Curated OER
Capturing the Reader With Vivid Images
Students examine the use of imagery to hold a reader's attention in an excerpt from John Deever's memoir "Mr. John and the Day of Knowledge". They are introduced to background information about the Ukraine and create original imagery.
Virginia Department of Education
Developing an essay: Using specific nouns, strong verbs, and vivid adjectives
Feeling bored and unimpressed with word choice in your class? If so, consider this activity, which focuses on using specific and precise language. Pupils use highlighters, brainstorm independently and in small groups, and create a poster...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Guided Imagery
Willa Cather's novel My Antonia is full of vivid imagery. Encourage your pupils to visualize and translate images from the text into original writing with this guided imagery activity. Learners listen to an excerpt, take a moment to...
Tech Coach Corner
Narrative Writing
A comprehensive presentation on narrative writing, this should be shown to a class before the writing process begins. There are not activities listed, so pupils can take notes on the elements of narrative writing and figurative language....
Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
You can't read Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without craving the rich treats described in Dahl's vivid prose. Young writers try their hands at sensory language with a lesson plan that prompts them to write about...
Curated OER
Strong Verbs
Add interest to your class's writing by having them focus on strong verbs. Using this worksheet, first have them identify all of the main verbs in each sentence. Then, have them rewrite each sentence using a stronger verb. Practice often...
Curated OER
Agriculture Awareness Through Poetry
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...
Curated OER
A Study Guide for The Phantom of the Opera
Immerse yourself in the beautiful, twisted world of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. A detailed lesson plan provides important details about the writing, stagecraft, music, and literary elements of the famous musical,...
Curated OER
How Do Authors Use Imagery to Shape Their Writing?
Esther Forbes' award-winning Revolutionary War novel, Johnny Tremain and excerpts from Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine are used to model how imagery brings alive the setting of a story. The young writers then craft their...
Curated OER
Rest in Peace, Maniac Magee
Scholars read Maniac Magee and create epitaphs for each of the major characters using precise words reflecting the individual characters personality and nature. They will learn what an epitaph is and practice writing their own. They can...
Curated OER
Printable Story Starter: Treasure in the Daisies
Class members can practice using sensory details and imagery with this writing prompt, which provides a vivid introduction about a girl who discovers a treasure box in her mother's garden. The middle, ending, and title of the story are...
Curated OER
Use of Personification and Imagery in Poetry
A reading of Theodore Roethke’s dark "Root Cellar" and Sylvia Plath’s more abstract "Mirror" launches a discussion of imagery and personification in poetry. After finding examples of personification in the poems, class members...
Curated OER
Pictures in Words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes
Students examine how Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid pictures. They read and analyze two poems, complete an online scavenger hunt, complete a worksheet, and write examples of alliteration, personification, metaphor, simile,...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing: Using Art to Inspire description
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...
Curated OER
Figurative Language- Identifying Onomatopoeia
A study of onomatopoeia for 5th graders is here for you. Pupils discover that the use of highly descriptive language makes it possible for readers to picture objects in their minds. After engaging in a class discussion and listening to...
Curated OER
Eliminate Weak Verb-Adverb Combinations
Encourage your writers to use sob instead of cry loudly to trade in adverbs for strong verbs. Improve your middle and high schoolers' writing with this humorously written instructional activity which demonstrates how to remove excessive...
Virginia Department of Education
Writing Effective Dialogue
Spend a productive hour in the classroom with this tutorial where junior high writers discover how to create snappy dialogue. The learning begins with an analysis of sample writing and discussion on the effectiveness of each piece. The...
Curated OER
Amos and Boris: Text Study
Twenty insightful questions follow a read aloud of the story, Amos and Boris by William Steig. Scholars then show what they know through completion of a cause and effect chart, reading fluency assessment, and a written...
Poetry4kids
Personification Poetry Lesson Plan
Scholars take part in two exercises to boost their knowledge of personification. After reading a detailed description and excerpts from famous poems, writers list action verbs and objects then combine words to create a humorous...
Teach-nology
Author’s Purpose: Entertain
How does an author entertain his or her audience? Read a short fairy tale and find the most evocative passages to discover more about author's purpose in narrative writing.
Curated OER
Conventions: Strong Verbs
Fifth graders practice using strong verbs. In this conventions lesson, 5th graders brainstorm words to complete sentences and list lively and exciting verbs. Students act out meanings of certain words. Students come up with new ways to...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing
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.
Curated OER
Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature
Students examine the story for use of balanced sentences and parallelism-two literary devices-and then practice using those devices in writing of their own. They combine the simple sentences grammatically into one correct sentence. A. I...
Curated OER
Writing Descriptions
In this writing worksheet, students use vivid language to write a description of the person in a photograph (a laughing young woman). Students include details about hair and eye color, age, weight and mood.