But when it comes to processing that information and placing it all into coherent structures, sometimes it can be difficult to figure out the best strategy to implement when it comes to students and education. Multiple choice and essays show the range but short answer can be one of the more effective tools teachers can apply to their classrooms pedagogy.

Keep It Short

It’s easy to select an answer when it is provided in an assessment, often showing a low level of evaluation in comprehension. On the other end of the pendulum, assigning an essay can truly be difficult for others to piece together in a sensible way. So “short” answers can win in this situation. These types of responses are not taxing but require thought and calculated answers that prove their knowledge. By design, they require a form of communication in sentence structure and thought, thus highlighting the processing of information. And educators can manipulate the designs. Requiring an answer in just one sentence can force students to process all of their content before selecting the most effective way to convey it. There is no guessing to this form. They must know their content.

As well, a short paragraph of 4-5 sentences doesn’t bog a teacher down in reading the fluff: wordy, space-filling introductions and conclusions (not that there isn’t a place for those parts of the writing formula; they just need to be employed at the appropriate time for that assessment). A shorter requirement in writing allows room for adding in details. And as a bonus, grading these answers can be quite quick.

Use Questioning

When an educator is designing short answer questions, he or she must have their objectives and unit goals in mind. An appropriate assessment of the learning goal, standard, or skill is required in order to make the question effective. Language must be clear and concise. Teachers don’t want their students to spend too much time trying to dissect a multi-layered question that can too often be confusing.

Be brief in design but provide specificity so those answering know exactly how they need to approach and focus an answer. Design them according to a rubric that allows for diversity and open-mindedness in perspectives. These shouldn’t be created in order to get an answer that only the instructor considers as correct. As part of the professionalism of teaching, educators should challenge their own notions of thought through reflection and practices.

Ignite Creativity

Again, teachers shouldn’t get stuck trying to fill time or provide some assessment because it is a requirement for a grade. There are so many varying elements to make students think. When it comes to creativity, educators should focus on the demographics of their students. Whether they admit it or not, kids love solving problems. Questions can be designed so that they attempt to solve issues in which students are interested, especially when it pertains to technology and social media.

• What are the Snapchat handles of a novel’s characters? Explain why those characters would use that particular handle, citing details.
• In 40 words, how can math save the world? What lesson particularly stands out to you as examples?
• If science and history were people, explain how they might collaborate to help eliminate one problem in the world.

Content and Form

While creativity can be a fun way to engage students, the serious element is just as important, especially when focusing on structural forms, grammatical components, and stylistic aspects. As previously mentioned, the short answer question can allow instructors a swift opportunity to review strengths and weaknesses and then adjust instruction to correct and compound.

Journaling as bellringers or even homework can be a good opportunity to evaluate and digest observations. Grammar can be easily adjusted through the short answer process in a quick and impactful lesson, which stems from well-designed questions.

Get Collaborative

Nothing gets students moving faster or with more apprehension than when the word “partner” is spoken aloud. But this can be an excellent opportunity to pair students in order to require them to think. Collaboration and short answer provides the chance to bounce ideas off one another without being thrown into the spotlight. A properly designed question can get students processing information and focusing on others’ viewpoints in order to create the appropriate answer. It can further build social relationships that acknowledge others’ points of view.

This also may allow for inter-department curriculum planning and design. Social students and English language arts teachers could combine unlimited content for short answer questions, meshing the worlds of history and literature. Creativity can abound in these questions and projects. As well, science and math often can be found holding hands when it comes to ideas and philosophies. Hands-on projects can apply formulas, collaborative measuring tasks, and life-like experiments, all while engaging students.

In order to lead a fulfilling career, educators must move beyond the “have-to” thinking of simply completing each task and toward an efficient instructional model that emphasizes effective assessment procedures. Short answer questions don’t have to be drudgery; creativity, style, structure and collaboration have an integral role when considering this form of assessment. Focus on pulling out those thoughts from each and every student so they can see their individual successes in a strong, communicative style.

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If a student can use the processes, language, and skills associated with the subject area, they are fully engaging with the content. If they can write like those individuals, it’s an even more immersive experience. Besides the benefits to the content area learning, students’ communication skills improve when they learn to write in a variety of formats about an assortment of topics with a range of voices. The overall impact of writing across all subject areas can be incredible, and what’s more, it’s fun!

English Language Arts (ELA)

One of the best ways to help students write like, well, writers is to expose them to exemplar texts and authors. Reading multiple selections by the same author and then attempting to emulate some characteristic of that writer’s style, voice, or process is a way to help students see themselves as writers.

A teacher in our school recently highlighted the works of Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate. The teacher played examples of Gorman reading her poetry aloud for students, and after discussing her literary techniques including rhythm and imagery, students were asked to apply the same techniques to their own poetry. The relevance of the author, her age, fame, and captivating poetry were highly motivating to students who might have not otherwise felt a connection to writing poetry.

Writing does not need to be a formal assessment in order to be effective. Finding ways for even quick daily writing, sometimes called low-stakes writing, in the ELA classroom can be a great way to keep students excited about writing while taking the pressure off of publishing a finished product. For instance, a rambling autobiography in which students tell their life stories in a stream of consciousness as if it is flashing before their eyes can serve as an icebreaker or a warm up activity.

Math

Asking students to write about math can provide insight into their understanding and possible misconceptions that might otherwise go undiscovered. Again, writing in math classes does not have to be a formal undertaking. Asking students to write a one- or two-sentence explanation or, for the younger grades, draw a picture explaining how they solved a problem is an effective strategy for building their capacity to communicate clearly about math. Alternately, students could be asked to defend their decision to use a particular strategy to solve a problem.

If the teacher is looking for a lengthier undertaking, giving students a real-world “problem” like winning a millions dollars can be a fun application of mathematics and an inspiring writing prompt. Students can calculate the taxes that will be deducted and the manner in which they will receive their payout before being asked to “spend” the money and explain their decision-making process.

Science

As students learn about different scientific topics, they can practice writing like a scientist by creating a website that uses key terms, pictures, and short, factual explanations to show what they know about the topic.

Students can write about real life examples of the science concepts being discussed. A nature walk can provide an opportunity for students to take or draw pictures of science-related items and caption them with what they know.

Social Studies

There is value at every level of social studies in asking Document Based Questions (DBQs). These writing prompts are accompanied by relevant primary and secondary sources. DBQs ask students to make an argument, defend a position, or explain a concept using evidence from the documents to support their ideas. In the younger grades, this can be done using sentence starters and/or by writing aloud (a strategy in which the teacher and students write together on the board). Students can also use the information they glean from primary and secondary sources to write historical fiction in which they create a story about a fictional character using their knowledge of history as the context and backdrop.

For less intense writing integration, students can make posters or social media accounts of historical figures. A teacher in our school did this activity as part of the observation of Black History Month. Students researched little-known African American historical figures, created profiles of these individuals, and then posted them on lockers in the hallway. Students then walked through the hallways gathering information and answering questions using their peers’ writing to complete their own assignment.

Strategies for Administrators

School administrators can take some specific steps to promote writing across the curriculum and create an educational environment that promotes critical thinking and self-expression through writing. Administrators can begin the conversation about writing across the curriculum by sharing a vision and clear expectations with teachers and staff that writing is an essential component of instruction and assessment in all subject areas.

In order to increase teachers’ confidence as writers and writing teachers, administrators should model strategies and provide specific, personalized professional development that targets teachers’ subject areas and their unique professional needs. Teachers should be empowered to lead the efforts to infuse writing across the curriculum. By starting with the ELA and social studies departments where there is often much common ground, a school can begin to build a culture of writing.

Developing a school-wide writing framework that includes common terminology and process steps is also critical to creating a school-wide writing culture. In order to properly monitor the progress of students and evaluate the writing program, teachers and students should be coached on how to interact with their writing data, including building a portfolio that allows them to look back on their writing progress over time and across a variety of genres. 

Whatever the subject area, it is essential when developing writing experiences for students, no matter their age, that the writing opportunities students have allows them to create authentic products for an audience about subjects and topics that are relevant not only to their learning, but to their lives.

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