1. Elaboration:
Development of
IDEAS
2011 Compiled and Created
by Beverly Dunaway

2.  WHEN YOU ARE WRITING, IDEAS COME TO
YOUR MIND, BUT THEY ARE JUST IDEAS
UNTIL THEY ARE DEVELOPED WITH DETAILS.
 FOREXAMPLE: THE IDEA OF AN UMBRELLA TO
USE ON A RAINY DAY IS COOL, BUT WHEN IT IS
NOT OPENED AND IT RAINS, THERE IS A
PROBLEM.
 YOURIDEA OF USING AN UMBRELLA IS
EXTREMELY HELPFUL WHEN IT IS FULLY
OPENED ON A RAINY DAY!

4.  Letthe world read about your ideas you
develop with “details”, “elaboration”,
“anecdotes”, “examples”, “for instance”!
Don’t be shy!

5.  THINK OF FRESH IDEAS!
 TAKE YOUR IDEAS AND DEVELOP WITH
DETAILS!
 BALANCE YOUR WRITING BY DEVELOPING
YOUR IDEAS EQUALLY IN YOUR PAPER!
 STAY ON YOUR IDEA MORE THAN ONE
SENTENCE!
 MAKE YOUR IDEA CLEAR TO THE READER!
 DEVELOP AND ELABORATE EACH IDEA!
DON’T MAKE A LIST OF IDEAS!

8.  BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: ELECTRICITY

9.  EVEN
THE CLAM OPENS UP HIS SHELL TO
SHOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PEARL!

11.  Examplesfrom unedited FCAT Writes Student
Anchor Papers (2010)

12.  Supporting ideas are offered with adequate
development ELABORATION: (We take the
pizza out of the oven and cut it in square
pieces. The knife was so fast that I was done
in a minute. We served the pizza to the
students. All of a sudden, we hear the
students shouting,"This tastes awful! What
did you guys do? All we taste is tomato sauce
and dough!").

13.  ELABORATION: SUPPORTING DETAILS
Carefully selected details are provided as
support ([Drew], [Jenibelle] and I looked
at each other and groaned. The school bell
rang and we dragged ourselves to the
cafeteria. We got in our blue uniforms and
got to work. I served pepperoni pizza on a
tray. [Jenibelle] served mashed potatoes
and gravy. [Drew] got the easiest job. All
she did was hand Gatorades to students).

14.  (When we got into the lunchroom, it was
all neat and tidy, no lunch ladies serving
up mystery meat. This was going to be
extraordinary. We followed and listened
to the principal as she led and told us
about the lunch room. Principal [Lodz]
left us to do our easy job and told us to be
ready for her when she checks on us every
half-an-hour. We got our hands cleaned,
and got comfortable before we even
started cooking).

15.  (I was putting pepperoni-flavored hot
sauce on the pizza, and too much came
out. Then, this doesn't even sound like it
has a smidgen of an atom of a chance at
all, the pizza started to grow, and grow,
and grow, and grow! It kept growing until
it was a gigantic, fire-breathing,
pepperoni pizza! We were all very, very
scared. Even [Cody] was scared, the
bravest of us five. Excuse me, four,
[David] had just run out of the room in a
fit of what looked like screaming terror).

16.  (When we got into the lunchroom, it was
all neat and tidy, no lunch ladies serving
up mystery meat. This was going to be
extraordinary. We followed and listened
to the principal as she led and told us
about the lunch room. Principal [Lodz]
left us to do our easy job and told us to be
ready for her when she checks on us every
half-an-hour. We got our hands cleaned,
and got comfortable before we even
started cooking).

18.  Supporting ideas are amply developed
through the use of anecdotes and specific
details: “For instance, I’m a safety patrol.
As a safety patrol I have a giant job to
enforce the rules. One time there was a
child named [Jake]. He thought it was cool
not to follow the rules. I was on duty.
[Jake] came speeding as quick as a cheetah
and zipped past me. I told him to walk but,
he didn’t listen. Then he slipped and
scrapped his knee. That is the first reason
it is extremely important to follow the
rules.”

19.  “Inthe library all of the books are
organized in to sections by number. You
have to treat books with care by bringing
them back on time and carefully turning
the pages. That comes under the rule of be
respectful. If the school did not respect the
books the books would be every wear.
They would be on the floor!! They would
have ripped pages!! That rule also helps to
keep a healthy school because you can be
walking and then trip on a book. If you
take care of books you can keep them for a
long time.”

20.  “Another reason why school rules are
important is so you can’t cheat, or have
calculators on a test. If you copy off someone’s
answers on a worksheet, they’re not going to
be there for you to copy off when you’re
taking the test for it. Try your best. If you need
help, ask for it. Or what if someone copies off
your test? Plus, what if when you copy off
someone’s answers, they have the answers
wrong? Would you be very happy? I know I
wouldn’t! If you use a calculator for an answer,
what if you lose the calculator? What then?
You can learn better if you just try and don’t
cheat or use calculator.”

21.  “My last reason why it is important to have
rules is because you need to listen. If a
teacher is talking and you are not listening
you will not know what you are supposed
to be doing. Normally if the teacher thinks
you are not listening they will ask you what
they said. Most of the time you will say
what. Not often do you know what they
were saying but sometimes you get lucky.
You also need to listen if it is an emergency
because a tornado could be coming
towards you.”