What is RACE?
RACE is a structure to help students write a full response to a scientific question. The full response is generally a paragraph, 5-7 sentences long. Each part of RACE stands for a piece of the paragraph. Often at the top of the page there will be a small space where students write data to use in their reasoning.
Restating the Question- Sentence starter that repeats some of the question (may not be a full sentence) usually begins with I think that…-
Answer- (Claim) Your answer to the question (R and A can be in the same sentence)
Cite Evidence- (Evidence) Information or data from your activity in class that supports your answer
Explain/ Extend- (Reasoning) How does your evidence prove your answer? Then for full points you can add in connections to your life or other things you know.
Students are also given a graphic organizer to help them organize their writing.
Restating the Question- Sentence starter that repeats some of the question (may not be a full sentence) usually begins with I think that…-
Answer- (Claim) Your answer to the question (R and A can be in the same sentence)
Cite Evidence- (Evidence) Information or data from your activity in class that supports your answer
Explain/ Extend- (Reasoning) How does your evidence prove your answer? Then for full points you can add in connections to your life or other things you know.
Students are also given a graphic organizer to help them organize their writing.
How do you grade RACE assignments?
RACE assignments are worth 20 points. I use the following rubric to grade the paper on Writing Process, Claims/ Evidence/ Reasoning and Accuracy of Information.