Writing about Reading: Constructed Response Collaborating with colleagues on constructed response? Here is a page of resources and ideas.
Great news, Northern Nevada! Our Constructed Response Summit has been funded for yet another run in 2008-09. If you're a Northern Nevada teacher, click here to open/print the summit flyer, which has information on how to participate.
Hello, my name is Kristi Pettengill, and before coordinating this collection of resources on Constructed Response, I was in charge of creating the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Reading in the Content Areas Guide.
Constructed Response (CR) is, quite simply, a written response to a question. In Nevada, students are asked to "construct" answers to questions on our Reading, Math, and Science Criterion Referenced Tests. (For more about how Constructed Response is used on the Nevada CRT visit the Nevada Department of Education Website.) CR is a great way to determine whether or nor students have really gotten it - they can't guess their way to a right answer.
In classrooms, teachers use CR all the time in short answer, mini-essays, and other types of responses. Truthfully, we've been using for a long time! Now, Constructed Response is in the spotlight because this question format is on our high-stakes tests.
Our purpose here is to help teachers and students become more familiar with (and better users of) constructed response. Yes, because it's on "the test," but also because we believe that any chance to get students writing about what they are reading is an opportunity not to be wasted.
In February 2006, faced with the arrival of "constructed response" as a new addition to our state tests, we brought together a small group of innovative teachers representing all grade levels
We asked these teachers to spend the spring learning how to teach their students how to construct answers to reading passages that would do well if assessed by the state test's CR rubric.
The goal of these teachers' work was to gather enough wisdom to begin a website where any teacher could come to not only access for free the classroom resources we created but also nuggets of wisdom from teachers who'd successfully taught constructed response to their students.
During this project, we learned about ourselves and about our students as writers. This page is where we have posted and will continue to post constructed response materials for any teacher to access and use.
We thank the following teachers from that original cadre: Denise Boswell, Kim Cuevas, Jim Frost, Corbett Harrison, Trish Lucas, Sandy Madura, Kristi Pettengill, Kim Polson, Liz Schroeder, Sherri Urban, and Bonnie Vogler.
Presenters at our September full-day training were: Kim Cuevas, Georgia Cuolombe, Mary Dunton, Corbett Harrison, Abby Kirst, Allison List, and Tiffany McMasters.
In November of 2007, the teachers came back for some additional training, but mostly they came back to share their discoveries about using constructed response with students at many grade levels. We were delighted with how much we learned from each other at our first follow-up.
In April, we will meet with these teachers one more time, sharing once again new discoveries about CR while determining how to best share these discoveries with our own staffs.
At our summit, we've discovered this: constructed response is not rocket science; it's a basic comprehension tool that is beneficial to students who do it regularly. Learning CR doesn't require outside, expensive presenters to come in and train a staff. What CR requires is the diligence of a teacher who believes teaching it well and regularly is a good idea. If students learn how responding to text in this manner is a life-skill as well as test-taking skill, then our summit has achieved its intended purpose, and we'll offer it again in the 2008-2009 school year.
One of the things that quickly became apparent when our Constructed Response Cadre started working on drafting constructed response questions was how difficult it is to craft a really good question. We all agreed that drafting questions that require students to really think and make connections was important. After all, if the students are going to take the time to write a response, and you are going to take the time to read and grade that response, make them think!
Below, find several resources we've assembled to help teachers craft better Constructed Response questions:
There are many ways to help students learn to craft quality constructed responses. It's important to remember that the key is that students MUST demonstrate comprehension of the text through their responses. That means that their responses do not have to be grammatically sound, nor especially well written. They simply need to answer all parts of the question correctly.
There are, however, tools that we can provide for our students that will help them organize their thinking to better answer a constructed response question. Having tools that students can use often makes them more comfortable when faced with a constructed response item on a test. Below find the tools we offer here at WritingFix:
"I was amazed when it came time to take the CRT test. My ESL students knew exactly what to do when they came to the constructed response questions. They started underlining, made notes, and confidently answered the questions."
The best tool for assessing constructed responses is a rubric. In the CRT test booklet, our state gives each student a general rubric for responding to constructed response questions. Then, each question is assessed using a rubric designed especially for that question and passage. We encourage teachers to pattern their rubrics after the CR rubric from the state CRT. It's a sound instrument, and it helps students become more familiar with the tool that they can use on the CRT test. We like to create the rubric with students, but sometimes it's more appropriate to create the rubric before students begin to write. The key is to make sure that the rubric is in kid-friendly language that students can understand and use to assess their own work.
We also encourage you to show students samples of Constructed Responses so they can see what a one would look like, a 2, and so forth.
In 2006, WritingFix commissioned Sheila Stone Dill , a Northern Nevada writer, to craft the nineteen passages found on the remainder of this page. They are provided for you to use freely with your students. The passages are sorted by grade level, but can certainly be used by multiple grades.
We cannot emphasize enough how critical it is to MODEL all the steps of Constructed Response with your students.
Other CR assessment resources to use:
Leveled practice passages with questions, rubrics, and student samples:
Rubric Template- a simple form you can use with students to create a rubric.
Post-it Checklist, version 1 -Designed by Kristi Pettengill, this is a sheet of six revision checklists that--if desired--can be printed onto actual Post-It notes and used by students to assess their own responses. Click here for instruction to print them on Post-It notes.
Post-it Checklist, version 2 -Designed by the Nevada Department of Education, this is a sheet of six revision checklists that--if desired--can be printed onto actual Post-It notes and used by students to assess their own responses. Click here for instruction to print them on Post-It notes.
Trait-based Post-it Checklist, for all students -Designed collaboratively at our CR Summit, this is a sheet of six revision checklists that--if desired--can be printed onto actual Post-It notes and used by students to assess their own responses. Click here for instruction to print them on Post-It notes.
Trait-based Post-it Checklist, for advanced students -Designed collaboratively at our CR Summit, this is a sheet of six revision checklists that--if desired--can be printed onto actual Post-It notes and used by students to assess their own responses. Click here for instruction to print them on Post-It notes.
Six assessment suggestions from our CR Cadre:
The rubric must match the CR question. The 3 expectations should be very close to the actual question.
Try to see what the students see - take off the teacher hat and put on the student hat.
Be as specific as possible. If the answer has to contain specific information, list it.
Use the same verbs and terms from the question in the rubric.
Watch words like "at least" or "all." These need to be supported in the text and state in the rubric.
If the question has more than one part, the rubric needs to specifically address all parts of the question
Third Grade Passage with Question, Rubric, and Student Samples:
"Dat-so-la-lee" -- a passage for third grade reading levels with a CR question, a rubric, and a class set of student samples. The samples are included to encourage you to teach your students how to score constructed responses by using the rubric and looking closely at the question. Teacher Denise Boswell, who provided the samples and the rubric, includes her commentary on these handouts.
Fourth Grade Passage with Question, Rubric, and Student Samples:
"Meals on Wheels" -- a passage for fourth grade reading levels with a CR question, a rubric, and eight student samples. The samples are included to encourage you to teach your students how to score constructed responses by using the rubric and looking closely at the question. Thanks to teacher Sue Savage for sharing the rubric and the student samples.
Fifth Grade Passage with Question, Rubric, and Student Samples:
"A Clubhouse for Trevor and Me" a passage for fifth grade reading levels with a CR question, a rubric, and several student samples. The samples are included to encourage you to teach your students how to score constructed responses by using the rubric and looking closely at the question. Thanks to teacher Liz Schroeder for sharing the rubric and the student samples.
Another Fifth Grade Passage with Question, Rubric, and Student Samples:
"My Grampa's Garden" a passage for fifth grade reading levels with a CR question, a place to build a rubric with your students, and eleven student samples. The samples are included to encourage you to teach your students how to score constructed responses by using the rubric and looking closely at the question. Thanks to teacher Donna Chaney for sharing the rubric and the student samples.
Sixth Grade Passage with Question, Rubric, and Student Samples:
"Clouds Forecast the Weather"a passage for sixth grade reading levels with a CR question, a rubric, and a set of student samples. The samples are included to encourage you to teach your students how to score constructed responses by using the rubric and looking closely at the question. Thanks to teacher Torrey Palmer for sharing the rubric and the student samples.
Seventh Grade Passage with Question, Rubric, and Student Samples:
"Make a Wish, the Rick Gunn Story"a passage for seventh grade reading levels with a CR question, a rubric, and a set of student samples. The samples are included to encourage you to teach your students how to score constructed responses by using the rubric and looking closely at the question. Thanks to teacher Lisa Larson for sharing the rubric and the student samples.
More Practice Passages for which We are Seeking Questions, Rubrics, and Student Samples
An offer to Nevada teachers from WritingFix! Create a good CR question, a passage-specific rubric, and help us acquire ten or more student samples using one of the passages below, and we'll send you a classroom resource to show our appreciation. Contact Corbett Harrison at charrison@washoe.k12.nv.us if you're interested, and let him know which passage from below you might use.
2nd grade passages these leveled passages were written for WritingFix by Nevadan Sheila Stone Dill
3rd grade passages these leveled passages were written for WritingFix by Nevadan
Sheila Stone Dill
Writing about Reading: Constructed Response 
In February 2006, faced with the arrival of "constructed response" as a new addition to our state tests, we brought together a small group of innovative teachers representing all grade levels 
In 2006, WritingFix commissioned Sheila Stone Dill , a Northern Nevada writer, to craft the nineteen passages found on the remainder of this page. They are provided for you to use freely with your students. The passages are sorted by grade level, but can certainly be used by multiple grades. 
