Do you often catch yourself telling students to just add more when they say they are done writing? It’s a common trap that we often fall into because it’s what we’ve been told to tell our students. But do they really know what it means to add more?
What Adding Details to Writing Means
Telling students to add more means to add more details. That’s obvious, right? But many students, especially our primary learners, might not know what you mean when you say to “add more.”
Have they been explicitly taught what that means?
Have you shown them writing examples that exemplify adding more?
Do you have a list of things they can do to add to their writing?
As a writing teacher and coach, I feel that adding more should mean to make their writing come alive. The details that make our favorite books come alive for us and make us feel all the feelings are what I want to see in my students’ writing.
Using Our Senses
One of the easiest ways we can teach our young writers to add details to their writing is through the 5 senses. We can ask students what color clothes they were wearing, what sounds they heard, what they were feeling or tasting.
Students can easily search their memories to add these details when writing personal narratives. Later, when they write fiction stories they can add these details for their characters.
To help students learn how to use their senses for details, consider teaching at least two mini lessons during writing time. The more students practice this skill, the more they will use it in their own writing.
Using Names and Numbers
Another great way to get students adding details to writing is to ask them to use names and numbers in their writing. Did they tell you the name of their best friend or family members? Did they tell you how many times they went down their favorite slide at the park?
Beware to expect a list of names or numbers attached to each sentence if you’re not specific in when to use these details!
My favorite way to teach this is to use a mentor text. I might read a page or two from the text and point out how and when the author decided to use someone’s name or a number in the sentence.
Depending on my students, I might write a few sentences for practice and together as a class we can edit the sentences. In this example, I might ask, “Do you see a good spot where I can add someone’s name?” Or, “Where do you think I can use a number detail?”
Using Where and When
I also like to teach my students to add details that include where and when. For me, I usually talk about using where and when as setting details because the setting can change across a story.
Teaching students to tell about when their story is happening can also include details about the time of day, the season, or the year. Teaching students about where can be as simple as telling the place their characters are at but of course I want to push my students beyond simple settings.
With my second graders, we also explore the environment as part of our setting. Where exactly is the setting? A forest? A beach? A park? A school? When considering and teaching about the environment I explore with my students how people typically behave in these environments.
How do you act and feel when you enter a library? A museum? A rock concert? Different environments show people in a different way.
While there are many, many ways we can teach our students to add details to writing, teaching them too many ways right off the bat can feel overwhelming. Make sure when teaching to add details you are not doing all these suggestions in one day. Spread them out over a week or two depending on how quickly your class is catching on.
How will you help your writers add details to writing?
Resources Helpful With Today's Episode:
- FREE K-3 Writing Skills Progression, perfect for getting started with your writing pre-assessment, here or by clicking above, https://sharedteaching.com/writing-skills-progression/
- Second Grade Writing Units (narrative unit coming soon)