Compare Two Responses

The task

Compare two fresh two-text responses about Ada’s decision, defend which response better meets the criteria, and co-write a revision of the flawed response that explains how the informational article clarifies Ada’s choice.

Grouping

Triads: brief individual judgment followed by collaborative comparison and co-writing

Roles

• Evidence checker: verifies that quotations are exact, relevant, and drawn from different texts.
• Reasoning checker: identifies what each quotation explains and tests the connection to Ada’s decision.
• Recorder and reporter: records the group’s decision and co-writes the revision; all members must contribute an explanation.

Teacher directions

• 0:00–1:00 — Place students in triads, assign roles, and distribute the Discussion cards. Have students read the success criteria silently. Remind them that this is a fresh pair of responses using a different moment from the texts.
• 1:00–2:30 — Students read Responses A and B independently and mark which response is stronger overall. Require each student to record one criterion-based reason before discussing.
• 2:30–4:30 — Direct groups through the Evidence audit and Reasoning audit. Circulate and ask, “Which exact words show that the response explains the quotation rather than simply repeating it?” Check that every group discusses both responses.
• 4:30–6:00 — Have groups reach one decision about the stronger response. The reporter states the decision, and another member must defend it by naming a specific criterion. Press groups that say only “A is better” to identify the missing explanation or connection in B.
• 6:00–8:30 — Groups co-write a revision of Response B in the final card. They must keep one exact quotation from each text but replace the general explanation with a specific claim, explanation, and connection to Ada’s decision. Do not provide a sentence frame; direct students back to the criteria if they stall.
• 8:30–9:00 — Ask each group to read only its revised connection sentence to a nearby group or hold it up for a quick scan. Name the transition to You Do: students will independently select their own evidence and build a complete paragraph with less support.

Student directions

• Read the criteria and both candidate responses before discussing.
• Choose the stronger response independently, then defend your choice with a specific criterion.
• Compare how each response uses evidence, explains quotations, and connects the article to Ada’s decision.
• Work together to revise Response B. Keep one exact quotation from each text, but write the reasoning in your own words.
• Make sure every group member can explain what the article helps the reader understand about Ada.

Discussion stems

• Response ___ is stronger on the criterion of ___ because the sentence ___ .
• The story quotation shows ___, but the response does or does not explain ___ .
• The article’s idea about ___ helps clarify Ada’s decision because ___ .
• Response B needs revision after the quotation because ___ .
• Our revision is more precise because it connects ___ to ___ .

What to look for

• Students defend a response with a named criterion and a specific sentence, not a preference or vote.
• Students recognize that both candidate quotations are exact but that Response B does not explain them sufficiently.
• Students distinguish a direct text connection from the general statement that both texts are about fear.
• The revised response explains how fear can make one option seem unavoidable and applies that idea to Ada’s choice to find Tomas.
• All students participate in comparing, explaining, or revising before the transition to independent writing.

Success criteria

• The response makes a clear claim about how fear affects Ada’s action or decision.
• It uses one exact, relevant quotation from the story and one exact, relevant quotation from the article.
• It explains what each quotation shows instead of dropping quotations into the paragraph.
• It directly explains how the article’s idea helps the reader understand Ada’s decision.
• The revision uses the group’s own wording and preserves the source’s exact words inside quotation marks.