Descriptive Writing

December writing activities galore! With everything from poetry to research to descriptive writing to writing about things that represent December, there's no way you will run out of options.

Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Students use this list...

Sometimes it's difficult to assess your own writing. With a handy checklist designed for self-assessment, young writers can take a last look at their essays or stories before turning them in. The checklists address main ideas and...

If you could have any one superhero ability, what would it be? Your charges will love this classic writing prompt, which can be supplemented with an array of follow-up writing or discussion activities.

Encourage your young writers to include all the necessary elements of narrative writing. The resource, which could be used as a poster or handout, includes a brief list of criteria for pupils to meet.

What better way to write in fall than with fall-themed writing paper? Use a set of lined papers to get you started.

Incorporate sensory details into a piece of descriptive writing. First, elementary and middle schoolers improve a piece of writing by using precise, vivid language, as well as appropriate word choice. They then listen to a variety of...

Dialogue really brings a story to life and can reveal a lot about its characters, plot, and setting. Explore how this literary technique is used to engage an audience as young writers begin drafting their narrative response to The Story...

Use a Courbet painting of a cave or tunnel opening to reinforce the importance of descriptive writing. Writers of all ages use sensory details to describe what the scene depicts as they pretend to be in the painting. Then they imagine...

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...