Support your writers! Clear procedures and appropriate support make this a superb resource for elementary writing instruction. Ready your class to compose original descriptive paragraphs inspired by the episode in Roald Dahl's James and...

Spice up your writing! Your amateur writers will benefit from concentrating on understanding and improving verb use in writing. An introductory activity addresses weak verbs. A second exercise helps them see the importance of strong...

Whether you are viewing a landscape painting of a farm, examining a still-life portrait of a bowl of fruit, or reading a descriptive poem about cultivating food, you can't deny that agriculture plays a major role in visual and language...

Learners use description language to clarify ideas and create vivid images in an essay focusing of strong verbs. They discuss weak verbs and explore that the better image the words create, the better the reader understands the text.

Students describe places using language that is as vivid as possible. They will examine the writer's craft in describing a place by reading and discussing "Resurrecting the Miner's World." They will then revise their descriptive pieces...

Young scholars find vivid verbs in literature and use them in their own writing. In this vivid verbs lesson, students use a 'Thinking Thesaurus' of major verbs to study common verbs. Young scholars then practice rewriting sentences using...

Students discuss the importance of using adjectives in writing. They separate into five groups, each group is given a bag with an object inside to describe using just one sense. They write a description of a Hershey's Kiss using adjectives.

Write with the senses! Try using art to inspire writers to consider all of the senses. Here, the class is divided in half. Each group looks at one of two images, imagines the senses that would be engaged, and records answers to five...

Students examine strategies an author uses to provide qualitative and quantitative aspects of life in China. They apply the strategies to their own writing.

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...

Third graders have fun using descriptive words in an expository format to describe a food that they hate. They utilize a planning worksheet that's imbedded in this plan before they begin their drafts.

Carl Sandburg composed poetry that conveyed a time and place in American Literature and history. Learners identify the literary techniques he uses to describe the historical and cultural context of living in Chicago. They define the...

Third graders read aloud a book about a favorite place. They make and share a list of favorite places and then use a graphic organizer to write a description of a favorite place so that the reader can imagine being there.

Sixth graders write descriptive narratives about animals. In this descriptive writing lesson plan, the teacher models how to write a paragraph with interesting sensory words and exciting verbs. Students choose a picture of an animal they...

Review the narrative writing process with your emerging story writers. They read a sample narrative and identify five vague verbs that could be replaced with a more exact, exciting verb. Then they write a personal narrative making sure...

Learners use the author's writing as a model to achieve vivid description and engaging humor in compositions of their own. They examine the ways a writer can capture and hold a reader's attention and write a short personal narrative...

Young scholars create vivid descriptions for various sets used in the new movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Students think about and remember a special Christmas they had with their family when they were younger. They write an essay using vivid descriptions that appeal to the senses.

Students examine the historical and cultural context in Sandburg's poem. The poetic devices of personification and apostrophe are utilized in the poem and identified by Students.

Third graders decide what would make Santa look modern and in style. They write a descriptive paragraph that another student then reads. They try to draw the image conveyed in the writing. They read the paragraphs and match them with the...

Students create images that convey how the weather makes them feel. As a class, students discuss the way weather can effect their mood. After reading several passages describing the weather, students use vivid descriptions and...

Fifth graders listen as the teacher reads "Voices in the Park." They discuss the character's feelings and write vivid descriptive words to indicate how the character feels about his experience. Students select one character in the story...

Students write an essay about a special Christmas memory they have. In this Christmas essay instructional activity, students use vivid description to write an essay about a special Christmas memory they have.

Eighth graders study personification in published works of poetry, then create their own through the use of diamante or cinquain poetry. They read and discuss poetry by Shel Silverstein, William Jay Smith, and Elinor Wylie.