Writing Mini Lesson Plan: NJ ASK Writing Successful Open-Ended Answers

Grade: Fifth
Standards:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2.E
Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in
standards 1-3 above.)

Objective:
Students will be able to answer sample NJ ASK open-ended questions by using textual evidence
in the passages.

Materials:
- NJ Open-Ended Scoring Guide for Reading, Listening, and Viewing
- NJ ASK sample item, Rocket Balloon
- Power Point

Lesson Sequence:
1. Lesson Introduction/ Objective and Purpose:
a. Writers, we have been learning about the different types of questions you
will be asked on the NJ ASK. Today we are going to continue exploring the
different types of questions by learning about how to successfully write an
open-ended answer.
b. Writers, can anyone tell me what they know about properly answering an
open-ended question?
c. (Students come up with a range of responses and then I continue.)
d. An open-ended question is a question that cannot be answered with a
simple yes or no. There must be evidence from the text to support your
answer in at least a few sentences.

2. Teach and Model (Modeling the Thinking):
a. Lets Read this example together

b. Throughout the paragraph, pause periodically, asking for the students
opinion on whether or not a particular portion of the example seems that it
would be useful to point out.
c. Model my own thinking by underlining the main parts of the paragraph as I
am reading. The students may need this more or less depending on their
participation/responses.
d. Allow a student to read the open-ended question together and discuss what
the question is asking:

e. The first thing about answering a question that is important to remember is,
read the whole question in its entirety and think carefully about the answer.
f. Based on the question being asked, other than evidence that we can find
straight from the passage itself, what else can we use to answer the
question?
g. Allow for a few students to answer.
h. Good listening and following along. The question states that we can use
example from the passage as well as our own person experience. If you
have personal experience with the weather and why knowing the forecast is
important, it would be great to use to add detail to the answer.


3. Guided Practice (Example 1: Extensive Teacher Help)

a. Looking at the question again, it wants to know why would it be important
to know what the weather is today or what it will be tomorrow
b. In front of you, you have the question and the passage that we just went
over. On the lines below you can see a sample of an acceptable answer to
the question. Lets read it together.
c. Underline part of the first sentence, It is important to know what the
weather is so
d. Why do I think that this this part of the sentence is an excellent
introduction to the open-ended answer?
e. It is always a good idea to somehow restate the question in your answer so
that the reader knows exactly what you are referring to.
f. In this example there is a personal situation that provides evidence to the
answer. Provide my own personal example.
g. Show and go over the slide on the power point that talks about the key
words to keep in mind when answering an open-ended question.
h. Boys and girls, what we are going to do now that we have a good idea
about how to answer this question is answer the question on your own to
your best ability with the information that I have given you.
i. Use your time wisely and remember to use supporting evidence in your
answer. Remember, you may go back to the passage and the question if you
need to.
j. Provide the students with adequate time to respond to the question. Have
the students talk and turn and share their responses to the question.
(Example 2: Less Teacher Help)


4. Independent Practice (Example 3: No Teacher Help):
a. Boys and girls, I feel confident that you will be able to now work on an
open-ended answer on your own.
b. Have students work independently on Rocket Balloon NJ ASK Open-ended
Question
c. Please read the Rocket Balloon article and ONLY answer the open-ended
question provided.
d. Remember to focus, answer all parts, complete, and be specific. Be sure to
include enough evidence needed to answer the question being asked.

5. Closure:
a. Remember writers, today and every day, when we are writing an open-
ended answer, we want to thoroughly understand what the question is
asking and to refer back to the text to gather evidence to complete your
answer successfully. We could also refer back to our key words, focus,
answer all parts, complete, and specific. These key words will help
you write successful open-ended answers.

6. Assessment (How will you know the lesson has been successful?):
a. You will be able to determine that the lesson was a success if, after
completing the Rocket Balloon open-ended question, the students were
able to support their answer with evidence from the text and thoroughly
understood what the question was asking.


http://readingandwritingproject.com/public/themes/rwproject/resources/xxx_treasure_chest/2
013-2014/NJ%20Ask/5th%20Grade%20NJ%20ASK/Additional%20Materials%20copy//NJ-
LAL_sample%20Grades%203%20and%204%20(1).pdf

Students Worksheet (pg. 36-41)