R – RESTATE). Then, writers answerthe question in a brief statement (A – ANSWER). Next, writers must go back to the text to look for and cite the evidence that best supports their answer (C - CITE). Finally, writers use background knowlege, experiences, and connections to elaborate/extend and build on to the answer (E - EXPLAIN).

A – Gives a specific ANSWER to the question.

R - RESTATE the question

"I think..." BECAUSE

"I believe..." BECAUSE

C - CITE EVIDENCE (exact words/specific examples) from the text that supports your answer

Williams did not not want to use chemicals to kill plants and unwanted vegetation.

A - Gives a specific ANSWER to the question

In paragraph three, the text says, "...he didn't want to use chemicals." In paragraph four, the text says, "the land is close to the river and dogs walk around without leashes."

Williams believes that chemicals could harm dogs, and the river.

• This should be short and concise (brief or to the point)
• Your answer may or may not come directly from the story. It may be your own opinionated statement based on how you interpret the text.

E - EXPLAIN your own personal understanding of this information and how it supports your answer

• Use background knowledge, experience, and connections to build on the answer.
• Make a connection—text to self; text to text; or text to world

How does it all fit together?

Now, try it on your own!

R.A.C.E. Strategy Explained

Look back at the article and answer the following question using the strategy we just discussed!

What is R.A.C.E. an acronym for?

All together now!

How does using goats save money?

Be prepared to share your answer!

R: Restate

A: Answer

C: Cite

E: Explain

• Responding to literature or text is not always about right and wrong answers. Many times there is more than one “right” answer or there are ways to make an answer “better.”
• In order for your response to be a truly great response, you need to include more than just a simple answer.
• To help meet this goal we will practice using the R.A.C.E. strategy to develop more complete answers to questions about literature.

In the article Haunted by an overgrown cemetery? Call eco-goats, by McClatchy, Williams did not not want to use chemicals to kill plants and unwanted vegetation because Williams believes that chemicals could harm dogs, and the river. In paragraph three, the text says, "...he didn't want to use chemicals." In paragraph four, the text says, "the land is close to the river and dogs walk around without leashes." This shows that Williams believes that using goats to eat the unwanted plants saves the rivers and dogs from harmful chemicals. I had a neighbor with a goat, and that goal ate everything-clothes, toys, flowers. Eating plants would be no problem for a goat.

Do Now:

Restate the following questions in your writer's notebooks and answer each one using a full sentence:

What did you do last night when you got home from school?

Why is it important to be on time for school every day?

If you don’t know a friends number, how might you find it?

CLOSE Read

and Annotate

Ways to restate a question and make a full sentence:

Last night when I got home from school I…

It is important to be on time for school every day…

If I don’t know a friends number I could…

Restating Questions