Constructed Response Answers

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Constructed Response Answers

• Using critical thinking skills to demonstrate
  mastery

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ContentWhat are constructed response
questions?Typical CR PromptCR Essay ExampleCR
Short Response ExampleHow are CR scored?The
EssayState text examples of constructed response
questions.Nevadas Constructed response rubric
What kind of questions do CRs answer? Global
Understanding Developing Interpretation Diana
MacIntryes CR lesson
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What are constructed response questions?

• They are open ended, short answer questions or
  extended response questions that measure
  application-level cognitive skills as well as
  content knowledge. No opinion questions.
• They use a range of primary and secondary stimuli
  and authentic real world examples including
  time lines, maps, graphs, cartoons, charts, and
  short readings.

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Typical CR Prompt The prompt is then followed
by 3-4 questions which may be answered by using
only information from the prompt OR outside
information. The prompt is usually a primary
source document and requires that students
analyze and interpret in order to answer the
questions.
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For example, let us say that the first
constructed response item is an illustration of
pirates on a ship. The illustration is the
prompt. The prompt may or may not include an
explanation or caption identifying what it is.
Students need to be alert for such hints as
captions, symbols, etc. because they will be
helpful, if not necessary, in answering the
questions which follow.
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1. What symbols do you see in this political
cartoon? 2. What does the ship represent? 3. Who
do the "pirates" represent? 4. What political
point of view is the artist expressing here?
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• During the Presidential election of 1860, there
  was bitter disagreement among members of the
  Democratic Party on the question of slavery.
  Southern Democrats wanted to protect slavery and
  Northern Democrats wanted to prevent it from
  spreading. So when the Democrats nominated the
  anti-slavery candidate, Stephen Douglas (Ill.),
  the Southerners walked out of the convention and
  held their own meeting. They nominated their own
  candidate, a slave owner from Kentucky, John C.
  Breckinridge.
• A new political party also emerged in 1860,
  called the Constitutional Union Party. This party
  ran on a platform which opposed sectionalism and
  nominated John Bell of Tennessee. In May, 1860,
  the Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln
  for the office of President.
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Here are the results of the election

• Rank the four presidential candidates in order of
  the number of popular votes each received.
• 2. Rank the four presidential candidates in order
  of the number of electoral votes each received.
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• 3. Did any of the candidates receive a majority
  of the popular votes? Explain.
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• 4. Did any of the candidates receive a majority
  of the electoral votes? Explain.
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• 5. Approximately what percentage of the people
  voted for someone other than Lincoln (rounded off
  to the nearest percent)?
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• 6. According to the Constitution, which candidate
  wins in a presidential race?
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CR Essays

• CR essay questions are used both as formative
  assessments (in classrooms) and summative
  assessments (on standardized tests). There are 2
  major categories of essay questions short
  response ( also referred to as restricted or
  brief) and extended response.

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Short CR

• Short response questions are more focused and
  constrained than extended response questions.
• write an example list three reasons
• compare and contrast two techniques etc.
• Short response items on most state assessments
  are designed to take about 5 minutes to complete.

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Extended CR questions

• Are lengthier and more complex exercises that
  allow for a finer level of discrimination in
  scoring the responses.

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What kind of questions do CRs answer?

• Global understanding
• Developing interpretation
• Critical analysis

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Global Understanding

• What is the overall meaning of the story?
• Examples Summarize the story. Use support from
  the text in your summary. What information could
  someone learn from reading -------?

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Developing Interpretation

• Thinking about ideas to support characterization,
  setting, problem, solution, topic and supporting
  details, sequence of events, cause and effects.
• Examples
• Compare the character in this story to a
  character in another story.
• Restate the information from the newsletter.

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Critical Analysis

• Analyze what you have read using authors
  purpose, authors craft, elements of the text and
  usefulness of the text.
• Examples
• Based on what you have read, is the title of the
  text a good one? Why or why not?
• How do the graphs, maps, etc. help you understand
  the text?

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Stance Questions

• KINDERGARTEN Rosies Walk by Pat Hutchins
• Where does this story take place? What details
  from the book support your answer?
• What happened to the fox when Rosie walked across
  the yard?
• What does the author want you to learn from the
  story?

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Stance Questions GRADE 1

• Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
• Name one character trait that describes Bear.
  Give an example from the book to support your
  answer.
• Do you think Tops and Bottoms is a good name for
  this book? Why or Why not? What is another name
  that the author could use instead of Tops and
  Bottoms? Use examples from the text in your
  response.

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Stance Question Grade 3

• Amber Brown is not a crayon by Paula Danziger
• Make some predictions about the characters and
  events in the story. Remember to use examples
  from the story in your predictions.

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Stance Question Grade 5

• From the Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler
  by E. L. Konigsburg
• How did the authors choice of setting affect the
  characters in the story? Be sure to use support
  from the story in your response.

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How are CR scored?

• They are graded against specific criterion
  (employ a scoring rubric).
• They are scored by trained scorers.
• Each response is read at least twice, thus
  insuring reliabiltiy of the scoring instrument.

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Nevadas CRT CR Scoring Rubric

• Score Point Expectation
• Full Credit
• Your response demonstrates understanding
  of the reading.
• Your response addresses all parts of the
  question.
• Your response includes enough related
  details to support your answer.
• Partial Credit
• Your response demonstrates
  understanding of the reading.
• Your response addresses only part of the
  question.
• Your response includes some
  details to support your answer.
• Your response may include details that do
  not support your answer.
• Minimal Credit
• Your response demonstrates a limited
  understanding of the reading.
• Your response includes few details to
  support your answer.
• Your response includes unrelated and
  inaccurate details.
• No Credit
• Your response is incorrect.

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Teacher created CR questions.

• Clearly state what the student is to do
• Use direct and concise sentence structure
• Specify the kind of reasoning to be demonstrated
• Identify the Core Learning Goal Indicator and the
  course content to be measured.
• Ask a broad, higher level question which will
  allow for a variety of acceptable responses.
• Be sure to let students know how to approach
  writing a response - "include details and
  examples to support your answer."
• List possible answer cues (look fors) that you
  would expect in a well-written response. Use
  these cues and your Rubric to score student
  responses.
• Identify exemplary anchor papers for each level.

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Teaching Strategies

• Techniques critical for testing success, include
  the ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate
  information.
• Students need to know authors purpose, cause and
  effect, chronological order, graphic organizers,
  probable passage, selective underlining,
  semantic feature analysis, and story mapping.

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Diana MacIntrye CR lesson

• Four simple steps for learning how to construct a
  response.
• First, read the information
• Second, determine what the question is asking.
• Next, decide which information is not needed
• Then decide which operation(s) to use to solve
  the problem.

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If you do not understand the question, you can go
back and reread it in order to better
understandwhat the question is asking.
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A classroom has 24 students and one teacher
in it.Tre and Bryan each brought a dozen cookies
to school. Rafael burnt some cookies at home.
Jennifer forgot to bring some to share.
Which information is not needed to solve
the problem? Underline it. How many cookies did
the students bring to school in all?
Explain and show your work. How many
cookies will each student get? Describe and
show your work.
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Your answer sheet should look something like
this The information I dont need to solve the
problem is Rafael burnt some cookies at home and
Jennifer forgot to bring some to share. Tre
brought 12 cookies and Bryan brought 12 cookies
so all together they brought 24 cookies to
school. 12 or 12
12 x12
24 24 There are 24 students
in the classroom and 24 cookies were brought to
school. Each student will get one cookie.
24/241
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Questions?

• The End