Why is Your Answer Correct?

During testing time, it is even more important than ever to know that your students are thinking about their thinking.  Whenever my class works on test prep type questions, they know that they will have to “justify” their answer.  It’s not okay in my class to raise your hand and say “a” is the answer.  Instead, my students know that I expect to hear “The answer is ‘Charles’ because he was the first character we met in the story, and so he would be the most important character in the beginning of the story.” (or something like that, lol!)  They know that they must tell me not only the answer (and not the letter), but also WHY that answer is correct.  To help them remember that the WHY is the most important part – I made this sign and hang it in my room every year.  Grab a free copy for yourself from Google Docs to help your students remember that knowing WHY is just as important as knowing the answer.