It is intended for upper elementary and middle grades but can be adapted for lower grades. This lesson plan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (opens in a new window) has students work collaboratively to generate descriptive writing about works of art. This lesson plan from Utah Education Network (opens in a new window) guides students through the process of writing about a favorite place using descriptive language. However, elementary teachers can modify the Show-Me sentences to make them interesting for younger students. The Show-Me Sentences (opens in a new window) lesson plan from ReadWriteThink was created for students in grades 6-12. The Describing Wheel (opens in a new window) offers a more open-ended format for capturing and organizing descriptive language. This Sense Chart (opens in a new window) - organized into sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch categories - helps students capture sensory details related to a topic. ReadWriteThink offers this RAFT Writing Template. The RAFT strategy encourages descriptive writing and supports writing in general by encouraging students to think through the writer’s Role, the Audience, the Format, and the Topic. Here are some routines and structures for teaching descriptive writing: Cycles of constructive teacher and peer feedback followed by thoughtful revision. Repeated, structured practice scaffolded to meet students’ needs. Modeling different ways to generate descriptive writing. Helping students make the connection between sensory input (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) and descriptive writing. Reading aloud and analyzing high-quality mentor texts to help students understand how authors use descriptive writing to connect with readers. There isn’t one right approach to teaching descriptive writing, but effective instruction often includes: What effective instruction in descriptive writing looks like Descriptive writing about a person might begin with a physical description, followed by how the person thinks, feels and acts. ![]() Some ways to organize descriptive writing include: chronological (time), spatial (location), and order of importance. Instead, specific adjectives and nouns and strong action verbs give life to the picture being painted in the reader’s mind. General adjectives, nouns, and passive verbs are used sparingly. Tools of the writer’s craft such as analogy, simile, and metaphor add depth to authors’ descriptions. Descriptive writing may also go beyond creating a strong sensory impression to give the reader a “picture” of the feelings the description evokes in the writer. Specific details paint a picture in the reader’s mind and appeal to the reader’s senses. ![]() What effective descriptive writing looks likeĪuthors of descriptive writing use a variety of styles and techniques to connect with readers, but effective descriptive writing often shares these characteristics: ![]() An understanding of the characteristics of effective descriptive writing, combined with a toolkit of structures and strategies to scaffold learning and practice, can enhance students’ development as authors of vivid, evocative writing. The good news is that it can be explicitly taught. If only descriptive writing were as simple as “show, don’t tell”! Descriptive writing is a skill - and a craft - that takes instruction, practice, and time to learn.
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