Elaboration: Strategic Teaching To Improve Student Writing in Grades 3 - 5
When you write, it is like you have a buried treasure that you are trying to show your reader. IF you write well, you will elaborate your ideas so that you uncover the buried treasure and the reader will be able to see, feel, and experience your treasure.
If I said to you, “I have a treasure chest. It is in my backyard,” would you be able to see my treasure chest? Do you know what is inside?
(Students may respond.)
No. You won’t be able to see or experience it because it is buried in a hole and covered with dirt.
(While telling the next part, the teacher imitates the story by moving around the room to different locations and “digging” one shovelful.)
What if I were to take you out to my backyard and then with a shovel dig one shovelful in an area, then move to a different area and dig a shovelful and move to a completely different area and dig yet another shovelful? Will you see the buried treasure? Will you get to know what is inside?
(Students may respond.)
No. You still won’t be able to see or experience the treasure. We have lots of little holes spread all around the yard, but none of them reach the treasure.
Typically, this is how a COS 1 paper is elaborated.
(Imitate the digging of one shovelful around the room with each sentence listed below.)
I love basketball. (dig) I like basketball games.
(dig)
I like bouncing the ball. (dig)
I read basketball books. (dig)
My friends and I play basketball.
I watch basketball on TV. (dig)
(dig)
Everything I am saying is about “basketball,” just like everywhere I am digging is in the backyard. But, the ideas in my “basketball” sentences are not connected to one another, just like the holes are not connected to one another.
I could say the “basketball” sentences in any order, just like I could dig the shovelfuls in any order. The order just wouldn’t matter – it will never reach the treasure (the heart of the writer’s message).
(While telling the next part, the teacher imitates the story by moving around the room to different locations and digging two shovelfuls in each location.)
What if I were to dig two shovelfuls in each location around the room?
Will you see my treasure?
Will you get to throw open the lid and experience it?
(Students may respond.)
No. We still have lots of little holes all around the yard. Notice, the holes are being dug to find the treasure – therefore, they’re all related. However, the holes are not connected to one another.
Copyright © 2007 Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All rights reserved.

Elaboration: Strategic Teaching To Improve Student Writing in Grades 3 - 5
Typically, this is how a COS 2 paper is elaborated.
(Imitate the digging of two shovelfuls around the room with every two connected sentences.)
(First location)
1. I like basketball games. (dig)
When I am at the game I play a guard.
(dig in same spot as above)
(Move to a 2 nd location)
2. I also like bouncing the ball.
(dig)
Bouncing the ball is called dribbling. (dig in the same spot)
(Move to a 3 rd location)
3. My friends and I play basketball.
(dig)
We like to play everyday after school.
(dig in the same spot)
What we need to do in order to see, feel, and experience what is in the treasure chest is to elaborate or “dig deep” on our idea - not move all around the backyard, but instead stay in one spot and dig and dig and dig and dig so that our hole is deep enough and wide enough to reach the treasure chest and just wide enough to pull the chest out of the ground so that we can throw open the lid and find out what the treasure is (the heart of your writing.)
Typically, the COS 3 pa pers adequately “dig to uncover” through the use of elaboration, while typical COS 4 papers consis tently “dig, uncover, and show” through their use of elaboration. (See anchor papers for examples of this.)
A note about scoring:
On the WASL, students’ writing is scored for Content, Organization, and Style (COS) and for Conventions (CON).
The COS is worth a total of four points and CON is worth a total of two points. The Writing Scoring Guide is available on the OSPI website: http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/WASL/WritingAssessment.aspx
Students write to a narrative prompt which can earn as many as six points (four points for COS and two points for
CON). They also write to an expository prompt which can earn as many as six points (four points for COS and two points for CON).
Elaboration is a characteristic of the COS score. Elaboration can impact the cont ent through the students’ ideas, the organization through the use of layering, and the style through the use of precise language.
Copyright © 2007 Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. All rights reserved.