RACE Writing Strategy Unit for Grades 3-6
Category: Education / Writing Units
Students answer reading questions with real text evidence. A complete RACE unit for grades 3-6: lessons, 40 passages, slides, and a digital version.
Watch your students answer reading questions with confidence, backing every answer with real evidence from the text. This RACE writing strategy unit gives 3rd to 6th grade teachers one clear routine for text evidence paragraphs and constructed response questions: restate, answer, cite, explain. Instead of blank stares at "use evidence from the text," your students know what to write first, next, and last. It is a complete printable unit with lessons, 40 reading passages, teaching slides, and a digital version.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
1 ZIP file with 6 files:
• Evidence Path unit, 240 pages, US Letter PDF (8.5 x 11 in)
• Evidence Path unit, 240 pages, A4 PDF
• Teaching Slides, 274 slides, PDF (16:9)
• Teaching Slides, 274 slides, editable PowerPoint (.pptx)
• Digital Student Version, 157 slides with type-in boxes (PowerPoint, opens in Google Slides)
• PRINT-GUIDE.pdf: which file to print, printer settings, terms explained, and how to use the digital version
INSIDE THE UNIT
• 25 numbered lessons + 3 bonus lessons, each with an "I can" goal and a pacing guide
• Leveled practice: most skills have Level 1, 2, and 3 pages (grade 3 support up to grade 6)
• Unit 1 Meet RACE: from my head or from the text, two coded model answers, code RACE answers at 3 levels, RACE puzzles
• Unit 2 Restate: turn the question around, restate it at 3 levels, strong or weak restate
• Unit 3 Answer: what is the question asking, complete or incomplete, restate + answer at 3 levels
• Unit 4 Cite: quote or paraphrase, find the evidence at 3 levels, choose the strongest evidence, fix the quote
• Unit 5 Explain: what explain means, strong or weak explanation, add the explanation at 3 levels, two pieces of evidence
• Unit 6 Put It Together: RACE organizer, guided responses, the Answer Doctor (40 weak answers to fix), Score It, peer review, self-check, post-assessment, certificate
• Bonus Unit 7 RACES: choose and write the Sum It Up sentence, a coded RACES model, RACES organizer
• 40 original reading passages, half a page each: 20 literary and 20 informational, Levels 1 to 3
• Every passage has 2 test-style questions, 3 evidence choices per question ("choose the strongest evidence"), and a page for writing both answers
• 80 model answers in the answer key, each coded part by part
• 4-point student rubric in kid-friendly "I" language, plus a quick-score rubric
• Pre-assessment and post-assessment with the same question type, to show growth
• 14 posters and 12 notebook-size anchor charts
• Student tools: sentence starters for every step, bookmarks, desk strips, self-check cards
• 5 Quick Checks and 24 exit tickets
• Answer keys for every page
THE PENCIL CODE (NO COLORS NEEDED)
• R Restate: draw a box around it
• A Answer: circle it
• C Cite: wavy underline
• E Explain: double underline
• S Sum It Up (Level 3): brackets
The same code is used on every page, poster, slide, and answer key, so students always know what to look for.
PERFECT FOR
• 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade ELA and reading teachers
• Test prep for short constructed response and text-dependent questions
• Small groups, intervention, and special education (Level 1 pages and sentence frames)
• English learners (sentence starters and frames for every step)
• Advanced writers (RACES with two pieces of evidence)
• Homeschool families, tutors, morning work, centers, and homework
HOW TO USE
• Start with the pre-assessment, then teach one lesson a day with the slides (about 5 weeks + 3 bonus lessons).
• Students practice on the page that fits their level.
• Use the 40 passages for practice all year and track scores on the passage tracker.
• Students need basic paragraph skills first. This unit does not reteach paragraph parts. Our Paragraph Path unit teaches them.
HOW TO PRINT
• Print at "Actual size" (100%), in black and white.
• Plain paper (75-90 g/m2, 20-24 lb) for student pages; card stock for posters, bookmarks, and strips.
• US Letter for the USA and Canada; A4 for most other countries. Both files have the same pages.
PLEASE NOTE
• This is a digital download. Nothing will be shipped.
• Colors and shades may look slightly different on different screens and printers.
• Designed by Printivora: an exclusive design for our shop, built from our own original ideas and prompts, with the help of AI tools.
• For personal and single-classroom use only (one teacher and their own students).
• Please do not resell, share, or upload the files to public sites or shared drives.
• Google Slides and PowerPoint are named only to show which apps open the files. Printivora is not affiliated with Google or Microsoft.
Have a question before you buy? Send us a message. We are happy to help.