A Reading Response Strategy What is RAD? A Reading Response Strategy Created by Mrs. Flynn

What is RAD? RAD is a strategy I designed to help students respond to questions about reading. Each letter stands for an required part of their answer.

What are the required elements? R stands for restate. A stands for answer. D stands for details.

How to write a really good answer to a writing prompt. How to Use RAD How to write a really good answer to a writing prompt.

Here’s a sample prompt. Tell what you noticed about the main character, Goldilocks, in the story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. What can you tell by her words and actions?

Level One Answer She is a girl that goes to their house. Avoid using pronouns. Be specific and use names. Only the first part of the prompt is answered in a very general way.

Level Two Answer Goldilocks is a girl that goes into the bears’ house uninvited when the bears aren’t home. This is a good start, but only the first part of the question was answered. Tell what you noticed about the main character, Goldilocks, in the story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. What can you tell by her words and actions?

Level Three Answer The main character, Goldilocks, is a young girl that goes into the bears’ house uninvited when the bears aren’t home. Her actions show she’s bad because you shouldn’t do that. Restate: Using part of the prompt in the answer helps us to focus on a main point. This is a more complete answer, but the details and character traits are too general.

Level Four Answer Goldilocks, the main character in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” is a disrespectful girl that breaks into the bears’ house when the three bears aren’t home. She eats their porridge, breaks their chair, and even sleeps in the baby’s bed. When she’s discovered she doesn’t even apologize! Her illegal actions show she’s thoughtless and dishonest. Character traits should be as precise as possible. The story details are very specific and match the character traits.

Let’s read the prompt again. Tell what you noticed about the main character, Goldilocks, in the story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. What can you tell by her words and actions?

Now, Let’s look for the RAD elements. Restate Answer Goldilocks, the main character in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” is a disrespectful girl that breaks into the bears’ house when the three bears aren’t home. She eats their porridge, breaks their chair, and even sleeps in the baby’s bed. When she’s discovered she doesn’t even apologize! Her illegal actions show she’s thoughtless and dishonest. Details

REVIEW of RAD R stands for restate. A stands for answer. D stands for details. Remember to use RAD when responding to our class blog.