Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Using Vivid Language
Analyze the components of precise wording and vivid language in this language arts lesson plan. Middle school writers illustrate a passage from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and write a response to a Norman Rockwell print....
Curated OER
Grammar Worksheets: Using Strong Verbs
Strengthen your pupils' writing with this worksheet, which provides a reference guide to using strong verbs instead of forms of is and have. Learners then rewrite twelve sentences to make them stronger. This is a great activity to work...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Text-Dependent Questions and Vivid Words and Phrases
As 3rd graders continue reading Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, they focus on the concepts of predator and prey in the fifth lesson plan of this unit. Scholars further develop their ability to answer questions using evidence from the text...
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Continued Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Text-Dependent Questions and Vivid Words and Phrases
In the third activity from this unit based on the book Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, learners focus on using specific details from the text-to-answer questions about the habitat of bullfrogs. While reading the text, young scholars are...
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Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this instructional activity which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher...
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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...
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Vivid Verbs
Spice up your writing! Your amateur writers will benefit from concentrating on understanding and improving verb use in writing. An introductory activity addresses weak verbs. A second exercise helps them see the importance of strong...
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Three Skeleton Key: Elements of Literature
Rats! How are they described in "Three Skeleton Key," and what happens to the characters in the story? Study the vocabulary and the story with these worksheets. Learners complete pre-reading activities, study vocabulary, complete...
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Writing the Children’s Book: Day One
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.
Curated OER
Capturing the Reader With Vivid Images
Students examine the use of imagery to hold a reader's attention in an excerpt from John Deever's memoir "Mr. John and the Day of Knowledge". They are introduced to background information about the Ukraine and create original imagery.
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Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature
Analyze the use of balanced sentences and parallelism in a narrative. Included in this resource is a narrative about serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan titled, "The Train Ride Home". Middle and high schoolers review...
EngageNY
Writing to Show, Not Tell: Dialogue, Sensory Words, and Strong Action Verbs
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...
Curated OER
Capturing the Reader with Vivid Images
In this using vivid images worksheet, pupils identify vivid images and analyze their effectiveness in John Deever's "Mr. John and the Day of Knowledge." Students then write rich images for their classmates to imagine.
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Lesson: Patience, Practice and Persistence
First the class analyzes the painting, Rodeo-Pickup Man by Frank Mechau, then they get to work. They explore the painting through verbal descriptions, focusing on vivid language to describe detail. They then compose a written piece using...
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Agriculture Awareness Through Poetry
Whether you are viewing a landscape painting of a farm, examining a still-life portrait of a bowl of fruit, or reading a descriptive poem about cultivating food, you can't deny that agriculture plays a major role in visual and language...
Virginia Department of Education
Developing an essay: Using specific nouns, strong verbs, and vivid adjectives
Feeling bored and unimpressed with word choice in your class? If so, consider this activity, which focuses on using specific and precise language. Pupils use highlighters, brainstorm independently and in small groups, and create a poster...
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Whose Feat?
Play a vocabulary game with words from an article about Savion Glover's contribution to the film "Happy Feet." Then, small groups of students design and create original movie advertisements using vivid vocabulary to give Glover the...
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Strong Verbs
Add interest to your class's writing by having them focus on strong verbs. Using this learning exercise, first have them identify all of the main verbs in each sentence. Then, have them rewrite each sentence using a stronger verb....
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How Do Authors Use Imagery to Shape Their Writing?
Esther Forbes' award-winning Revolutionary War novel, Johnny Tremain and excerpts from Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine are used to model how imagery brings alive the setting of a story. The young writers then craft their own...
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Use of Personification and Imagery in Poetry
A reading of Theodore Roethke’s dark "Root Cellar" and Sylvia Plath’s more abstract "Mirror" launches a discussion of imagery and personification in poetry. After finding examples of personification in the poems, class members craft...
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Narrative Writing: Using Exact Words
Review the narrative writing process with your emerging story writers. They read a sample narrative and identify five vague verbs that could be replaced with a more exact, exciting verb. Then they write a personal narrative making sure...
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Figurative Language- Identifying Onomatopoeia
A study of onomatopoeia for 5th graders is here for you. Pupils discover that the use of highly descriptive language makes it possible for readers to picture objects in their minds. After engaging in a class discussion and listening to...
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Descriptive Writing: Using Art to Inspire description
Write with the senses! Try using art to inspire writers to consider all of the senses. Here, the class is divided in half. Each group looks at one of two images, imagines the senses that would be engaged, and records answers to five...
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Rest in Peace, Maniac Magee
Scholars read Maniac Magee and create epitaphs for each of the major characters using precise words reflecting the individual characters personality and nature. They will learn what an epitaph is and practice writing their own. They can...