Constructed Response Ninjas

When I introduce constructed response questions to my students, I am met with the typical middle school response to anything that makes them think: a groan, slouching in their chairs, and eyes to the ceiling.  The concept has, it seems, been drilled into their brains for many years, but they still can't seem to master the skill of answering such a question.  A few years ago, my district brought in Smeckens to help us with Language Arts mini lessons and preparations for the state assessments.  The strategies that they taught, along with the collective ideas from other amazing department members in my school, have helped me make my students Constructed Response Ninjas.  Now when my students encounter the dreaded constructed response questions, they meet it with the confidence and stealth of a trained ninja.

Introductory Lesson:

This lesson is taught the first week of school (as constructed response is a part of EVERY unit throughout the year).  We begin with a brief introduction of the question type and answer format called Yes Ma'am (acronym courtesy of Smeckens).

Yes Ma'am Challenge Lesson:

After the initial lesson, and A LOT of practice with the basic format, we take it a step further by completing a Yes Ma'am Challenge.


A few things to note:
1. Smeckens is amazing.  Highly recommended and extremely valuable.
2. We use the acronym Yes Ma'am, but move away from calling those questions "Yes Ma'am Questions" and instead use the term Constructed Response.  We value the acronym, but feel that it is important for our students to know the official term for this type of response.
3. My colleagues, who helped create these lessons, rock!