How to answer extended response questions

How to answer
extended
response
questions
AEC strategy
3 parts of a top notch
response:
A
- assertion
E - evidence
C - commentary
Assertion
The assertion is where you
state your answer to the
question.
Use the language (terms) from
the question
State what you think
Evidence
Provide evidence from the text to
support your assertion statement.
 Use the comma quote strategy - The text
states, “…..”
 You can paraphrase (put the information
from the text into your own words) if you
are specific
 Using MULTIPLE pieces of evidence will
result in a higher score
Commentary
This is the most important part of your
answer and should be the longest part of
the answer. The purpose of the
commentary is to prove (show) how the
evidence supports your assertion.
 This proves that….
 I know this because…
 This supports my answer because…
Examples
The following slides will show a few example
responses to questions from “All American
Slurp” that were submitted in Mrs.
Schumacher’s class last week. Think about
the quality of the answers and what could
be done to improve the response if
necessary.
Read the question and response below
– what is the assertion part of the
answer?
Q: How did the Lin family feel at the
Gleason’s dinner party? Support your
answer with textual evidence.
A: The Lin family felt nervous and awkward.
The passage says, “As our family of four sat
stiffly in a row, my younger brother and I
stole glances at our parents for a clue as to
what to do next.” So they felt different and
didn’t know what to do.
The assertion is highlighted. Notice the
answer uses the same wording as the
original question.
A: The Lin family felt nervous and awkward.
The passage says, “As our family of four sat
stiffly in a row, my younger brother and I
stole glances at our parents for a clue as to
what to do next.” So they felt different and
didn’t know what to do.
Read the question and the response
below. How is the answer supported
with evidence?
Q:Infer the age of the narrator. Support your answer with evidence
from the text.
A: I infer the narrator’s age to be between 10 and
14. In the text it says that the narrator’s parents met
her homeroom teacher. This means she is probably
in middle school because most elementary classes
wouldn’t refer to their teacher that way. The text
also says that she got “acquainted with a few other
kids from school” and “the next day Meg and I got
on the school bus together.” These clues helped me
infer that Meg was between 10 and 14 because it
makes sense that she would be meeting new kids at
school and riding a school bus instead of being old
enough to drive.
This response uses multiple pieces of evidence and
combines direct quotes and paraphrasing to support
the writer’s inference.

A: I infer the narrator’s age to be between 10 and
14. In the text it says that the narrator’s parents
met her homeroom teacher. This means she is
probably in middle school because most
elementary classes wouldn’t refer to their teacher
that way. The text also says that she got
“acquainted with a few other kids from school”
and “the next day Meg and I got on the school
bus together.” These clues helped me infer that
Meg was between 10 and 14 because it makes
sense that she would be meeting new kids at
school and riding a school bus instead of being
old enough to drive.
Can you identify the commentary used
to support this answer?
Q: What does the narrator come to realize
about life at the end of the story?
A: The narrator comes to find out that all
cultures have similarities. The text says, “Do you
always slurp when you eat a milkshake?” This
tells me that the narrator is finally seeing that the
Chinese and American cultures do share some
things. For the Lin family, they slurped soup; for
Meg’s family, they slurped milkshakes. It may
not be the most important thing, but it helped
her see that both cultures shared something.
Notice that the biggest part of this answer is the
commentary. Without the commentary, this would be
a weak response. The commentary shows that the
writer does understand the text.
The narrator comes to find out that all cultures
have similarities. The text says, “Do you always
slurp when you eat a milkshake?” This tells me
that the narrator is finally seeing that the
Chinese and American cultures do share some
things. For the Lin family, they slurped soup; for
Meg’s family, they slurped milkshakes. It may
not be the most important thing, but it helped
her see that both cultures shared something.
What could be done to
improve this response?
Q: Choose a key sentence that
demonstrates the narrator’s perspective of
her family. What strategy was used by the
author to show the narrator’s perspective?
A: “and in the silence our family’s
consumption of soup suddenly seemed
unnaturally loud.” This shows the narrator
was embarrassed.
This response does not answer everything the
question asked. What strategy did the author
use do develop the narrator’s perspective?
The commentary also does not really SHOW
anything.

A: This sentence shows that the narrator was
embarrassed by her family. “and in the silence our
family’s consumption of soup suddenly seemed
unnaturally loud.” The writer is using the strategy of
revealing the narrator’s thoughts to develop
perspective. By saying that the way they were
eating seemed loud, we understand that the
narrator is embarrassed by the behavior of her
family.
What could be done to
improve this response?
Q: What does the narrator come to realize
about life at the end of the story?
A: There really isn’t a difference between
American and Chinese people. “As any
respectable Chinese knows, the correct
way to eat soup is to slurp.”
“…All Americans slurp.”
Where is the commentary? Why did
the writer include these quotes?
At the end of the story the narrator realized that
there really isn’t a difference between
American and Chinese people. “As any
respectable Chinese knows, the correct way to
eat soup is to slurp.”
“…All Americans slurp.” These quotes are where
the writer made the connection that the
narrator can see the similarities between her
culture and her life in America. This is where the
narrator finally realizes it is OK to be herself.
What could be done to
improve this response?
Q: Make an inference about the Lin family’s
wealth.
A. The Lin family is average. This is based on
different parts of the story. But they will
progress.
This is a WEAK answer. Where
is the evidence from the story?

A. The Lin family is average. This is based on
many things. First, they always had enough to
eat. This shows they were not poor. Second,
the family could not afford to buy the narrator
new clothes just because she wanted them.
This proves the family did not have an
abundance of money. Last, the mother
learned to buy from yard sales. This shows
that the family had to spend their money
wisely. These examples support my inference
that the family was neither poor nor wealthy,
but somewhere in between.
Now it is your turn…answer
the question on the
handout using AEC
strategy to ensure a high
quality response.