In order to write an effective constructive response, students need a LOT of practice. Fortunately, students can practice with any nonfiction text - they just need a question to answer.
The best constructed response questions are specific to the text students have read and require students to think critically. Coming up with questions like this on your own can be time consuming. Use the questions below as a jumping off point for constructed response practice with your 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. You can download a pdf version of these questions at the bottom of the page.
If you find these questions to be helpful, then you might like these other higher order thinking question stems for your reading lessons.
Short and Extended Constructed Response Prompts
Adjust these questions depending on your needs. You can combine several questions for extended constructed response.
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Describe how ______ impacted ______.
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What does the author think about ______? How do you know? Do you agree?
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According to the passage, what is the relationship between ______ and ______?
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What is this passage mainly about? Use quotes from the passage to support your answer.
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What text feature do you think would be most useful to support the passage? Defend your answer.
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Compare and contrast ______ and ______.
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How did ______ demonstrate ______?
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Why did the author write this – to entertain, persuade, or inform the reader? Use details from the passage to defend your answer.
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Explain the meaning of the word ______. Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
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How did ______ change over time?
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How does the text feature (title, heading, caption, bold letters, etc.) relate to the text?
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What information did the author leave out because it opposed his or her point of view? How did this affect the passage?
- Do you agree with the author about ______? Why or why not?
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What information from the text has an impact on your life?
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What sentence from the passage best supports the author’s point of view? Explain.
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What do you think the author wanted you to learn from this text, and how does it relate to the main idea?
- How did ______ cause ______?
Are your students struggling with constructed response? This scaffolded resource might help. It provides reading passages, paragraph frames, and sentence starters to help students become more comfortable with their writing.
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