Quick Tip for English Language Development Teachers

• Download Quick Tip for English Language Development Teachers

Secondary ELD Teachers, check out this week’s ELD Quick Tip! This week you’ll learn a writing strategy that you can use in any ELD class and get the links for ACCESS test practice.

Strategy to Try: Respond with RACE

Now is a great time to help students practice answering constructed response items! Teach them the RACE structure:

• Restate the question
• Answer the question
• Cite text evidence
• Explain with details

Students can use this structure in spoken and written responses. To scaffold this structure so that students are ready to use it on their own, you can:

• model the structure in pieces like in this blog post
• create a graphic organizer that breaks their response into the 4 separate pieces
• have students respond orally first like in this video 
• create sentence stems like the ones in this blog post 

Examples

• Get Ready: The “Connect to Science” lesson in Unit 3 is a great example of the R and A parts of this structure. You can use it as a model for students of how to answer questions!
• Bridges: Every reading selection has “check in” questions about the story. Have students practice using RACE to respond in writing at each check in point and then use those responses for their book club discussions after the reading.
• Engage: Every reading selection has questions on the side that students can use to practice this structure. You could have them discuss the questions throughout the story as a group and then use RACE to respond in writing to a prompt at the end of the story.

ACCESS Test Practice

There are multiple places that your students can practice for the ACCESS test! Click the links to go straight to each resource.

• Test Demo: this shows students how the platform works 
• Test Practice: Short (5-10 minute) practices. These are the same that students will see at the beginning of the test. 
• Sample Test: More complex, leveled practice items