There can be many reasons why capable students lose marks or do poorly on written assignments. Some don’t read the question carefully. Others forget to include important details. Still others simply have difficulty organizing their thoughts into a reader-friendly format. While there is no miracle cure for these situations, teaching your children to use a simple formula to answer questions can prove very effective—providing some comfort and structure until they become more confident writers.

While there are many methods children can learn, here is an easy 3-step model based on the book, Better Answers, by Ardith Davis Cole, and is a strategy currently being adopted and taught by many teachers in Ontario.

(1) Restate the question.

Many students do a poor job of written responses for the simple reason that they do not answer the question actually asked of them. They get lost or side-tracked when trying to formulate the answer. One way to help avoid this is by having students begin their answers by restating part of the question. For example, the answer to the question, “How do people often celebrate birthdays?”, might begin, “People celebrate birthdays in many ways,” or “People often celebrate birthdays by …”.

(TIP: This can also be used in general conversation … buying you a little more time to think and formulate an answer. You often hear experts doing this during interviews.)

(2) Start with a general (or “gist”) answer.

Before going into the specifics of your answer, give a general answer by tacking a little information onto the re-statement of the question. For example, “People often celebrate birthdays with food or special activities.” The key here is to keep things general and to entice the reader to keep reading.

(3) Add details to support the general answer.

Now students can add ideas, personal references (or examples from books they’ve read if comparing stories, etc.) to help support or broaden the answer. In our example, this would now be the place to add sentences like, “People in my family always have a party with birthday cake and the favourite foods of the birthday boy or girl.”

(TIP: Students are also encouraged to examine ways they can link their thoughts, avoiding sentences that begin with, “And then … “)

(4) Construct a conclusion.

Finally, once some good detail sentences have been added to the answer, it is time to add a concluding sentence or two to help to finish the piece of writing. This could include summary statements like, “Although people often celebrate birthdays in many ways, my favourite way is always with family and friends.”

(TIP: Re-stating or referring back to the opening or original question like I do in the final sentences of this article is often a good idea. To help students remember, teachers often use the image of a hamburger—with bun on the top and bottom.)

So remember, if your children struggle when trying to answer written questions, be sure to share and practice this strategy with them. It can help to produce better answers that look good AND sound smart.

About the author
As an award-winning educator and Parenting & Youth Coach, Rob Stringer BA, BEd, CPC has spent almost two decades helping kids, teens, and adults meet with success, and live lives they LOVE!. Although based outside of Toronto Ontario, Rob’s coaching practice is global, with clients across Canada, the United States, Australia, and Asia.  In addition to Parenting with Intention, he most recently launched, Youth Coach Canada – a non-profit organization dedicated to making affordable professional life coaching services available to youth aged 11-21. To receive Rob’s free newsletters or for information on speaking engagements, programs, and upcoming workshops for parents and youth, visit www.YouthCoachCanada.com  or call 905.515.9822.

©Rob Stringer 2009

Tags: Better Answers, classroom tips, Rob Stringer, students and written assignments, tips for students, Youth Coach Canada