Use the ACE Writing Strategy to help students organize their writing. This teaching device helps organize the answers to short answer/constructed response questions. By providing a structured response to the question, it prevents students from guessing the answers. The acronym stands for…
A – Answer all parts of the question in complete sentences.
C – Cite evidence from the text.
E – Explain how your evidence proves or supports your answer.
This download contains printables to create the staggered flip organizer to teach these steps to students.
How to use the ACE Writing Strategy
A – Answer all parts of the question in complete sentences.
- Carefully read the question.
- Reword the original question in the form of an introductory sentence.
- Be sure to include the keywords.
This will prove that you understand the question.
C – Cite evidence from the text.
Find evidence from the reading selection, graphics, or illustrations to support or prove your answer.
Use a transitional phrase to introduce your quote:
According to the text…
For example…
For instance…
To illustrate…
Remember, quotation marks must enclose cited text.
E – Explain how your evidence proves or supports your answer.
- Make a clear connection between the evidence you cite and the question asked.
- Explain how the quotation supports your answer.
- Conclude by adding your thoughts.
ACE Writing Strategy Example
Question – From which point of view is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz told? What is the narrator’s perspective?
A (Notice the keywords point of view and perspective, as well as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, are used in the introductory sentence.)
A small selection of the story can help the reader understand the point of view and perspective used in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
C (Three passages are quoted.)
In the text, the author reveals Dorothy’s thoughts. “Dorothy was puzzled at this, for it sounded queer to hear a stuffed man speak and to see him bow and walk along beside her.” The narrator also tells the reader that Dorothy is “truly sorry for him.” Toto’s thoughts include, “Toto did not like this addition to the party at first.”
E (An explanation connects the quotes to the answer.)
L. Frank Baum tells The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the third-person point of view through a narrator. The reader knows this because the narrator uses the characters’ names instead of the pronoun I when revealing thoughts. The narrator also shows the thoughts of more than one character, creating an omniscient viewpoint.