Adapted from The Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo
Elaboration is the specific information a writer uses to develop her topic. Elaboration includes but is not limited to: details, facts, anecdotes, dialogue, inner thinking, setting description, character descriptions, statistics, reasons, information, and direct quotations from interview subjects. With strong use of purposeful detail, a piece of writing comes to life and the author's intended meaning is clear. With an absence of detail to develop the character, paint the world of the story, explain the content, or offer reasons and facts for the purpose of persuasion, the writing often falls flat or feels confusing to a reader.
Offering a variety of elaboration strategies will also help students to vary the types of details they may include in their piece, so their drafts don't end up sounding one-note. Overall, we should aim to not just say to children, "Add more details," but rather, "Think about what it is you're trying to say/show/tell. Now what details would best help you do that?" (Murray 1985; Anderson 2005).
Watch an elaboration strategy in action below as Jennifer Serravallo works with a student on her writing:
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Learn more about The Writing Strategies Book at Heinemann.com
Want to learn more about writing strategies to use in your classroom? Join the online Summer Writing Camp for teachers hosted by Jennifer Serravallo! The five-week program takes place in the Reading and Writing Strategies Facebook Group, and runs through July 27th. Registration is not required, and you can drop in and out whenever your schedule allows. Learn more here.
Jennifer Serravallo is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Reading Strategies Book and The Writing Strategies Book, which have been translated into Spanish, French, and Chinese. These and her other popular books and resources help teachers make goal-directed responsive strategy instruction, conferring, and small group work doable in every classroom. Her newest titles are Teaching Writing in Small Groups, A Teacher’s Guide to Reading Conferences, Understanding Texts and Readers, and the assessment and teaching resource Complete Comprehension for Fiction and Nonfiction.
Jen is a frequently invited speaker at national and regional conferences and travels throughout the US and Canada to provide full-day workshops and to work with teachers and students in classrooms. She is also an experienced online educator who regularly offers live webinar series and full-day online workshops, and is the creator of two self-paced asynchronous online courses, most recently Strategies in Action: Reading and Writing Methods and Content.
Jen began her career in education as an NYC public school teacher. Now as a consultant, she has spent the last fifteen+ years helping teachers across the country create literacy classrooms where students are joyfully engaged, and the instruction is meaningfully individualized to students' goals. Jen is also a member of Parents Magazine Board of Advisors for education and literacy.
Jen holds a BA from Vassar College and an MA from Teachers College, where she has also taught graduate and undergraduate classes.
Learn more about Jen and her work at Hein.pub/serravallo, on Twitter @jserravallo, on Instagram @jenniferserravallo, or by joining The Reading and Writing Strategies Facebook Community.
