1. What do you need to know to do well on the FCAT
Writing Essay Section?
All students need to know that this year’s FCAT is more important than ever before for individual students. In the past, only the percentage of students who scored 3.5 and above counted for the school grade. This year, each student has to pass both the essay and the multiple-choice sections of the FCAT Writing+ Test in order to qualify for a diploma. The student will earn a scale score from , similar to FCAT Reading and Mathematics. Half of that scale score is earned by the essay, and the other half is earned on the multiple choice sections. The student takes the 45-minute essay section first, followed by two multiple choice sections of 40 minutes each. Based on past years’ scores, a student needs to score a 4.0 and get at least 30 multiple-choice questions correct in order to get a 300 scale score.

2. What do you need to do to score a 4.0 or higher?
Read the entire prompt until you understand what you are to write on.
Use the planning sheet to make a quick list of ideas.
Choose your two best ideas and determine how you can fully elaborate each idea.
FCAT prompts have two basic components: the writing situation and the directions for writing. The writing situation orients students to the subject, and the directions for writing set the parameters, such as identifying the audience to whom the writing is directed.
Example:
Writing Situation:
Everyone has jobs or chores. These may be things people do because they are asked to do them or because doing the job or chore makes people feel good about themselves.
Directions for Writing:
Think about why you do one of your jobs or chores.
Now explain why you do one of your jobs or chores.
A good way to practice before the test is to look at several prompts and brainstorm ideas that could be used to write an FCAT essay.
See the handouts “Expository Prompts” and “Persuasive Prompts” for further practice.

3. What is elaboration?
Elaboration is the explaining of an idea so completely that your reader doesn’t have any further questions.
You can elaborate by using facts, ideas, statistics, details, expert testimony, anecdotes (stories), examples, dialogue, reasons, opinions, observations, predictions, and description (show not tell by using sensory images).
A good way to get students to understand elaboration is to say to them “Explain what you mean,” when they have presented an idea. If a reader or listener still has questions after a student has explained, the reader or listener should prompt the student to continue the elaboration with “Tell me more.”
Examples of the types of elaboration should be examined, whether from students’ papers or from literature that is studied. Also see the handout entitled “The Middle of the Essay” for examples.
Also, see the PowerPoint from last year entitled FCAT Writing Elaboration Examples. Students could be assigned to do one elaboration on a slide, add a visual, and share with classmates.

4. What is the “key” to elaboration?
• An elaboration starts off with a statement, and then you have to build on that statement.
For instance, let’s say that you make a statement such as this:
Extra-curricular activities are important for most students.
Now you have to explain more about this statement.
It is vital that a student examine a statement and pull something from the sentence on which to build. For instance, If a student followed the sentence, “Extra-curricular activities are important for most students,” with a sentence that says, “Many students believe they need to spend all their time on homework,” the student has changed the topic according to the way FCAT essays are evaluated. Show students how to examine a sentence and then say to himself, “Explain what that means.”

5. Next step . . . start building
Extra-curricular activities are important for most students. Extra-curricular activities include sports, clubs, and musical groups. or
Extra-curricular activities are important for most students. Many students use extra-curricular activities such as clubs to escape the pressure of demanding, academic classes.
Each of these contains a second sentence that adds details to the first sentence. The first example focuses on the ideas of extra-curricular activities and uses that phrase in the second sentence. The next example focuses on the students and uses the students as the subject.

6. Extra-curricular activities are important for most
Next step continue building. Think of it as links of a chain--each joined to the link before it.
Extra-curricular activities are important for most
students. Extra-curricular activities include sports,
clubs, and musical groups. Playing sports is the
most important extra-curricular activity at my school.
In fact, 39% of all the students at Mayberry High
School play a sport. My best friend Barry plays
three sports--football, soccer, and baseball. Barry always says, “One of these sports is going to pay
my way through college.Thus, for many students, including Barry, extra-curricular activities can be financially helpful.
A good classroom activity is to have a student say a sentence on a topic. The next student must build on the first student’s sentence. The next student must build on the second student’s sentence. As the building goes on, the teacher might suggest that someone add a connected sentence that contains a statistic or that starts to tell a relevant anecdote. Have all students listen to each additional sentence and stop immediately if someone presents a new idea that does not continue building the elaboration.
The chain analogy should help students see how a sentence must link to other sentences.

7. Sentence-by-sentence dissection
[Topic sentence] Extra-curricular activities are important
for most students. [Adding a detail] Extra-curricular
activities include sports, clubs, and musical groups.
[Opinion] Playing sports is the most important extra-curricular
activity at my school. [Statistic] In fact, 39% of all the
students at Mayberry High School play a sport.
[Example] My best friend Barry plays three sports--
football, soccer, and baseball. [Expert testimony] Barry
always says, “One of these sports is going to pay my
way through college. [Concluding sentence] Thus, for
many students, including Barry, extra-curricular activities
can be financially helpful.
This same activity can be done with students’ paragraphs to see what elaboration strategies they are already using and what strategies could make their paragraphs even better.

8. Remember that in an elaborated idea, each sentence builds
on (links to) the previous sentence.
Extra-curricular activities are important for most students.
Extra-curricular activities include sports, clubs, and
musical groups. Sports is the most important extra-curricular
activity at my school. In fact, 39% of all the students at
Mayberry High School play a sport. My best friend Barry
plays three sports--football, soccer, and baseball. Barry
always says, “One of these sports is going to pay my
way through college. Thus, for many students, including
Barry, extra-curricular activities can be financially helpful.
Often the transition from one sentence to another is repetition of a key word or phrase or use of a pronoun reference. See the handout “Transitional Devices” for an overview of transitional devices. See the handout “Transitions” for a comprehensive list of transitions for specific uses.

9. Remember, to score the 4.0 and higher, you need
• two full elaborations (the MOST important requirement)
• good use of vocabulary (use generous, not nice or good)
• correct punctuation
• common words spelled correctly (there, their, they’re, etc.)
• an introduction (get the reader’s attention, let the
reader know the subject and make sure your position on
the subject is clear)
• a conclusion (tell the reader what you want him to do
or think
A mature vocabulary always lends credibility to a piece of writing. Of course, no paper should be filled with “SAT words.” A few well-placed sophisticated words elevates writing on the FCAT. For ideas on the kinds of information to put into an introduction or conclusion, examine high scoring papers and see the handouts “Introductions” and “Conclusions.”