Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Songwriting Skill - Elaboration: Jesse McCartney - “How Do You Sleep?”
The practice of developing lyrics by elaborating with sensory details and examples continues in the third lesson on songwriting. This time class members examine Jesse McCartney's "How Do You Sleep?" Using procedures established in the...
Curated OER
Conventions: Adjectives
Investigate adjectives with writers. They define adjectives and create their own sentences describing objects found at home using adjectives correctly. Focus on the five senses and sensory details.
Brigham Young University
Out of the Dust: Guided Imagery
A guided imagery exercise is a great way to get readers thinking about writing. As part of their study of Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse’s 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, class members listen to a reading of one of the poems from...
Curated OER
Standards Focus: Recognizing Vivid Details, Of Mice and Men
In this recognizing details worksheet, students read 3 excerpts from chapter 3 of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, underlining each word that evokes some sensory stimulation (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste). Students also respond to...
Curated OER
Create Your Island Paradise
Sixth graders create a descriptive essay and map describing their island paradise. They try to evoke the reader's senses: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting. They revise their paragraphs using their partner's feedback.
Curated OER
Go Free or Die
Groups of older elementary learners begin their study of figurative language by visiting a website and completing the exercises detailed there. They then apply what they have learned by finding examples in several poems. Finally, they...
Curated OER
Setting Worksheet
Set your class up for success with writing descriptive settings with these two graphic organizers. On the first page, writers note specifc details about their chosen setting and comment on how each character views the setting. The second...
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Writing Prompts for Elementary, Middle and High Schools
Work on descriptive, narrative, persuasive, and expository writing with 110 prompts! The writing prompts are organized by type of writing. Several are separated into collections for younger students so you can find prompts for your...
Curated OER
Tasters' Choice
Students taste foods, some of which are familiar foods and some of which are uncommon foods. They compare and contrast the tastes and graph their likes and dislikes.
Curated OER
Sense-Ability
Students use comparisons, graphing, patterning, and sorting, and develop language skills as they explore the five senses.
Curated OER
Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
Curated OER
Improving Descriptive Writing: Painting an Original Picture
Descriptive writing is rich in sensory appeals and paints pictures in the minds of readers. Show young writers how to use an on-line thesaurus and a cliché website to create fresh, descriptive writing. The presentation ends with an...
Curated OER
Exploring Learned and Innate Behavior
Learners explore the differences between learned and innate behavior among humans and monkeys. They complete an assignment and read articles about two studies, which used similar test methods to show that infants and monkeys share an...
Curated OER
Make Sense of Nature
Learners participate in this program that heightens their awareness and curiosity of nature as well as their sense of adventure and exploring new surroundings. They identify and choose an object from nature after exploring it with other...
Curated OER
The Eyes, Nose, and Taste Write It
Third graders generate a list of adjectives about a Reese's Cup using their sense of sight, touch, and taste. Then they write a descriptive paragraph about the Reese's Cup.
Curated OER
Hidden Objects
Fourth graders feel objects hidden in paper bag, and describe how they feel, smell, sound and/or taste.
Curated OER
The Magic School Bus Goes Upstream
Learners participate in an experiment that shows them how to use their senses to find their way "home." This experiment is based on the video that shows how salmon find their way to their home stream.
Curated OER
Definitely Definitive
In these descriptive writing worksheets, students use their five senses to write several descriptive paragraphs about a shoe, a dog, a cat, a television, and homework.
Curated OER
Ears Here!
Students participate in an interactive video to review the five senses. They perform hands-on activities to test their sense of hearing and play a hearing game from the Internet.
Curated OER
Descriptive Prompt: Precise Language
Incorporate sensory details into a piece of descriptive writing. First, elementary and middle schoolers improve a piece of writing by using precise, vivid language, as well as appropriate word choice. They then listen to a variety of...
K12 Reader
Choose the Adjective
Is this worksheet challenging or chewy? Allow your pupils to choose the correct adjective for 18 sentences in order to find out.
Brigham Young University
Out of the Dust: Cubing Strategy
Imagine using a six-sided cube to encourage readers to analyze a topic in greater depth. Create a cube, label each of the six sides with one of Bloom's comprehension levels, and you're ready to launch a discussion of a text. Although...
Curated OER
Talking Duck
Students study how animals communicate through their senses and signals. They investigate how animals survive using their communication skills and create a commercial based on the research.
Curated OER
The Shadow Knows - Creating Shadows
Young learners recognize a shadow and witness how shadows occur when light is blocked. They access streamed video, standard video, and websites in order to engage in their study of how light is naturally blocked to create shadows. An...