Curated OER
Describe a Journey
Students describe the sensory experience of a character's journey in an essay. In this precise details writing lesson, students explain the effects on the senses of weather, time of day, landscape, and other...
Curated OER
Breaking the Chains: Rising Out of Circumstances
Study history through photographs. In this visual arts and history activity, students learn to analyze photographs to discover details about life during the Civil War era. Students write journal entries as if they are the...
Curated OER
I Imagine
Students discuss the importance of using sensory words to describe objects; talking about words that refer to size, shape, texture, sound, smell, etc. They select a few objects around the classroom and use sensory words to describe.
Curated OER
Use The Polar Express to Develop Rich and Detailed Writing
Bring The Polar Express into your middle school classroom to spark the creativity of your emerging writers.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Songwriting Skill - Elaboration: Jesse McCartney - “How Do You Sleep?”
The practice of developing lyrics by elaborating with sensory details and examples continues in the third lesson on songwriting. This time class members examine Jesse McCartney's "How Do You Sleep?" Using procedures established in the...
Curated OER
Describing Paintings: Calm or Stormy
Young writers use nouns, verbs, and adjectives to describe details in two paintings. One depicts a sunny landscape, and the other shows a cloudier view. They write a narrative inspired by the paintings, paying attention to transitional...
Curated OER
The Personal Narrative - Part One
Read to write! The class lists sensory details based on the plot of a story they have recently read. They create a drawing of a bracelet and use the bracelet's jewels or charms to list sensory details included in the story. They then use...
K12 Reader
A Special Summer Day
Young writers craft the story of a special summer day, detailing the event and why the day was so memorable.
Nuffield Foundation
Assessing Skin Sensitivity—Touch Discrimination
How do we distinguish between the number of things touching our skin? Scholars explore an interesting lesson plan through an experiment. They learn that there must be an unstimulated sensory unit between two touches to distinguish them....
Curated OER
My Restaurant Visit
Young writers recount their visit to a restaurant, describing where they went, what they ate, and who was in the party.
Australian National Schools Network
Habits of Mind Posters
If you are implementing the 16 Habits of Mind into your class and curriculum, check out this set of posters that you can display in your room. Each poster highlights one Habit of Mind and includes a brief description of...
San Francisco Symphony
Adding Music to Oklahoma History
To better understand Oklahoma state history, learners will use a website to find a song that supports or represents aspects of Oklahoma's history. They'll write three sentences defending their choice, and then they will create...
Curated OER
What Is It? Tommy Tastes
Students complete multi-curricular to learn about senses and sensory words. In this sensory words lesson, students discuss the five senses and the anatomy of a tongue. Students complete a food tasting activity and find descriptive words...
Curated OER
Ice-Fishing
Students go ice-fishing. In this magnet lesson plan students use magnetic fishing poles at the sensory table. the sensory table is full of cotton balls. They find magnetic numbers that have been hidden.
Curated OER
Mouthwatering Adjectives!
Third graders write descriptions of food items in order to create a restaurant menu. They use adjectives to describe mouth-watering and vivid food and compare it to a boring adjective-lacking menu. They design and share their menus with...
Curated OER
Writing to describe
Students examine descriptive writing. In this writing lesson, students listen to an audio version of the diary of Lt. Polly Hatchard and her expedition to the South Pole. Students explore the components of descriptive writing and...
Curated OER
Exploring Food with Senses
Students explore properties of fruits and vegetables using their five senses. For this sensory activity lesson, students study fruit and vegetables through a microscope, using their sense of touch as they are blindfolded, and with their...
Curated OER
Picture Me with Words
Pupils search in newspapers for words that describe them or what they like. They gather the words and use them to create a self-portrait. They read "boring" sentences and rewrite them using more descriptive words. They write 10 word...
Curated OER
Elaborating: Specific Adjectives
Students use adjectives to improve their descriptive writing. In this language arts lesson, students discuss adjectives that can be used to describe objects. Students complete sentences by selecting adjectives.
Curated OER
Show! Don't Tell!
Students write a descriptive paragraph. In this writing lesson plan, students define elaboration and discuss the characteristics of an elaborate paragraph. Students write a paragraph that contains vivid adjectives, strong verbs and exact...
Curated OER
Making a Treasure Your Own: Lesson Two
Students write an essay describing the Curtis Center and what they learned there. In this descriptive writing essay, students discuss the five paragraph essay and review sensory discoveries from their trip. Students draft an outline and...
Curated OER
Touch-Drawings
Students explore an object without seeing it then draw what s/he felt. In this touch-drawings lesson, students partner and place objects in a paper bag so the other person cannot see it. Then students use their hands and...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 18: Art Project! Design Your Own Book Cover
Finished your novel? What’s next? Designing the book cover, of course. But how to begin? After examining the covers of published books and noting the common elements of these jackets, young novelists design a front and back cover for...
Read Works
The Language of Setting
Descriptive language can be used to create a vivid and imaginative setting. Create the chart suggested in this plan to track the descriptive language found in The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The class discusses the land beyond...