teaching writing

Teaching elaboration is a very difficult skill for students when writing constructed responses. Learn different elaboration strategies for getting students to add more details with writing examples here.

It's a common issue for 4th or 5th-grade students to need help elaborating on their evidence when writing argumentative or informational essays. 

Many young writers new to text-based writing often rephrase the textual evidence as part of their explanation. 

Even when trying elaboration stems or sentence starters, they need help adding more information to explain their point when writing paragraphs.  

 If you've ever wondered how to help those struggling students elaborate by adding more details to their writing, you're in the right place. 

Read along to find practical examples beyond rephrasing, and discover how to guide your students in effortlessly adding rich details. 

How Do You Teach Students to Elaborate in Writing?

Explain what elaboration is, and provide clear examples of how it appears when writing paragraphs. Take them through each type of elaboration strategy so they can use it in their writing.

When you tell students to elaborate, ask specific questions; don't just say, “Elaborate on this paragraph.” They might need help understanding what that means. 

Instead, be clear and direct. The word “elaborate” might be unfamiliar.

 What we want them to do is explain their ideas, make it clear how their writing connects to the main topic, or describe their thoughts in more detail.

For your students to explain their ideas using their own words, you must explicitly teach them how to elaborate in writing or expand on their ideas through continuous modeling, repetition, and independent practice.

Elaboration for Different Types of Writing

Elaboration comes in different forms. How your students elaborate depends on the type of writing they're working on. 

Different types of writing require different approaches to adding details and expanding on those ideas.

In fourth grade and fifth grade, students often have to write about three main types of writing: narrative, argumentative, and informational.

Here is how elaboration will be different for each type of writing.

• Narrative Essay – Students tell a story and elaborate with details by describing a specific moment. The goal is to help readers picture the scene and feel like they're in the story.

• Informational or Expository Essay- Students teach the reader about a topic in this type of writing. They add more details by explaining concepts in a way that someone new to the topic can easily understand.

• Argumentative or Opinion Essay- Students pick a side and share their thoughts. Elaborating in an argumentative essay means adding details to strengthen their point and convince the reader. It's not just about expressing their opinion but getting others to see things differently.

Teaching Elaboration Strategies with Examples 

Anecdotes

 An anecdote is a story. It can be elaborate or brief. Including an anecdote within a paragraph should be based on an experience that happened. 

Explain to your students the purpose of an anecdote is to make a text-to-self connection by telling a story. 

There are two common misconceptions among students when it comes to writing anecdotes. 

First, a story is long and includes tons of descriptive writing. 

Second, their anecdotes have to include every detail that happened that day. 

For an anecdote to be compelling, it must be short and straight to the point.

Here are three steps to show your students how to write an anecdote: 

• Step 1: Start by thinking about the point you want to make. 
• Step 2: Then, brainstorm a story that illustrates your point. The story can be true or fictional, but it should be short and easy to understand.
• Step 3: Write the story's parts that connect to your topic. 

Here is an example of an anecdote:

• Text to self-connection: “While scrolling through my phone, I saw a woman on social media collecting the plastic they found at the beach to make a trash bin. Reusing the plastic to create something new was one way of protecting the ocean.”  

Examples 

Examples give information about a topic. It is one of the writing strategies many students will be familiar with when writing. 

Still, examples in writing become powerful when your students can explain how they relate to the point they are trying to make.

Your students can use examples to clarify a point, explain an issue, or justify a point. 

Here are some examples of different ways to add them to their writing:

• To clarify, “For example, in the passage “Our Home the Ocean,” scientists demonstrate how recycling the trash from our homes can lower the chances of plastic reaching the ocean.”

• To explain: “Here's an example of how we can take care of the oceans in three steps: use less, use again, and recycle.”

• To justify: “Everyone should help keep the ocean clean for marine animals. Both people and animals should be able to enjoy the ocean.” 

 Definitions 

A definition in writing is to explain the meaning of concepts relevant to the topic. If your students write an informative and argumentative essay, adding a definition of the topic is a great way to elaborate. 

A common error students make is defining long or new words to them. To avoid your students making this mistake, here are three steps to show them how to pick keywords:

Step 1: Identify keywords related to the topic. Aim for one or two words max.

Step 2:  Before writing the word's meaning, use a comma after the word, the word “or” following the word, or the word “means.” 

Step 3: Think of synonyms and examples to write the definition using your own words.

Here are examples of using definitions to elaborate in writing: 

• Using the “or”: “There are 5.25 trillion pieces of waste or trash found in the ocean today compared to five years ago.” 

• Using the signal word “this means “: “Another way to protect oceans is by reducing our carbon footprint. A carbon footprint means the pollution we make when we use things like cars and electricity.”  

Facts & Stats

Facts and statistics form a combination that we can split into two parts. 

Facts tell us things we already know or factual statements. 

Statistics involve numbers like percentages.

Tell students that adding a fact or statistic makes their statements more believable and helpful because people can check the information. 

As a result, it strengthens their writing.

An error teachers make is telling students to make up information for the sake of including a fact or statistic. 

Instead, show kids to look for factual information in what they are reading and restate it using their words. 

Here are four tips to show your students how to include facts or stats in their writing: 

• The fact must clearly relate to the topic.
• Tell where the fact or statistic is coming from.
• Explain how it is relevant to their topic. 
• If you're using a number or percentage, explain what it means.

Here are three examples to show your students the power of facts and statistics in their writing:

Adding a trustworthy authority: “There are 8 million tons of plastic in the ocean, according to The Ocean Conservancy.”

Making connections: “According to The Ocean Conservancy, there are 8 million tons of plastic in the ocean. This fact explains the importance of joining a beach clean-up to remove trash from beaches.”

 Explaining the numbers: “There are 8 million tons of plastic in the ocean, according to The Ocean Conservancy. That's like having 800,000 elephants made of plastic floating in the sea! So, you can see it's a big problem we must solve.” 

Quotes

In writing, a quote is copying a sentence word by word from the reading passage. 

Including a quote can help explain what the paragraph is about. Quotes also make a point stand out better than rephrasing it in your own words.

It goes hand in hand with students knowing how to back up what they say using information from the reading passage, known as text evidence. 

A common problem students encounter is selecting big chunks of text to add as a quote and copying it word by word. 

To help them, remind your students to follow these tips on adding a quote within a paragraph.

• Select a sentence: Find a quote that helps with your topic. If the quote is long, use the parts related to the topic.

• Introduce the quote: Tell where you got it from, like the author's name or title of the passage.

• Add quotation marks: Put the quote in quotation marks (“”).

• Explain the Quote: Explain why it is important and how it connects to the topic using transition words like “says” or “explains.”

Here's an example:

• Adding to a quote: “Protecting the ocean is a job everyone has to take part in. The captain of the Green Seas ship urges, “Let's all work together to save our beautiful oceans from pollution and overfishing.”

• Explaining a quote: Dr. Johnson, a marine scientist, explained, “Coastal habitats like mangroves, salt marshes, and coral reefs serve as breeding and feeding grounds for many marine species.” These homes found in the oceans are where ocean animals have babies and find food to survive. 

  Dialogue 

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people in a written form. 

Many students might think that dialogue is only found in stories because stories are a common place to read dialogue.

Instead, writers use dialogue to incorporate expert opinions within a paragraph, strengthening the essay's main idea.

Here are three writing tips to help your students add dialogue effectively in an informative essay:

• Punctuate Correctly: Place the spoken words within quotation marks (“”) and use punctuation like commas and periods inside the quotation marks.

• Define the speaker: Mention who speaks in the conversation before or after the dialogue. 

• Explain the connection: Keep the dialogue short and explain the connection to the topic or main points of the essay.

Here's an example to show your students how to use dialogue in an informative paragraph.

• During an interview, the marine biologist Dr. Lopez said, “Pollution and rising sea temperatures threaten all marine species.” Dr. Thomponson, an oceanographer, agreed and replied, “The temperature changes have far-reaching effects. Pollution only adds to the problem.” Their answer shows experts agree that throwing trash into the ocean makes it challenging for animals to live there. They both feel it is vital to work together and find ways to help the sea animals and keep their homes. 

In the example above, both experts received credit, and what they said was marked by quotation marks. 

The following sentence clarifies why this conversation is significant to the essay's main idea about ocean preservation.

Descriptions 

A description helps the reader visualize and understand what the author is talking about using sensory details. 

Sensory details include any of the five senses to help readers get a vivid and complete picture in their heads.     

Here are ways to help your students write descriptions in their essays.

• Have your students think about how they present the details. They can organize the details in the order they happen or in a way that makes the most sense for their topic.

• Choose one of the five senses and use it to describe what someone can see, hear, touch, taste, or smell in the paragraph.

• Prompt students to use strong verbs. Make an anchor chart with different words for students to use as a reference.

• Make sure your description relates to the topic sentence of the paragraph. It should help the reader understand the topic better.

Here's an example of a description to show your students: 

•  “Preserving the ocean is super important so that people in the future can still enjoy it.” In other words, a clean ocean will allow people to continue visiting sandy beaches with warm sand under their feet while a colorful world of corals and fish lies beneath the water.

Takeaways

Teaching elaboration is a writing skill 4th and 5th-grade students benefit from having direct instruction, whether in small groups or as a whole class. 

When telling students to elaborate, be specific with what you want them to do. 

For many students, “elaboration” might be a word they have heard before but are unfamiliar with the action it requires them to do within their writing. 

The type of elaboration techniques students incorporate within their paragraphs depends on the kind of writing they're working on. 

Students can use any of the seven elaboration strategies to add more details to their paragraphs. 

They can do this by telling a story, giving examples, explaining what something means, adding facts, using a quote, adding dialogue, or describing things using their senses with strong verbs. 

Need writing resources to teach elaboration? Explore these helpful writing practice worksheets featuring handy elaboration sentence starters and examples. They're perfect for helping your students review and master various elaboration techniques for writing paragraphs!

Analyzing a writing prompt is the first lesson I teach in the writing process to write an essay. As teachers, we know if our students skip this prewriting step, there's a high chance their essay will be off-topic. 

Imagine a student writing an essay with all the writing components, such as text evidence and elaboration, only to receive a zero because it didn't address the question or go off on a tangent. Heartbreaking, right? 

No longer are the days when fourth or fifth-grade students answer a simple essay prompt. With standardized testing and the push to get students college and career-ready, this has all changed. 

Writing prompts are more elaborate and extensive. Some writing prompts no longer end with question marks. That's why analyzing a writing prompt by breaking it down into manageable steps ensures student's responses are on task.

 In this blog post, you will find four easy steps to teach your students to analyze these tricky writing prompts.

How to Analyze a Writing Prompt

Step 1: Read the Writing Prompt

So, the first step in understanding a writing prompt is reading the prompt. Here, students look at words related to the topic, including key vocabulary words or words they might be unfamiliar with. 

After reading the prompt, students need to identify the main topic of their essay by circling it. 

If you're introducing students to analyzing writing prompts for the first time, providing multiple examples of writing prompts they might encounter is helpful.

Step 2: Find the Task

After reading, students look for key words that indicate the task to underline. The task refers to the type of essay they will be writing and contributes to their understanding of the task. Students can be asked to explain a topic, argue a point, or tell a story.

To find the task, students look for the words “expository,” “argumentative,” or “narrative” to hint at the task or purpose of the essay.

A common challenge students might have is interpreting terms such as “expository,” “argumentative,” or “narrative.”

To understand the task, explain to students that for an expository prompt, the primary purpose is to provide information on a topic, while an argumentative prompt involves taking a stance and defending it, and a narrative prompt focuses on telling a story.

To help with these difficulties, give students many chances to practice, explain task words clearly, and show them different examples.

Step 3: Write the Question

Now that they know the type of essay they will write, they need to identify the question.

Clarify that there are various types of writing prompts. Specifically, in standardized assessments, the writing prompts can all be written as a statement and not include the traditional question that ends with a question mark. 

If this is the case, students must flip that around and turn a statement into a question. Often, the question hides at the end in lengthy writing prompts, as seen in the example above.

Here is an example of the format of a text-dependent writing prompt: “Both passages were about butterflies. Write an expository essay explaining the effects butterflies have in a garden.” 

First, ask students to search for verbs. Examples of verbs in a writing prompt are words such as explain, describe, write, or tell. Then, have students identify the main idea or concept in the writing prompt. 

In the example above, the verb is “write,” and the topic is butterfly. Guide students to uncover the question by asking, “Write what about butterflies?” At this point, many students can identify the question within the writing prompt. 

The next step involves rephrasing their response as a question in their own words. One way to do this is by adding words associated with questions such as who, what, when, where, and how to help transform their response into a straightforward question.

If students need help generating a question, start with shorter statements and gradually move to more complex ones. You can also practice with different writing prompt examples from various contexts and subjects. Analyze them together, turning each into a question.

Now armed with the question, students are prepared for the last step.

Step 4: Pick a Text Structure

By having the question, students need to identify the text structure to help them plan. Remind them that all authors use specific text structures to arrange their thoughts. 

In this step, guide students in choosing one of the five text structures that suit their response to organize their ideas. The text structure they select will become the framework for their planning sheet and help them write their thesis statement. 

There are five structures students can choose from: problem and solution, cause and effect, comparing contrast, sequence, or description – the same ones discussed during reading instruction.

Ask students to underline keywords that hint towards the structure. In the butterfly writing prompt example, “effect” is a keyword to indicate cause and effect.  

Identifying text structure can be tricky for students because it involves understanding how information is organized in a passage. Some common challenges include recognizing keywords that hint at the structure and choosing the right structure for a given topic.

Here are some strategies to help students identify keywords when selecting a text structure to write in:

•  Teach students to recognize specific signal words that often accompany particular text structures. For instance, “cause” and “effect” signal a cause-and-effect structure.
• Provide students with various examples of writing prompts for each text structure. Analyze them together to identify recurring keywords related to each text structure.
• Model the process of identifying keywords by thinking aloud. Show how you read a prompt and pick out words that suggest a specific text structure.
• Have students compare and contrast writing prompts of different structures. Discuss the language used in each and help them discern patterns.
•  Practice identifying keywords during a small group session before gradually moving towards independent practice.
• Encourage reflection on why certain words indicate a particular text structure.

Teaching Tips to Analyze Writing Prompts

To help students grasp the steps in analyzing essay writing prompts, consider these practical teaching tips:

• Use the I do, we do, you do teaching model to practice analyzing a writing prompt. 
• At the beginning, practice analyzing writing prompts without the pressure of writing a response. This practice phase is crucial for building confidence.
• Stay consistent in the language used to model each step of analyzing a writing prompt.
• Create an anchor chart with the four steps to analyze a writing prompt for students to refer to as needed. 
• Analyze previous writing prompts for students to practice analyzing a writing prompt.
• Demonstrate the importance of careful reading, task identification, and identifying a text structure each time you come across a writing prompt. 
• Deliver specific feedback by addressing individual steps as they analyze the writing prompt. This targeted approach reinforces comprehension and refines their skills.

Key Takeaways

Wrapping it up, remember that analyzing writing prompts is a crucial prewriting stage, laying the foundation for a strong, on-point essay. Skipping this step can lead to essays going off-track, and we don't want that for our students!

Encourage students to use the four steps mentioned: read, task, question, and text structure to break down a writing prompt into manageable chunks.

By incorporating these practical tips and activities, students can develop a robust foundation in analyzing writing prompts and empowering them to approach any writing task confidently.

Have your students ever struggled to explain text evidence when writing a response to a writing prompt? Trust me, they are not alone.

It's like they hit a wall of writer's block that makes them want to give up altogether. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Many students face this challenge, and it can be pretty frustrating. 

So, if you're looking for ways to help your students overcome this writer's block at explaining text evidence, you've come to the right place! 

In this blog post, I'm sharing a simple yet effective approach with a free step-by-step lesson plan to help your students become rock stars at explaining text evidence. 

Writing Strategy Background

In my fourth-grade classroom, the biggest hurdle came when it was time to write their explanations on paper.

When asked why they chose a specific sentence to support their topic sentence, I asked them, “Why?”

Many could explain their reasons for selecting that particular text evidence.

However, all the words would disappear into thin air once they had to write them down. 

So, here's what I did to help. 

Each time they answered “why,” they had to focus on jotting down that one explanation.

Then, I continued asking them, “Why?” – just like those kids who incessantly ask their parents, “Are we there yet?” 

All it took was answering that one question repeatedly: “Why?”

And guess what? This approach worked wonders. 

It led me to create a graphic organizer for my students, which served as a starting point for them to gather their thoughts and get those wheels turning when it was time to explain their evidence.

How to Teach Students to Explain Text Evidence  

Model the Writing Strategy

 Let's break it down step by step!

Step 1: Get the ball rolling by having your students read the “Rainforests of the Sea” reading passage and the accompanying writing prompt.

The goal is to help them identify the text evidence they need to support their writing response. 

Step 2: It's time to dive into the graphic organizer “Steps to Explain My Text Evidence,” it's a handy tool for your students to organize their thoughts. 

Model to them how to answer each question in the organizer, adding more details as you go along. This step will help them understand how to explain the importance of coral reefs.

Step 3: Now, it's time to transfer the information from the graphic organizer to the Writing Response worksheet. 

This is where your students will showcase their writing skills by crafting a well-rounded response. To guide them, you can refer to the answer key for some helpful insights.

Practice the Writing Strategy Together

Now let's put the writing strategy into action with them! 

Here's how you can guide your students through practice:

Step 1: Have your students collaborate with a partner or work independently to complete the graphic organizer. 

The focus now is on kelp forests. Encourage them to refer back to the reading passage and select strong text evidence to support their ideas.

Step 2: Gather the student's answers and go through them together. This collaborative discussion will help clarify any doubts and reinforce their understanding. 

Step 3: Transfer their answers from the graphic organizer to the response sheet. 

The writing response is now complete! Take a moment to celebrate their hard work. 

To further enhance their understanding, point out the different parts of the paragraph. 

Highlight how they effectively explained their text evidence and the overall structure of their response.

Students Practice the Writing Strategy Independently 

It's time for students to practice the writing strategy independently. 

Provide them with the graphic organizer to revise a previous writing response or create a new writing prompt. 

They can work with a different reading passage and writing prompt to continue honing their skills.

Students will gain a solid grasp of the writing strategy by practicing both collaboratively and independently. 

It's all about giving them the opportunity to apply what they've learned and become confident writers who can explain text evidence like pros.

Click here to learn more about using picture books to boost writing skills.

More Writing Strategies to Explain Text Evidence

Continuing to help students become rock stars at explaining text evidence, it's all about giving them various writing tools to rock their writing game!

Here is a list of writing lessons to pair up with when teaching elaboration to boost their writing skills even more!  

• Teaching students how to explain text evidence using the seven most common types of elaboration strategies in writing.

• Show them the power of transition words to connect their ideas within paragraphs, making their text evidence explanations even more compelling.

• Add different types of figurative language, such as similes, metaphors, and idioms, to expand on ideas and make their text evidence explanations soar.

Wrapping It Up 

In conclusion, helping students overcome the challenge of explaining text evidence is crucial for their writing success. 

By asking students “Why?” and encouraging them to tell their reasons for selecting specific text evidence help students explain their thoughts before writing their explanation.

To implement the writing strategy in your classroom, follow the step-by-step Guide. Model the process, practice with students, and allow them to apply the writing strategy independently. 

It's all about giving them the necessary support and practice to master this crucial writing skill to explain text evidence in any writing task that comes their way!

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One essential aspect of writing in upper elementary is for fourth graders to add details to writing to bring a story, essay, or paragraph to life.

However, students find it tricky to include enough details in their writing, which makes their paragraphs too short or not descriptive enough.

One way to help students improve their ability to add details is to offer them plenty of practice opportunities that can help them hone their skills and produce engaging and descriptive writing.

This blog post will introduce you to four writing activities upper elementary teachers can utilize to help students improve their ability to add detail to their paragraphs. 

Writing Activity 1: Introduce Different Ways to Add Details to Writing

Right off the bat, focus on defining what it means to add details by introducing each elaboration technique. 

Hold off on spilling all the details about adding details to their writing using each elaboration strategy. 

Instead, focus on one or two elaboration strategies during a writing lesson for students to familiarize themself with the terms and their characteristics. 

The amount of time spent on each type of elaboration depends on the feedback from your students.

To start this lesson, use a set of elaboration posters and matching notes to focus on each writing strategy. 

Initiate the assignment by projecting one poster and defining the elaboration term as they write it down.

Next, read the example and discuss the characteristics of the sentences. 

Take the time to point out the sentence starters within the sample paragraph. 

Last, use the paragraphs to practice adding details with the introduced elaboration strategy. 

As an extension, students can practice adding details with a partner.

It's always fun to hear the variations of sentences among groups.

Writing Activity 2: Add a Writing Details Reference Wall

Once students practice adding details, add their responses below the elaboration posters for students to reference the examples throughout the year. 

Including an elaboration reference wall in the classroom can be helpful for students to reference when working independently.

Writing Activity 3: Go Around the Room Adding Details 

As the kids gain familiarity with identifying different types of elaborations, they must also increase their confidence in applying them to their essays.

One way to practice adding details to their writing is by taking paragraphs they have written from previous essays and having them add details with one type of elaboration.

To begin with, type the paragraph of your choosing to protect students from identifying other students' handwriting.

Next, add an elaboration poster above each paragraph for students to know which elaboration strategy they will include. 

Post the elaboration poster and its corresponding paragraph in different parts of the classroom to have kids rotate through each elaboration poster.

Teacher Tip: Use an essay students are currently working on for them to leave with plenty of elaboration examples they can add to their essay as a revision.

Writing Activity 4: Collaboratively Add Details to Writing

 In this activity, students write a paragraph together in small groups. Each student takes turns adding a different elaboration strategy to a section in an essay. 

Teacher Tip: Select an essay you have written with the class. Then take the opportunity to discuss the differences in paragraphs when adding details.

To make this activity a challenge between groups, prompt them to add details to their writing by including as many elaboration strategies as possible.

Wrapping It Up

By incorporating these writing activities into their lesson plans, teachers can help their students to develop their writing skills and produce more compelling, detailed writing.

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