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Write and Check Essay and Short Answer Questions

Tags

ELA: Writing Study Skills & Tools MS/HS/College Strategy

Skills

Organization Working Memory Attention Verbal Reasoning

Write and Check Essay and Short Answer Questions

If your student often doesn't answer the question asked or answer thoroughly on tests

Teach It!

  1. Objective: Students will use a structured approach to writing and editing essay or short answers on exams to ensure they have fully answered the questions.
  2. Instruction and Practice: Work through the guides with your student (next slides) to prepare them for writing thorough and well thought-out responses on exams.

*students* Guide: Writing And Checking Exam Essays

  1. Budget your time so you have time to write and then edit your essay twice.
  2. Start by brainstorming or creating an outline so you have all of your ideas and a logical organizational structure.
  3. Before you begin writing, double-check that your thesis answers the exam question.
  4. Write your answer as efficiently as possible. Then move on and finish the rest of the test.
  5. With fresh eyes, edit your writing twice.
  6. In your first review, focus only on content. Did you include the most important ideas from your outline? Did you provide at least three pieces of evidence to support your thesis? Do you have clear topic sentences and summary sentences for each paragraph? Do the ideas flow in a logical order? Are there any other key details you can add? Are you uncertain of any details you included? If so, do you have enough other supporting evidence to delete them?
  7. In your second review, focus on grammar and spelling. Does each sentence have a subject and verb? Did you use appropriate punctuation and capitalization? Are stray marks fully erased so the paper is legible? Can you include more descriptive vocabulary?

*students* Guide: Checking Short Answer Questions

  1. Re-read the question and be sure your answered it fully, especially if it is a multi-part question.
  2. When you re-read your answer, confirm that it directly answers the question. If you have information that is not entirely essential or might not be accurate, consider excluding it.
  3. When you are confident in the content, re-read for grammar and spelling. Make sure your writing is legible, your spelling is correct, you are using proper grammar, and have erased stray marks that could confuse your teacher.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

Many times our eyes see what we expect them to see, especially when we immediately re-read. This is why it is best to re-read your answers with fresh eyes, perhaps after you have completed another part of the test. Going over your writing twice with two separate approaches, once for content and once for spelling and grammar, is important to make sure you fully address all aspects of your answer.