Practicing Elaboration in a Problem/Solution Essay
One theory suggests that students tend to list in an essay because they lack the tools to elaborate. Because they do not have the strategies, they attempt to fill up the empty space by introducing new primary ideas instead of fleshing out the ideas they have already presented. This activity attempts to make students aware of the need to elaborate and to provide students with some workable strategies for elaborating. Using a PowerPoint presentation, the teacher demonstrates the necessity for elaboration in a problem/solution essay. Students then choose a particular point in the PowerPoint presentation to expand through elaboration.
A lesson plan for grade 10 English Language Arts
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Learning outcomes
Students will learn to recognize when elaboration is needed and will develop strategies for elaboration. Students may be given the options to elaborate by describing or analying the subject, narrating relevant anecdotes, comparing and contrasting, analyzing causes and effects, explaining benefits or limitations, demonstrating claims or assertions, or offering scenarios to illustrate.
Teacher planning
Time required for lesson
3 Hours
Materials/resources
PowerPoint presentation: Fertility Drugs
Technology resources
- Computer with PowerPoint
- Projection device
- Paper copy of the slides (optional)
Pre-activities
Students have had various minilessons elaboration such as elaborate by describing or analyzing the subject, narrating relevant anecdotes, comparing and contrasting, analyzing causes and effects, explaining benefits or limitations, demonstrating claims or assertions, or offering scenarios to illustrate.
Activities
Modeling/Minilesson
- Discuss with students the fact that PowerPoint presentations typically contain only “talking points”, not the complete text of what the speaker wants to say to the audience.
- Using the PowerPoint presentation Fertility Drugs, demonstrate for students the structure of the problem/solution essay represented in the slides. For example, the slide reads, “Problem: Fertility drugs are risky.” Then there are brief bulleted remarks. As you go through the PowerPoint presentation, point to the idea that speakers must elaborate on at each bullet as they talk.
- Talk through the PowerPoint adding information on each bullet as you go.
- Explain to students that many students write as if they are listing bullets in a PowerPoint without adding the elaboration.
Guided Practice
- In small groups, assign one bullet from the presentation to each group and tell students they must elaborate on that bullet using one of the elaboration strategies listed below:
- describing or analyzing the subject
- narrating relevant anecdotes
- comparing and contrasting
- analyzing causes and effects
- explaining benefits or limitations
- demonstrating claims or assertions
- offering scenarios to illustrate.
- Students may then add their comments to the PowerPoint presentation, or write a paragraph to elaborate their assigned bulleted item.
Independent Practice
- Students are assigned to write a problem/solution paragraph using one of the elaboration strategies to elaborate on information presented.
Closure
- After completing their paragraphs, students use peer review for items in essays that need further elaboration. Peers suggest particular elaboration strategies for specific points in the paragraph.
Assessment
Using a rubric, peers and teachers evaluate student paragraphs for elaboration using one of the target strategies.
Supplemental information
See PowerPoint Fertility Drugs.
Comments
This lesson was created as part of the NCDPI Writing Lessons for Writing Features Workshop. (Feature: Elaboration)
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 10 — English II
- Goal 2: The learner will evaluate problems, examine cause/effect relationships, and answer research questions to inform an audience.
- Objective 2.01: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print informational texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
- selecting, monitoring, and modifying as necessary reading strategies appropriate to readers' purpose.
- identifying and analyzing text components (such as organizational structures, story elements, organizational features) and evaluating their impact on the text.
- providing textual evidence to support understanding of and reader's response to text.
- demonstrating comprehension of main idea and supporting details.
- summarizing key events and/or points from text.
- making inferences, predicting, and drawing conclusions based on text.
- identifying and analyzing personal, social, historical or cultural influences, contexts, or biases.
- making connections between works, self and related topics.
- analyzing and evaluating the effects of author's craft and style.
- analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.
- identifying and analyzing elements of informational environment found in text in light of purpose, audience, and context.
- Objective 2.01: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print informational texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
