R.A.C.E.R: A Writing Strategy 1. Restate the question Use the words from the question to begin your topic sentence. 2. Answer the question Use the word because to answer the question. 3. Cite evidence to support your answer Provide evidence from the passage. “The author stated…” or “According to the text…” 4. Explain Connect the answer to the evidence. 5. Relate to your life, world, or other text Connect your answer to a past experience, something happening in the world, or something you read before.

Follow along with the story and then answer the question that follows using the RACER technique Storyline Online | White Socks Only

Let’s do this together Step 1 – Rewrite the question Start with… The main character’s … Step 2 – Answer the question Add a because to your reworded question Step 3 – Cite evidence from the story Write a sentence like … “The author wrote” or “The story included” Step 4 – Explain your answer How does your evidence prove your answer? Step 5 – Relate your response to something in your life, in the world, or something you read I remember reading… or I remember when I… or Today, in the U.S… Question – How did the main character’s interpretation of the sign, “Whites only” cause the conflict in the story? Include two examples from the story to prove your answer.

Abe Lincoln could not endure the thought of cheating any one, even though it had been done unintentionally. He took great care of the money at the store. But some days there were mistakes. He always made sure to correct them. One day a woman bought goods in Offutt's store amounting to something over two dollars. She paid Abe the money and went away satisfied. That night, on going over the sales of the day, Abe found that he had charged the woman six and one-fourth cents too much. After closing the store, though it was late, he could not go home to supper or to bed till he had restored that sixpence to its proper owner. She lived more than two miles away, but that did not matter to Abe Lincoln. He walked all the way there—and back. Another evening, as he was closing the store, a woman came in for a half-pound of tea. He weighed it out for her and took the pay. But early next morning, when he came to "open up," he found the four-ounce weight instead of the eight-ounce on the scales, and inferred that he had given that woman only half as much tea as he had taken the money for. Of course, the woman would never know the difference, and it meant walking several miles and back, but the honest clerk weighed out another quarter pound of tea, locked the store and took that long walk before breakfast. Question – What was the author’s purpose for writing this passage? Use at least two examples to support your reasoning. Try this one with a partner

R.A.C.E.R: A Writing Strategy 1. Restate the question Use the words from the question to begin your topic sentence. 2. Answer the question Use the word because to answer the question. 3. Cite evidence to support your answer Provide evidence from the passage. “The author stated…” or “According to the text…” 4. Explain Connect the answer to the evidence. 5. Relate to your life, world, or other text Connect your answer to a past experience, something happening in the world, or something you read before.

(1)The author’s purpose for writing this passage is to show how honest and good Abe Lincoln was. (2) Abe Lincoln was honest because he never cheated anyone. The author wrote about two different times that Abe Lincoln was honest even when it wasn’t convenient to be so. (3) According to the text, Abe walked over two miles one time to pay back a mistake he made that was only worth a few cents. The passage also mentioned a time when Abe had to lock up his store to take some tea to someone who got the wrong amount the day before. (4) These examples show that even though it would have been easier for Abe to forget about the mistakes, he was too honest to live with that. He went out of his way to fix his mistakes. (5) I remember a story about a man in the news who returned a wallet full of money and refused to take any reward money. This story reminds me that people are good and honest, just like Abe Lincoln. Is your answer as complete as this one?