RACE Strategy Activities

Definition and Instructional Use

Welcome to ReadingVine’s page focusing on RACE Strategy Activities! Like other acronyms teachers use, the RACE strategy empowers learners to demonstrate and hone their writing skills. The RACE strategy helps learners write simple, but organized, constructed responses.

Using this instructional strategy can provide the building blocks that students will expand upon as they write more detailed responses and grow into their education.

RACE Strategy

R stands for “Restate” | Writers should change the question into a statement. For example, if the question is: “How does the character feel in the story?,” the student should write, “In the story, the character feels…”

A represents “Answer the Question” | Once writers have restated the question, they should answer the question by completing their statement. Answers should be complete, specific, and may have more than one part.

C means “Cite Evidence” | Citing evidence is a critical skill for all writers. When students want to support their ideas, they must integrate specific details from the text. To get students started with this skill, it is helpful to offer sentence stems or starters. For example:

• In the text, it says…
• On page __, it says…
• The article says…
• The author states…
• The story says…

Also, be sure to show students where quotation marks belong when they copy evidence from a text.

E is for “Explain the Evidence” | Explaining evidence is where writers elaborate on what the evidence proves or shows. Similar to citing evidence, it is helpful to offer sentence stems. For example:

• This example shows…
• This proves…
• This means…

It is helpful to show students an example of a completed constructed response and then break down the parts to help students see how all of the pieces fit together.

Sample Constructed Response Using the RACE Strategy

Looking for a helpful sample constructed response that employs the RACE Strategy? Here’s one we’ve created for you and your students:

Sample Question: Why is reading important?

R) Reading is important because (A) it can help you learn. (C) In the text it says, “Reading helps you explore other places and cultures.” (E) This proves that reading is good for you and a valuable part of learning.

Resources: Outline and Anchor Chart

We’ve created a helpful Outline👈 and a great, printable Anchor Chart👈. On the worksheets or tools you create, add these four components:

“Restate the Question”
“Answer the Question”
“Cite Evidence”
“Explain the Evidence”

This will underscore the acronym’s meaning and help students understand how to work through each part.