Teachers around the world are well aware of the Race Strategy, which is revolutionizing the way English literature is taught. A major problem that students face is how to frame a proper answer. Students may be asked to write an essay or even a short paragraph, but decoding the skills to write it perfectly requires some amount of skill.
English teachers are always struggling to decipher what would be the correct plan of action to implement so that students are more drawn to writing their answers well. Some students are hesitant or shy, and they find it difficult to express their grievances to the teacher. With the Race Strategy in place, students will be able to express their thoughts with clarity on paper and develop critical thinking skills.
Students who are pursuing literature or are interested in understanding the nuances of literature need to have a wide palette of critical thinking skills. Writing fluent and coherent answers is extremely essential for the students, as that will fetch them marks. The race-writing strategy gives the students of literature a lot of confidence so that they are able to formulate their answers coherently.
One of the most frequently asked questions about the Race Strategy is what race stands for. Each letter of RACE has a different meaning. For instance, R stands for Restate the Question, A stands for Answer the Question, C stands for Cite the Text Evidence, and E stands for Explain and extend the evidence.
With the help of Race Strategy, English teachers are being able to revolutionise the way English answers are written by the students. This is also helping the students to a large extent, who are now able to handle their answers better.
What does race stand for?
Although the Race Strategy is not to be used only for literary answers, more often than not, this strategy is applied by students in the literature world. The acronym RACE can be broken down in the following manner:
R: Restate the question.
A: Answer the question.
C: Cite the text evidence and
E: Explain and Extend the Evidence
Thus, with the help of the Race Strategy, individuals are now able to formulate clear, logical, and concise answers. Using this strategy, students are able to remember everything that a teacher would expect from their answer. This strategy is helping both average and talented students comprehend and formulate logical answers.
The teacher can even implement an anchor chart or a checklist that the students can follow to keep track of what is happening and how to frame an answer logically.
Understanding the Divisions of Race Strategy
R: Restating the Question
One of the first and most formidable elements of Race Strategy is to restate the given question so that the reader is able to comprehend what they are reading. This step is generally used when one is starting the answer.
Often, it becomes difficult for individuals to understand how they should start an answer. If one knows the nuances of this strategy, they will understand that one could simply restate the question that was given to them and begin their answer accordingly.
For instance, a question is posed to ask the student to explain the protagonist’s character in relation to his family members. While the answer could be framed along the lines of the question, one can also add some more words that will enhance the first sentence. The first sentence of an answer is crucial, as it sets the stage for the first impression.
A: Answering the Question
This is the most important element of the Race Strategy. One needs to present a coherent answer to the aforementioned question. Students have to be taught to provide the correct and clear answer to the question that has been asked. This is important, as it sets the stage for the next two steps of the Race Strategy.
For instance, if a question is asked about the changing economic situation of a family, the answer should ideally describe the situation that they were previously in and the situation that they are in now.
C: Cite the Evidence
One of the other necessary elements of the Race Strategy is citing the evidence that will support your answer. To ensure that students can do this efficiently, they must always highlight the paragraphs or books they are reading. This will help them remember the required lines or quotes more efficiently.
Thus, students should try to cite at least two pieces of evidence. This will give legitimacy to their answers and make them more coherent for the readers. Whether it be direct quotes from the passage or some characteristics of the protagonists, it will give an edge to your answers.
E: Explain the Evidence
Just citing the evidence is not enough to make an answer cohesive. They need to explain the evidence they have cited so that the reader knows that they are aware that the student knows well enough.
It is very useful if the student can successfully connect their answer to the relevant evidence. They could also explain the context in which the evidence was cited. All of these little details ultimately help elevate the standard of an answer.
By explaining the context, one can write about what was occurring in the story and what we can understand about the characters involved. Students should prepare themselves for such questions with some time in hand so that they are not put in a hesitant situation in the examination hall.
How to Implement the Race Strategy?
Shorter Format
When a teacher starts out with the Race Strategy, they should try and use shorter forms of literature. Students would get extremely puzzled if they were faced with long paragraphs or big stories. It is easier to first familiarise them with picture books and short stories with pictures. The visual element of the stories will help enhance their understanding capacities.
Once a teacher is able to understand that the student is able to find a solid footing in these short stories, they should be introduced to short paragraphs. This will help them understand the given material better. It will also allow them to handle this strategy better, as they will be moving step by step towards progress.
Using sentence starters
One of the major problems that students face is their inability to understand how to approach their questions. These students can be helped by introducing them to sentence starters.
The teacher could either provide the student with a sentence starter at the beginning of each step or provide the students with a blank template where they can put in their thoughts freely.
Teaching each step
The Race Strategy has four carefully carved-out steps. Students might feel overwhelmed if all the steps are taught to them in one go. It is more beneficial if the students are taught each step with precision and care. This will allow them to understand the nuances of each step and deal with the questions efficiently.
Conclusion
In our formative years, we often face the problem of clearly putting down our thoughts as an answer. Even though we might be well aware of the answer, it often becomes difficult to put it down on pen and paper.
If strategies like RACE are introduced to students of literature or any other field at a young age, they will be able to handle writing the answers more efficiently. Thus, teachers should try to implement this strategy in schools.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some of the benefits of Race Strategy?
RACE has a number of benefits. This strategy allows the teacher to understand the specific points where the student has been unable to understand the meaning of the text and clear their misconceptions. The strategy is also extremely useful, as it instills in students the habit of writing answers with evidence from a young age.
What does Race stand for?
Each letter of Race has a different meaning. For instance, R stands for Reading the question, A stands for answering the question, C stands for citing the evidence, and E stands for explaining the evidence.
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