1. ANSWER
The Strategy

2. Open Response Grading
Thoroughness Did you answer the question entirely?
AccuracyAre your answers correct?
Clarity Can I understand you?
Use of textual evidence Did you use support from text?
The open response questions measure comprehension. Not creativity or style.

3. Snafus
Endurance
Weak vocab (remember that list I gave you yesterday…?)
Open response experience with a brand, shiny new text

4. A Analyze the question
N Note plan
S Skim, Read (“Skread”), Select
W Write the response
ER End by Reviewing

5. A Analyze
Determine the ESSENTIAL QUESTION (about what are you being asked to write)
Determine what info is REQUIRED TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
Mark KEY WORDS in the question
Ignore the multiple choice!
In this passage, Gene describes Finny’s magnetic personality. Using clear examples from the text, show how Finny’s charisma draws other people to him.

6. N Note Plan Set up two-column notes
Restate question at the top
Main idea column in the LEFT
Support details in the RIGHT
Practice: In this passage, Gene describes Finny’s magnetic personality. Using clear examples from the text, show how Finny’s charisma draws other people to him.

7. Main Idea: Finny’s Charisma Supporting Details
Prompt: Using clear examples from the text, show how Finny’s charisma draws other people to him.
Main Idea: Finny’s Charisma 1. 2. 3.
Supporting Details

8. Practice A and N
In the excerpt, Burn Sanderson’s arrival affects Mama, Travis and little Arliss differently. Describe how each character reacts to Burn Sanderson’s visit. Support your answer with important and specific details from the excerpt.

9. Practice A and N
In the excerpt, Burn Sanderson’s arrival affects Mama1, Travis2 and Little Arliss3 differently. Describe how each character reacts to Burn Sanderson’s visit. Support your answer with important and specific details from the excerpt.

10. Main Idea: Effects of Burn Sander’s arrival on main characters
Prompt: Describe how each character reacts to Burn Sanderson’s visit. Support your answer with important and specific details from the excerpt.
Main Idea: Effects of Burn Sander’s arrival on main characters
1. Mama
2. Travis
3. Arlis
Supporting Details

11. Practice A and N
Elie Wiesel describes how the arrival at Birkenau creates both anxiety and disbelief among the prisoners. Explain how the various people react to the horror they experience. Be sure to give three examples with specific examples from the text.

12. Prompt: Explain how the various people react to the horror they experience. Give three examples with specific examples from the text.
Main Idea: Prisoner’s anxiety and disbelief created by horror experienced as they arrive 1. 2. 3.
Supporting Details

13. S Skread (Skim, read, Select)
Only highlight for RELEVANT content
Chart WHILE reading

14. W Write First Sentence Evidence Keep it to the point
Restate the question
Evidence
Start with each main idea in the LEFT COLUMN of notes
Add the SUPPORTING DETAILS from the RIGHT COLUMN to generate one or two sentences
REPEAT for each main idea

15. W Write Use transition words! I have a list for you…
The answer does NOT have to be multiple paragraphs!
No need for a concluding sentence!

16. ER End by Reviewing Reread the question
Make sure you FULLY answered it
Is it Thorough?
Is it Accurate?
Is it Clear?
Did you use the Text effectively?

17. Example
Prompt: Analyze what Howard’s thoughts throughout the passage reveal about his personality. Use information from the passage to support your analysis.
Response:
Howard’s thoughts reveal that his appreciative personality is rooted in his respect for his past. Even though he has been living “out east” for years, his source of inspiration is firmly grounded in the West of his childhood. When he is staring out the window of the train, he thinks of the passing landscape as being “his West.” Later on, when he accepts a ride home from his uncle, he feels like “he had been away only for a month or two,” instead of 10 years. Finally, when he and his uncle are looking at the beauty of the fields and hills from the buggy, both Howard and his uncle know not to disrupt the subtle beauty of the scene by talking.
The student has given a clear, complete, and accurate analysis by stating what Howard’s thoughts throughout the passage reveal about his personality (“Howard’s thoughts reveal that he is sentimental about his hometown”). The student supports the analysis with relevant and specific information from the passage (“he feels pride for being a ‘Western man,’” “He thinks the green hills are beautiful and majestic,” and “he recognizes the men near the salt barrels and smiles because they are unchanged”).

18. Practice!
On the back of the sheet given to you, fill in the steps for the ANSWER acronym
In the box below that, fill in the steps for the Note Taking Chart (write, in order, how you would complete your notes chart)
To the right of that, create an example chart (how you would set it up)
In the top right, list what you should not do as you write your response

19. Practice! Part Deux.
Using “Two Tramps in Mud Time” apply the ANSWER strategy.
Use a separate sheet of paper, read the prompts (one at a time) and FOLLOW ALL STEPS
We will review this poem together Friday in more detail, so no worries if there are nuances you are confused about