Salutations
Welcome to my Blog. This blog is dedicated to those teachers who would love to teach writing but do not know how to. My main focus for this blog will be Descriptive Writing. I hope you enjoy my blog and please feel free to leave comments and suggestions. Here are a few links that will help you have an idea what descriptive writing is:http://www.thewritingsite.org/resources/genre/descriptive.asp,http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/17315/565, further on in my blog I will give you more websites that will give you ideas to teach descriptive writing. Enjoy my blog!!!!!!
What is Descriptive Writing?
The descriptive essay is used to create a vivid image of a person, place or thing. It draws on all of the senses, not merely the visual. Its purpose is to enable the reader to share the writer's sensory experience of the subject.
Warm Up
To begin this unit, have students click on the linkhttp://www.poetry4kids.com/poem-187.html and read the poem. Once they have finished reading poem have them answer the following questions:
1. What words did the author use to describe the hotdog?
2. Write words that tells us what they hotdog looks, sounds, feels, taste and smells?
3. Search on the internet a picture that describes the hotdog mentioned.
4. Send the answers with the picture to my email mrsaliceortiz@gmail.com
Example of a Descriptive Essay
Read this example of a descriptive essay.
This paragraphs main focus in appealing to the Senses Description: Let the reader, see, smell, hear, taste and feel what you write in your essay.
The thick, burnt scent of roasted coffee tickled the tip of my nose just seconds before the old, faithful alarm blared a distorted top-forty through its tiny speaker. Wiping away the girt of last night's sleep, the starch white sunlight blinded me momentarily as I slung my arm like an elephant trunk along the top of the alarm, searching for the snooze button. While stretching hands and feet to the four posts of my bed, my eyes opened after several watery blinks. I crawled out of the comforter, edging awkwardly like a butterfly from a cocoon, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The dusty pebbles on the chilled, wood floor sent ripples spiraling from my ankles to the nape of my neck when my feet hit the floor. Grabbing the apricot, terri-cloth- robe, recently bathed in fabric softener and October wind, I knotted it tightly at my waist like a prestigious coat armor and headed downstairs to battle the morning.
What Makes a Great Description?
Know our journey begins with our students. Review the following with your students to help them write their descriptive essay.
A description tells how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels.
When you write a description, remember to do these things.
1. Write about one place or thing.
2. Begin with a topic sentence that names what you will describe.
3. Use words that tell how your topic looks, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels.
Search for the adjective list
How do we write a descriptive essay? Well we use adjectives, and what is an adjective you may ask?? Adjectives are words used to describe nouns. Adjectives give more information about a noun. A way to help our students expand their vocabulary is by having them search for a list of adjectives. For their second task they should search for a list of adjectives, here is an example list. But it is not to be used by the students.
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/12894/adjective-list
This list is excellent, so teachers print and save it!!!
Begin with sentences
Before we get our students writing a complete essay, we first have to get them to write sentences. Have your students watch the following video for them to have a better idea about descriptive writing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-SPDADGLpc&feature=related
Things to Consider as You Write Your Descriptive Essay
Read the following check list
Think of an instance that you want to describe.
Why is this particular instance important?
What were you doing?
What other things were happening around you? Is there anything specific that stands out in your mind?
Where were objects located in relation to where you were?
How did the surroundings remind you of other places you have been?
What sight, smells, sounds, and tastes remind you of anything?
What were you feeling at the time?
Has there been an instance in which you felt this way before?
What do you want the reader to feel after reading the paper?
What types of words and images can convey this feeling?
Is there enough detail in your essay to create a mental image for the reader?
The journey begins
Read the following instructions
- Click on the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8w4Iw9p0DI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDmCSvqhhoI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvsQ9hYKq7c&feature=related
- Listen to all of the videos and choose the one that you like the most. Hear it a few times
- While you listen to the music close your eyes and imagine a place.
- After your 3rd time listening to the music begin to ask yourself the following questions:
What can I see? | What time of the year is it? | |
What are the colours? | What am I with? | |
What sounds do I hear? | Who is talking? | |
What am I doing? | What are they saying? | |
What am I wearing? | How do I feel? | |
What time of the day is it? | What is happening? | |
- Play the video again, and, as the music comes to an end, ask yourself to take a last careful look at this special place, noticing details.
- Quickly make a list of what you saw, do it fast because than you will forget. Something that will help you if you play the video again.
- Once you have made a list review it and then begin to write a description of what you saw.
- When you have written your description, reread it, then send it to my email with a picture that best describes what you wrote. mrsaliceortiz@gmail.com
Comments
The idea of this activity is to encourage students, through listening to music, to think about an imaginary place and things which may happen there. Depending on the age of the children and the music, this can lead to a number of different places and far beyond the classroom. This activity can be used in any age group; of course it should be modified depending on the grade.
References
http://www.suite101.com/lesson.cfm/17315/565
http://www.poetry4kids.com/poem-187.html
http://www.english-zone.com/grammar/pos-adj.html
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/12894/adjective-list
Materials from past courses
