Read-Think-Explain

Our students are learning how to respond to a test question in an essay format which they will have to apply on the Reading FCAT. This is an example of a 2-Point Short Response. Our goal is to answer this type of question in approximately five minutes. Students are to use the key words from the question and restate the question in a topic sentence. They are to answer the question and support it with details from the text. Here is a student example of a Short Response Read-Think-Explain that earned full credit, 2 points.

Why did Dad keep putting things in the wrong places? Use information and details from the story to explain your answer.

Dad kept putting things in the wrong places because he was so exhausted from waking up in the middle of the night to take care of his newborn baby daughter. As he shuffled around the house in his slippers, he tried to pick up the messes of Grandma Ana and his young son, but he was so tired that he would misplace things. For example, he put toy police cars in the refrigerator along with laundry detergent. Dad put the milk in the laundry room. Dad's sleep was disturbed by the newborn baby crying and wanting milk in the middle of the night. Dad was lacking in sleep.

Another Example:

How does the narrator MOST LIKELY feel about growing up? Use details and information from the poem to explain your answer.

The narrator most likely feels like she might miss some things about her younger days. In the text, she questions if the squirrel was glad to be up so high or if he wished he were closer to the ground. This made her think about herself growing up and leaving something behind and possibly missing something that she once enjoyed when she was younger and smaller. The narrator thinks that growing up might cause her to miss her youth.