Essay+Writing

Students need to answer questions in essay format to document critical thinking and conceptual understanding.
=== The standardized test for Science in the 5th grade contains open-ended writing responses as well as multiple choice questions. In past years, I have had students score correctly on 75% of the multiple choice answers but score so poorly on the open ended responses to receive a standardized test score of 1. This was due to many students scoring a zero on their open-ended responses! ===

The only way to get a ZERO on an open-ended response is to __not answer the question at all__ or to __provide an answer and explanation that has absolutely no academic value__.
For students to achieve high score for open responses requires skills in expository writing.

Expository Writing follows the CER framwork of Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning.

 * ** Claim ** is the student's answer to an open writing response.
 * ** Evidence ** is the information and data that students gathered through Science lessons and activities.
 * ** Reasoning ** connects the Evidence to the Claim.

I provide lessons where the students in groupings try to answer an open response. The question format involves providing multiple solutions for the students to choose from. The students will discuss the pros and cons with the others in their group. After discussion, each student will choose a solution (Claim) using their information and data gathered in class (Evidence) and provide the reasoning (Reasoning).

I have the students use a tri-folded piece of paper to organize their Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning. All information must be recorded in bulleted sentences by the student. The trifold is then given to another student to assess using a rubric that I provide tailored to that specific Open Response question. I personally assess the student's trifold after each student acts as an assessor. This allows the students to identify their strengths/weakness and adapt.

The Open Response Essay Rubric provided by most schools is in a language that is teacher centered and not student centered for understanding. Below is a modified Open Response Essay Rubric that I give to my students. With the students providing their CER information in sentence format on the trifold, it is easier to write an effective Expository Essay later using this rubric for grading.