Writing

Evidence Elaboration model

The evidence elaboration model is a teaching strategy used to help children move beyond simple answers and provide a thorough explanation of how their supporting details (evidence) connect to their main point. Elaboration means "adding details" and the model focuses on teaching kids why the evidence matters, not just what the evidence is.  

"What it says, What it means, Why it matters": kids state the evidence, paraphrase it in their own words, and then explain its significance.

Elaborate & explain more

Remembering that the elaboration sentences represent ideas that come from the reader’s Thinking Voice, teach students how to articulate their thoughts into words. Explicitly provide techniques for elaborating on evidence. These might include:

• Restating the evidence in more plain terms (e.g., In other words… This means…).

• Relating evidence with an example or simple scenario (e.g., This is like…).

• Emphasizing the significance (e.g., This is important because…).