Students had a mini-lesson on elaborating. Students are writing All-About Books.
Bella: (Writing on babies) Babies can help around the house by cleaning up stuff.
T: Can all babies help? Elaborate. Explain.
Bella: Well, not all babies. Babies that are at least 2 years old.
T: Okay, then how can you write that in your writing to help your readers understand better as they read this section?
Bella: I can say, “Babies that are at least 2 years old can help around the house by cleaning up stuff.”
Shows how she is using the strategy/skill learned in the mini lesson. Does she understand the strategy? Yes, she is getting there. Does she use it? She uses details to elaborate. Does she explain thoroughly? Although the information might be incorrect, the Bella does explain thoroughly.
Aveley: (Writing on cats) You can buy toys for the cats.
T: How can we elaborate here?
Aveley: I can give examples on the types of toys. Like the mouse, the ball, strings…
T: Okay, how can we include that in your writing? We learned that we can start off the sentence with “For example.”
Aveley: Yea. “I’m going to add it here. For example, toys like the mouse and the ball.”
Shows how she is using the strategy/skill learned in the mini lesson. Does she understand the strategy? Yes! She elaborates by giving examples. Does she use it? Yes, and she does it successfully. It is clear and her sentence is richer in details because of it.
Jack: (Writing on Puerto Rico) You can do a lot of stuff in Puerto Rico.
T: What can you do in Puerto Rico? As a reader, I don’t know what you can do. What do you mean by “a lot of stuff?” How can you elaborate?
Jack: You can go to the beach. You can eat. You can play in the sand. You can swim.
T: Great! Now, I’m getting a better idea of what I can do in Puerto Rico. Now, I want you to write that in this section.
Jack: Okay. (Adds onto previously worked on sentence) “You can do a lot of stuff, such as you can go to the beach, go swimming, and eat.”
Shows how he is using the strategy/skill learned in the mini lesson. Does he understand the strategy? Yes, he does. Does he use it? He uses details to elaborate. Does he explain thoroughly? Yes. Although he can be a little more thoughtful about the activities that people can do in Puerto Rico, he does list different activities. Therefore, he used the strategy/skill learned in his writing.
Bella: (Writing on babies) Babies can help around the house by cleaning up stuff.
T: Can all babies help? Elaborate. Explain.
Bella: Well, not all babies. Babies that are at least 2 years old.
T: Okay, then how can you write that in your writing to help your readers understand better as they read this section?
Bella: I can say, “Babies that are at least 2 years old can help around the house by cleaning up stuff.”
Shows how she is using the strategy/skill learned in the mini lesson. Does she understand the strategy? Yes, she is getting there. Does she use it? She uses details to elaborate. Does she explain thoroughly? Although the information might be incorrect, the Bella does explain thoroughly.
Aveley: (Writing on cats) You can buy toys for the cats.
T: How can we elaborate here?
Aveley: I can give examples on the types of toys. Like the mouse, the ball, strings…
T: Okay, how can we include that in your writing? We learned that we can start off the sentence with “For example.”
Aveley: Yea. “I’m going to add it here. For example, toys like the mouse and the ball.”
Shows how she is using the strategy/skill learned in the mini lesson. Does she understand the strategy? Yes! She elaborates by giving examples. Does she use it? Yes, and she does it successfully. It is clear and her sentence is richer in details because of it.
Jack: (Writing on Puerto Rico) You can do a lot of stuff in Puerto Rico.
T: What can you do in Puerto Rico? As a reader, I don’t know what you can do. What do you mean by “a lot of stuff?” How can you elaborate?
Jack: You can go to the beach. You can eat. You can play in the sand. You can swim.
T: Great! Now, I’m getting a better idea of what I can do in Puerto Rico. Now, I want you to write that in this section.
Jack: Okay. (Adds onto previously worked on sentence) “You can do a lot of stuff, such as you can go to the beach, go swimming, and eat.”
Shows how he is using the strategy/skill learned in the mini lesson. Does he understand the strategy? Yes, he does. Does he use it? He uses details to elaborate. Does he explain thoroughly? Yes. Although he can be a little more thoughtful about the activities that people can do in Puerto Rico, he does list different activities. Therefore, he used the strategy/skill learned in his writing.