DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

The primary purpose of descriptive writing is to describe a person, place or thing in such a way that a picture is formed in the reader's mind. Capturing an event through descriptive writing involves paying close attention to the details by using all of your five senses. Teaching students to write more descriptively will improve their writing by making it more interesting and engaging to read.

"Proficient readers spontaneously and purposely create mental images while and after they read. The images emerge from all five senses as well as the emotions and are anchored in a reader's prior knowledge." -- Keene and Zimmerman, Mosaic of Thought

Why teach descriptive writing?

It will help your students' writing be more interesting and full of details It encourages students to use new vocabulary words It can help students clarify their understanding of new subject matter material

How to teach descriptive writing

There's no one way to teach descriptive writing. That said, teachers can:

Develop descriptive writing skill through modeling and the sharing of quality literature full of descriptive writing. Call students' attention to interesting, descriptive word choices in classroom writing.

MODELING THE TECHNIQUE

Direct modeling of the active thought processes involved in visualizing text is the first step. Begin with a familiar fiction read-aloud. As you read a short passage, describe images you see in your mind. For example, you might use the following quote from Where the Wild Things Are: "That very night in Max's room a forest grew and grew and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around." After reading that quote, share with students the images you visualized as you read it. As you read that passage, think about the words and you imagined what the characters looked like, what they were doing, and what their surroundings were like. Share with students that you imagined a window with a moon shining through it. Saplings began to

sprout and quickly grew leaves and stems. You saw little vines spreading their tendrils down the walls and across the ceiling. Before you knew it, the entire room was green and leafy, and much darker than before.

STUDENTS PRACTICE VISUALIZING When you finish sharing your thoughts, let students try the same technique on their own. Share a highly descriptive reading selection appropriate for students' listening vocabulary level. If necessary, before reading share a vocabulary mini-lesson to introduce unfamiliar terms. Before reading aloud to students, offer the suggestions below. While I read, close your eyes and listen carefully. Stay alert and think about what happens in the story. See if you can imagine the scene the words describe. Pretend you are making a movie; what would you see from behind the camera? As you listen, when you hear describing words (adjectives) -- such as hot, red, musty, or quiet -use those words to help paint pictures in your head. For students identified as "at-risk", you might discuss what it feels like to be hot, or what shade of red a tomato might be, or how musty gym socks smell when they've been in a locker for three days. Give them concrete ideas and connect to prior knowledge. In other words, turn on the thought processes and you will prime students to do the same when they read. Remind them to think about what characters smell, taste, feel, hear, and think. Good readers do that. Also, point out to students that this technique will help them remember what the story is about.

SHARING VISUALIZATIONS After reading the selection, direct a class discussion in which students share their images. Emphasize that everyone's visualizations will differ. Be sure to acknowledge and value all students' ideas.

If students create images that do not fit the words, help them question their images and adjust them. (This is another effective comprehension strategy.) If they create images that reflect the words, praise them and encourage comparison/contrast discussions. If students have difficulty creating an image, try another short read-aloud session and practice modeling again. Ask questions to lead them to create images on their own -questions such as Does this remind you of anything in your life? or What do you think the dog looked like? or Do you have a dog? How do you think this dog is the same as yours? Different?

USING DRAWING TO HELP STUDENTS VISUALIZE Next, use a different selection from the same or another text. Tell students you will share part of a story (show no illustrations). Ask them to draw their own illustrations as they listen. The physical act of creating a picture can help students grasp the concept of visualization. To connect this image building with comprehension and to reinforce the concept of visualization, make time to share and discuss students' images. That might be done in small groups first, then as a class.

INTEGRATING VISUALIZATION INTO EVERYDAY LEARNING After students begin to grasp the concept of visualization, be sure to reinforce it frequently. Make visualization a part of class every day. Those who have more difficulty with the concept will learn from peers' expressions imagination. Encourage those who struggle to ask other students how they came up with their ideas and to learn from one another. Integrate this exercise into daily class read-aloud and silent reading. Incorporate not only physical images, but also ideas about feelings the characters might experience. (That will exercise students' critical thinking skills, especially their skill at making inferences.) Use the combination of drawings and mental image-making that works best for your students. As you progress, you can move from descriptive texts into expository texts. By using visualization, you open the door for life-long reading. Most of all, you help develop in students the habit of actively thinking about what they read -- which leads to greater retention and understanding.

What should descriptive writing be like? 1. Good descriptive writing includes many vivid sensory details that paint a picture and appeals to all of the reader's senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste when appropriate. Descriptive writing may also paint pictures of the feelings the person, place or thing invokes in the writer. 2. Good descriptive writing often makes use of figurative language such as analogies, similes and metaphors to help paint the picture in the reader's mind. 3. Good descriptive writing uses precise language. General adjectives, nouns, and passive verbs do not have a place in good descriptive writing. Use specific adjectives and nouns and strong action verbs to give life to the picture you are painting in the reader's mind. 4. Good descriptive writing is organized. Some ways to organize descriptive writing include: chronological (time), spatial (location), and order of importance. When describing a person, you might begin with a physical description, followed by how that person thinks, feels and acts.

How to Teach Descriptive Writing with Show-me Sentences

Descriptive writing doesn't come naturally to most writers, especially to children. That ability usually has to be learned. As you know, children tend to tell, not show what is happening, so their writing ends up sounding more like a newspaper article rather than a story. As parents and teachers, we often struggle with how to help our children be more descriptive in their writing. One fun way to help children develop better writing skills is to use Show-me Sentences. The idea is simple. You give a child a sentence such as "He was nice." or "My room was messy." Then you guide the child in writing a paragraph that demonstrates that idea without stating outright that a person was nice or that the room was messy. The child needs to show that the person was nice or that the room was messy, not just state the fact. Here's an example of a Show-Me Sentence that Joely did today for the Show-me Sentence "I am not a morning person." It was on a Sunday morning and I felt so comfortable and safe as I slept in my bed. Suddenly my mom knocked on my door and said, "Time to get up, Joely!" I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. It was 7:30AM. I sighed, pulled the covers over my head, and squirmed. Minutes later my dad came in and ripped the covers off me. "Get up and get ready for church!" I groaned and lumbered out of bed to get breakfast. (NOTE: Joely has been working on Show-Me sentences for several days now, and this attempt is far better than her typical attempt. We also collaborated on editing it extensively, which we usually don't on a normal day, since I told her I'd be using it in a post.)

How to Use Show-Me Sentences 1. Offer your child several Show-Me Sentences to choose from.

I've included a list you can start with at the end of this post.
2. Help your child brainstorm ideas by asking questions.

If the Show-Me Sentence is "He was nice.", ask your child what that person might do to make you think he was nice? Did he speak kindly? Offer assistance? Praise you? For "My room was messy." ask your child what made the room look messy. Toys? Clothes? Unmade bed? In each case have your child make a list of his ideas. These can be used to help develop the paragraph.
3. Encourage the child to pretend he's writing a paragraph in the middle of a book or a scene in the middle of a movie.

It doesn't have to be a complete thought, only a snapshot of one small paragraph in a larger chapter of a story. For example, if the Show-Me Sentence was "I was scared." suggest starting the story with you in an airplane suited up with parachute gear ready to skydive for the first time.
Show-Me Sentence Ideas

Here is a list of some Show-Me Sentence you can start with. Of course it's simple to come up with your own as well, but hopefully this will get you started. Feel free to change the subjects, pronouns, or anything about the sentences if you use them.

My grandfather is funny. I had a busy day today. My mother had a bad headache. Performing stunts on a skateboard can be dangerous. My friend makes me laugh. He was nice. My room was messy. I am not a morning person. Her hairstyle is wild. Our family vacation was a disaster. Taking tests makes me nervous. My father is a good man. Lying is not a good idea. I was scared. She put her foot in her mouth. (idiomatically) The twins are completely different. She saw the car accident from the sidewalk.

The room was crowded. She takes things way too seriously. He can dish it out, but he can't take it. My dog is lazy.

Differentiated instruction
for second language learners, students of varying reading skill, and for younger learners

Provide budding writers with experiences that give them something to write about. Trips to the park, post office, and grocery store provide real-life experiences that can be recorded by a new writer. Encourage students to work with a buddy or in a small group to develop first drafts of documents Provide a word bank of interesting and descriptive words for students to incorporate into their writing.