Lesson Plan
Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
You can't read Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without craving the rich treats described in Dahl's vivid prose. Young writers try their hands at sensory language with a lesson plan that prompts them to write about...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing to Show, Not Tell: Dialogue, Sensory Words, and Strong Action Verbs

For Teachers 6th Standards
Consume, gobble, devour ... serving up strong verbs! Writers focus on using dialogue, strong action verbs, and sensory details in their writing. After analyzing a model narrative, they apply their learning to their own hero's journey...
Organizer
Practice Using Lively Language

Practice Using Lively Language

For Students 3rd - 6th
Combine a study of biography writing with some tips for spicing up writing. After reading two passages, one much more descriptive than the other, pupils examine what makes one more interesting. They then brainstorm some ideas for writing...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Who's Coming To Dinner? Descriptive Writing

For Teachers 8th Standards
"The Dinner Party" is the anchor text in a lesson designed to encourage writers to use sensory details in their stories. After brainstorming descriptive words and phrases for the five senses, class members read Mona Gardner's...
Organizer
School District No. 71

Adding Written Detail: Using Jane Yolen’s Owl Moon as a Mentor Text

For Students 1st - 4th Standards
Access your senses with a worksheet on sensory language. Based on Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, the worksheet prompts kids to find examples of each of the five senses, as well as phrases for inner emotion. 
Activity
Poetry4kids

Evoking the Senses in a Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Budding poets choose a topic for a sensory-filled poem. Authors describe that topic using detailed language based on the five senses. Then, switch the senses to create a fanciful poem intended to add a touch of fun to the objective. 
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Who Am I? Creating And Editing Descriptive Writing

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
With descriptive writing, the pleasure is in the details. Young writers learn how to add sensory details to a paragraph about themselves. They read a short paragraph and identify the sensory details used. After revising their draft...
Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write an Alliteration Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Learners follow five steps to compose an alliteration poem. They choose one consonant and brainstorm as many nouns, verbs, and adjectives they can think of to create rhyming sentences that come together in a poetic fashion. 
Lesson Plan
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Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program

“Tell Me a Story”: Moving from Reading to Writing

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 12 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 24

For Teachers 12th Standards
Today's discussion of The Autobiography of Malcolm X focuses on the precise words, the telling phrases, and the sensory details Haley uses to enliven his story. Writers then work to incorporate these same techniques in the draft of their...
Activity
Novelinks

Walk Two Moons: Guided Imagery

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Sensory details can enhance the reading experience, especially during a guided imagery reading. Young readers close their eyes and listen to a passage from Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons before responding to discussion questions and...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 12 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 4

For Teachers 12th Standards
The fourth instructional activity in this narrative writing unit focuses on how Leslie Marmon Silko uses telling details and sensory language in her "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit" to bring alive the people of Laguna Pueblo and...
Writing
K12 Reader

Adjectives Add Interest

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
A world without adjectives would be a sad place indeed! Make sure adjectives stay around by teaching your class about what they are and how using them can make a boring story truly interesting. Learners put this idea into practice by...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment Part 2: Beginning the Writer’s Workshop

For Teachers 7th Standards
Writers learn about using sensory details as they revise bland sentences with more vivid language. Next, they begin writing the first drafts of their children's books, completing storyboards to effectively plan their writing. 
Unit Plan
EngageNY

Grade 11 ELA Module 4 Overview

For Teachers 11th Standards
The intricate craft of narrative writing can make a happy story feel exuberant or a sad story feel devastating. With 42 extensive lessons that include poignant discussion questions, standards-aligned self-reflections, engaging writing...
Activity
Novelinks

Tuck Everlasting: Similes, Metaphors, and Personification in Imagery

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Poetic language is abundant in Natalie Babbitt's beautiful novel, Tuck Everlasting. Learners note the examples of similes, metaphors, and personification they find as they read, and illustrate how the language creates a sensory...
Worksheet
Welcome to Ms Bosello's Class!

Alliteration Worksheet

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
Alliteration and imagery are two vital parts of any well-written poem. Encourage your young poets to include these devices with a set of activities designed to get them thinking, writing, and creating.
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing the Children’s Book: Day One

For Teachers 7th Standards
With a brief mini-lesson, scholars learn about using strong verbs, sensory details, and precise descriptions. Next, pupils continue working on their children's book storyboards before choosing their strongest pages for peer critiques. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My Antonia: Prereading Guided Imagery

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What makes a place safe? What makes a setting effective? Explore the safe spaces and descriptive language with a prereading activity for Willa Cather's My Antonia. The teacher describes his or her own safe space and then prompts pupils...
Lesson Plan
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program

Dinosaurs Before Dark

For Teachers 1st - 5th Standards
Young readers travel back to the time of the dinosaurs in this literature unit based on the story Dinosaurs Before Dark. Intended for use with upper-elementary special education students, this resource provides reading...
Worksheet
T. Smith Publishing

Your Five Senses

For Students 2nd - 3rd
Using the five senses is a creative way to write descriptively. Learners read 25 words, both nouns and verbs, and place them into the category labeled with the correct sense.
Assessment
California Education Partners

Covers by Nikki Giovanni

For Students 1st Standards
Over three days, scholars listen to and read the poem, "Covers" by Nikki Giovanni. Learners complete a graphic organizer by sketching their visualizations from each stanza then discuss their pictures with a peer. Pupils answer...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 12 ELA Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 5

For Teachers 12th Standards
To underscore the importance of precise diction and sensory details in narratives, class members examine two statements to determine which is more effective and significantly impacts the reader. Individuals then examine their college...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Paper Dragon Fairy Tale

For Students 5th Standards
Imagine a beautiful rainbow-colored dragon flying free in the air. With powerful imagery and sensory language, a reading passage prompts learners to follow the plot of a short story and answer five comprehension questions.