Teach the RACE/RACES writing strategy with lessons, passages, and organizers to help students cite text evidence and write strong responses.
What Is the RACE (or RACES) Writing Strategy?
If you’ve ever seen a student stare at a question like it’s written in another language, you get it. Writing about what they’ve read? Not exactly a fan favorite.
That’s where the RACE—or RACES—strategy comes in.
It’s a simple, step-by-step method that helps students write strong, structured responses to text-based questions. Whether it’s a short story, article, or even a science passage, RACE gives them a clear plan to follow.
And the best part? It builds confidence. Students stop guessing and start writing with purpose—because they know what to do next.
Why Teachers (and Students) Love RACE
Let’s be honest—most students don’t naturally write full, thoughtful answers.
They skip steps. They forget to include evidence. Some barely scribble a sentence and call it done.
That’s why RACE is such a game-changer.
It gives students a formula they can follow every time. And while all learners benefit from structure, reluctant writers especially need something solid: what to say, how to say it, and time to practice.
RACE helps with all of that.
It teaches them how to organize their thoughts, pull in text evidence, and explain their answers clearly. One acronym, a lot less overwhelm—and much stronger responses.
What Do the Letters in RACE (or RACES) Stand For?
First things first—decide whether you want to use RACE or RACES in your instruction. Both are easy-to-remember acronyms that help students build clear, complete responses.
Here’s how they break down:
RACE
R – Restate the question
A – Answer the question
C – Cite text evidence
E – Explain or extend the evidence
RACES
R – Restate the question
A – Answer the question
C – Cite text evidence
E – Explain or extend the evidence
S – Summarize your answer
The “S” is optional, but some teachers find it helpful for rounding out student responses.
There are a few variations out there—like RACER, ACE, or ACES.
Honestly, it comes down to what works best for your students and your style. The key is consistency.
Breaking Down Each Step of RACE (or RACES)
Let’s walk through what each letter in the strategy means—and how to actually teach it in a way that sticks.
R – Restate the Question
This is where students turn the question into their topic sentence.
Simple as that.
And often, the “R” is often combined with the “A” in the same sentence—and that’s totally fine. Writing isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. If a student restates and answers the question all at once, that still counts.
A – Answer the Question
Next, students answer the question using their own words.
This is where I pause and remind them: Don’t just guess. Don’t go off memory. Go back to the text—even if you’re 99% sure you know it.
Also? Make sure they’re answering all parts of the question. It’s so common for students to answer only half and leave the rest untouched—especially on high-stakes tests.
C – Cite the Text Evidence
Ah, the part where we prove it.
First, students need to know what “cite” even means. I connect it to the word sight and remind them they need to go back and actually see the evidence in the text.
Then, they pull in the author’s words or ideas.
With older students, this is where I teach them to use quotation marks for direct evidence. But younger students can just explain the idea in their own words.
Either way, sentence starters help a ton. Especially for struggling writers.
Try ones like:
- “The text states…”
- “According to the author…”
- “In the passage, it says…”
These help students get over that blank-page freeze and build strong habits from the start.
Want ready-made sentence stems to post in your classroom? I’ve got a few linked at the end of this post.
E – Explain or Extend the Evidence
Now it’s time to go deeper.
In this step, students explain why their evidence matters. What does it show? How does it support their answer?
Encourage them to add examples, make connections, and explain things in their own words. This is where you start to see their thinking unfold.
S – Summarize Your Answer (Optional)
If you’re using RACES, this is your final step.
Think of it like the closing sentence in a paragraph. It wraps up the response by restating the main idea in a quick, final way. Not required—but a great way to help students end with intention.
How Do I Teach the RACE/RACES Strategy?
There’s no one “right” way to teach this—because you know your students best. That said, here are a few tried-and-true tips to help you roll it out smoothly and get students actually using it.
1. Start With the Right Text
Students can use the RACE strategy with just about anything, but to kick things off, choose a short passage that checks two boxes:
- Easy enough to understand
- Rich enough to support a good response
You want students to focus on how to answer the question, not get lost trying to decode the text itself.
I like starting with a high-interest, simple reading paragraph—something engaging, but not overwhelming.
✨ Want something print-and-go? Check out my ready-to-use RACE reading passage set in my TpT store. Everything you need is included—just print and teach.
Once students have the hang of it, you can gradually work in more complex texts.
2. Differentiate Based on Student Needs
RACE makes it easy to differentiate without reinventing the wheel.
For beginners or students who need extra support, start with familiar passages—maybe something you’ve already covered in class. That way, the focus stays on practicing the strategy, not trying to absorb brand-new content.
This works especially well for struggling learners and students with IEPs.
3. Mix Up the Reading Material
One of the best parts of RACE? It’s flexible. Once your students understand the steps, you can apply the strategy to any type of text.
Need to switch things up? Try changing:
- The length of the passage
- The genre (fiction, nonfiction, opinion, expository, etc.)
- The difficulty level
- The question type
- Or even use paired passages to boost critical thinking
It keeps things fresh and helps students apply the strategy in different contexts.
4. Teach the Language of the Strategy
Make it a habit to model important terms as you go. Think aloud, break it down, and repeat those key words often—words like cite, evidence, explain, and extend.
We all know how students interpret the word text these days (no, we’re not talking iPhones 😄), so make sure they connect these academic words to what they actually mean in context.
The more they hear and use the language of the strategy, the more natural it becomes.
More Tips for Teaching RACE/RACES
You’ve introduced the steps—now here’s how to reinforce the strategy and make it stick.
5. Use Color-Coding to Highlight
When modeling the RACE strategy, color-coding is your best friend.
As you work through a passage, highlight or underline each part of the student’s response in a different color. One color for restating, another for citing, another for explaining—whatever system makes sense for you.
This simple visual cue helps students see how each part of their response connects to the strategy. Keep modeling and thinking aloud as long as your students need the support.
6. Use Visuals for Easy Reference
Don’t just teach the strategy—display it.
Hang up posters. Build anchor charts together. Tape bookmarks to desks or tuck them inside notebooks.
I recommend giving students a few copies of the RACE or RACES bookmarks—one for their binder, one for home, and maybe even a backup in their folder.
The more they see it, the more likely they are to use it.
7. Be Intentional About Pacing and Review
How fast should you teach RACE? It depends.
You might teach one step a day, or combine a couple of steps if your students are ready. It all comes down to age, experience, and confidence levels.
Whatever your pace, the key is modeling. Then practicing. Then modeling again.
Start by guiding students as a whole class. Then break into smaller groups or partners. Slowly release them to try it on their own once they’ve got the hang of it.
Quick Recap: Teaching the RACE Strategy
- Use “think-alouds” to model how to restate, answer, cite, and explain
- Color-code responses to help students visualize each step
- Display anchor charts or posters in your room
- Let students refer to bookmarks while writing
- Practice together often—then gradually move toward independence
- Use the strategy consistently across subjects
Will it be perfect every time? Of course not.
But with regular practice, the skills stick. RACE helps students grow into confident, capable writers—and makes grading their responses just a little less painful, too.
Shop this Article
RACE – RACES Strategy Bundle:
This RACE – RACES complete writing bundle includes everything you need to teach the RACE (and RACES) writing strategy in one place—organized, easy to use, and classroom-tested.
This bundle includes:
- High-interest reading passages
- Sample responses
- Lesson plans
- Rubrics
- Graphic organizers
- Posters
- Sentence stems
- Bulletin board sets
This was hands-down my best strategy when teaching special education and upper elementary ELA. I used it successfully with 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders across a wide range of abilities—and it worked every time.
RACE – RACES Passages:
This RACE – RACES writing strategy passage set helps students write well-organized responses, build text-dependent analysis skills, and cite evidence from the reading passages. Follow the simple lessons to help students respond to a passage and text-dependent question. Students feel confident having a strategy for essay writing responses.
This set includes passages, sample responses, graphic organizers, rubrics, posters, and bookmarks.
Sentence Starters / Writing Stems
Need a simple way to help students cite evidence and explain their thinking? These printable sentence starters (a.k.a. sentence stems or constructed response starters) are perfect for bulletin boards or student notebooks.
Two classroom display styles available—take a peek in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
RACE / RACES Bulletin Board + Mini Lesson
Introduce the strategy and make it stick with a bright, eye-catching bulletin board and a short starter lesson.
Choose from two color styles to match your room’s vibe. A great way to reinforce the steps all year long.
First is the bright bulletin board and lesson set.
Or choose the Boho neutral-colored set.
Want to boost reading comprehension and citing text evidence skills?
Your students can successfully cite text evidence when responding to reading comprehension questions.
Step-by-step on how to teach your students to cite text evidence in their reading.
How to Teach Compare and Contrast Essays.
Help students write high-quality responses and prepare for tests with Sentence Starters.
If you use a PLOT DIAGRAM, this article shows you How to Use the Plot Diagram for Teaching.
Written by Jules Rhee; Published June 2021; Updated June 2025.
