Descriptive writing paints a picture in words that shows – not tells – what a person, place or thing is like. The purpose of descriptive writing is to paint a picture with words for the reader.
Teacher will use a variety of strategies to describe the elements of descriptive writing. It is best for all strategies to be modeled a few times and for the information to be displayed in the class.
Visualization
Students close their eyes as the teacher reads a short passage for students to visualize. Students are to open their eyes and without talking, draw a picture using as much detail as possible, and add a few words if necessary. Next, the teacher will read a well written descriptive passage and students are to do the same exercise as above.
After the visualization process, teacher will begin a discussion about descriptive writing and how a good description allows readers to visualize a picture in their heads. Teacher will compare the different and show how the less descriptive passage did not give the students enough details to create a good picture in their minds, while the other passage did allow them to create a vivid picture in their minds.
Descriptive Writing Graphic Organizers
A few descriptive writing graphic organizers are available to assist students in organizing their information as they paint a picture with words.
Topic Details
Well known details, sensory details, important details, and unusual details are linked to the topic of your descriptive paragraph. Students first decide on the topic they are describing and then fill in the remaining boxes. After all the information is recorded, students will write a paragraph with the information.
Describing Wheel
Main topic of the descriptive paragraph is placed in the middle of a wheel. Each spoke in the wheel will include information about the person, place, or thing being described.
Give Me Five
Students use a hand template as an organizer for sensory details. Sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell are represented by a digit of the hand. Students write a few words to represent the sensory details in the hand template.
Five senses graphic organizer that answers the question how it feels, how it sounds, how it smells, how it looks, and how it sounds. Students will not usually be able to use all of their five senses to describe their object but using only a few will paint a more colorful picture.
Comparisons
A word picture comes alive when students compare their topic to something the reader can relate to. Students can use metaphors (is, are, was, and were) or similes (like or as) to make the writing come alive. Students can compare their topic to themselves or the world.
Vocabulary
Be specific in your description and include powerful nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Keep adding to your detail and be sure to use a thesaurus to add to your descriptive writing.
As well, students can use helper words as prompts to paint a better picture. Properties, measurement, and location are just a few helper words for the students.
- Properties; size, color, shape, and purpose
- Measurement; length, width, speed, mass/volume
- Location; in, above, below, north, south, east, west, right, left
Descriptive Prompts
- Describe your favorite toy.
- Describe your pet.
- Describe a place you always wanted to visit.
- Describe the perfect teacher.
- Describe your bedroom.
- Describe a new animal.
Writing a descriptive paragraph can be broken down into manageable chunks for students. Students who learn to paint pictures with words will be able to write more creative and interesting narratives.
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