I am a big proponent of using discussion questions on tests. I think they are the best way to allow students to be thoughtful in the way they are approaching literature.
However, one of the biggest frustrations for me when it came to discussion questions is the wildly differing amount of detail that students were giving me. One would give me a list. (How is that discussion?) The next would write five pages. (Ah...ain't nobody got time for that! lol!)
I decided that I was going to have to actually spend some time TEACHING my students how to answer a discussion question in my class. I created a handout, which you can purchase here, and spent a few minutes each day reviewing my expectations and modeling the type of answer I was looking for. Students practiced writing answers to discussion questions in groups, in pairs, and finally, on their own. My model requires a one paragraph answer using the format that I expect my students to use when writing informative essays. This gave them practice in constructing topic sentences, adding details, and giving commentary. They became comfortable with the format before they ever had to write their first essay for me. This saved us all a lot of pain and suffering when the time came to dive into something longer than a single paragraph.
Even if you don't like the way I taught my students to answer a DQ, I think it is important to ensure that your students are clear on your expectations for answering discussion questions. The time you take in class to teach and model the type of answer you want will pay off in better writing.
Win/win.
