Elaboration Stations - Practice for Elaboration in Writing Expository/Opinion

Do your students struggle with understanding what it means to elaborate when writing expository or opinion essays? If they are like my students, this is a very difficult concept. Being able to elaborate in their writing, for a lot of students, will be the difference in an excellent test score and a good test score.

I've developed these Elaboration Stations for students to practice with Elaboration in essays. Before completing these stations, students will need some background on what it means to elaborate in their writing. This resource is strictly practice, there is no teaching component.

Here is what you are getting:

1. THREE Elaboration Stations. (In my classroom, I make two copies of each station and divide my class into 6 groups.

• A "Find It" station in which students will locate and highlight the elaboration in two completed essays
• A "Rate It" station in which students will read three completed essays on the same topic. They will Rate the essays according to their elaboration.
• A "Write It" station in which students will be given an opinion, reason, and text evidence. They will write a paragraph with the given items, but they will add in their own elaboration.

2. Station Directions to be printed for each station

3. Recording Pages

4. Teacher Instructions

5. Answer Keys