descriptive writing unit

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descriptive writing unit
By imalith

My descriptive writing unit is just coming to a close. I have several activities to help them get going. I start by taking notes on figurative language (simile, metaphor, etc).

I have examples of figurative language
that the kids cut out and sort.

Students must find examples of figurative language in their books. We write them on sticky notes and glue them to small posters I have made.

Another activity is talking about color. I have several paint samples with interesting names, such as an orange called "Shrimp tail Orange" and a red called "fire truck" red. We then write similes

with the colors. That girl's sweater was as orange as a shrimp's tail, or that boy's shirt was as red as a fire truck".

We also do an activity with personification. They make "Wanted" or "Lost" posters for inanimate objects. Must include a simile and descriptive language.

The last activity we worked on was describing a picture like a setting for a book. I cut out pictures from travel magazines. Mostly scenic pictures. Students then wrote descriptive paragraphs about the picture. The paragraphs are not stories, but description of the picture as if they are standing in front of the scene. I model one first and then they write it. The modeling part is critical if you want to get decent topic sentences and conclusions.