Curated OER
Description of People and Things
Elementary schoolers use adjectives correctly in their speech. They demonstrate adjectives using familiar objects. (For example, they might show narrow by walking between two chairs placed closely together.) Then they play antonym Bingo...
Curated OER
What’s in a Word?
A black raku tea bowl inspires a lesson on descriptive writing and the power of choosing words carefully to become stronger writers. The class inspects several images of a Japanese tea bowl, and then they use their imaginations to think...
Curated OER
Lesson: That Long Jakes
Cross-media analysis takes time and attention to detail. The class analyzes the painting Long Jakes and the poem "Backward Bill." They pay attention to the similarities and differences in each piece, looking for details that describe the...
Berkshire Museum
Meet a Naturalist: Researching, Writing, Interviewing
Young scholars reach out into the community and learn about different environmental science careers in this inquiry-based instructional activity. Beginning with a short research assignment, children gain background knowledge about...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing
Students write a 5 sentence descriptive paragraph using a variety of writing strategies and images taken from the Pics4Learning site. They utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to help guide them in their writing.
Curated OER
Magic Pencil Story Starters
While mentioning adult learners in the description, this lesson could be used at any grade level. This activity gives a list of procedures and writing prompts to help unlock the writer in everyone. Learners of all ages could benefit from...
Curated OER
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers
Students compose a letter to a family member. In this writing lesson, students listen to the book, Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers and identify the parts of a letter.
Curated OER
Teaching Descriptive Word Usage
Second graders practice their creative writing by using descriptive words. In this language arts instructional activity, 2nd graders utilize their best descriptive writing to elaborate on one of 20 different bean bag characters. ...
Lesson Plansos
Guided Reading Activities with Pizzazz
Get the most out of your guided reading lessons with this collection of literacy materials. Offering a system for using color-coded tags to mark pages while reading books, as well as an assortment of comprehension and grammar worksheets,...
Curated OER
Poppin Popcorn
Students use their senses to write descriptive sentences. In this descriptive writing instructional activity, students discuss their senses. Students are asked to look at and feel unpopped corn kernels. Students then write descriptions...
Curated OER
Lesson: Mad Lib Leigh!
A fun and quirky painting is analyzed for details in an art/literacy lesson. Youngsters look for colors, shadows, and details and then describe them using vivid language. They use the words from discussion to complete a fun Mad Lib-style...
Curated OER
Giving Thanks for Food and Farms
Sarah Stewart’s The Gardener and Food from Farms by Nancy Dickmann display the importance of community farms. After reading these short picture books, class members draw connections between farms and the food we eat each day. As a...
Curated OER
Parts of a Friendly Letter
The art of writing a letter has not been lost to email and texting! Teach kids how to format a friendly letter with a presentation about the parts of a letter, as well as prompting them to write a letter about their favorite holiday.
Education World
My Pumpkin Story
Have young pumpkin carvers use technology to create a unique pumpkin face and write a short story about the special characteristics of their pumpkin.
Curated OER
Pizza Biography
A biography writing lesson with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how to...
Curated OER
Ain't Gonna Rain No More
In this creative writing lesson, pupils listen to the song "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More", read the book adaptation titled I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!, and pay close attention to the rhyming scheme, punctuation and illustrations. They...
Curated OER
Children Using Antonyms to Write Short Stories
Second graders discuss what antonyms are and read the book, Quick as a Cricket. In this antonym lesson, 2nd graders write a short story by describing themselves.
Curated OER
Controlled Narrative Writing
Learners add details to their narratives. In this narrative writing instructional activity, students look at a simple four sentence narrative and add adjectives and adverbs to make it more descriptive. They do this activity whole class,...
Curated OER
Details: Writer's Workshop Mini-Lesson
Students read the story I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow. They discuss the details from the story. Students draw an illustration of what they expect their Thanksgiving dinner table will look like. They list details that describe their...
Curated OER
"My Animal"
Students determine which animal best represents them write reasons why. This is a nice culminating activity for students who have been working on descriptive writing.
Curated OER
Literacy Through Photography
Students practice using words to describe photographs they have taken. In this descriptive writing lesson, students utilize a disposable or digital camera to take 5 pictures of their life after school. Students create slides from their...
Curated OER
Our Dinopals with WordArt
Elementary schoolers use the writing process steps to write a descriptive paragraph about a fictional dinosaur. Using a tech tool lesson, they create a graphic title for the paragraph. A nice blending of technology with "old-fashioned"...
Denver Art Museum
Descriptive Haiku
Even though this is technically an art instructional activity, haiku poetry is actually the main focus! Learners view photographs of Japanese tea caddies. They list five descriptive words for the caddies, then write haiku poems using the...
Berkshire Museum
Backyard Rocks
You don't have to travel far to learn about rocks, just step outside, pick up a stone, and begin investigating. After taking a class walk around the school grounds collecting rocks, young scientists practice their skills of observation...