Teaching Writing: Children

Lesson 3: Teaching Descriptive Writing

Teaching Ideas

Secret Objects

The purpose of this activity is to have students work in groups to provide a description of a "secret item" that is detailed enough to enable others to pick it out of a group of items.

Divide your class into groups. Gather some common classroom items that lend themselves to the use of many descriptive words. You will need five or six more objects than groups. Choose items that are colorful and eye catching, but not necessarily unique. Put each object in a paper or plastic bag so that it cannot be seen.

Pass out one bag to each group. Save the others for the final part of the activity. Have each student in the group look into the bag and notice details of the object. Let them brainstorm a group list of attributes. They can have as many looks as they'd like, but caution them to keep the item in the bag so other groups won't see what it is. Children love secrets, so they should be happy to cooperate. Next, let each student write a short paragraph describing the object. Stress that they must be as detailed as possible, but that they cannot actually name the object. They can tell its shape, size, color, weight, and possibly what it is used for, but no name!

When the paragraphs are complete, collect the bags from the groups and put them with the others that were not used. Then, prepare a display of all of the objects on a desk at the front of the room, including the objects that were not used. Be sure they are in plain view to all.

Have students put their paragraphs in a pile in the middle of the group. Walk around the room and select one paragraph from the first group. Read it aloud to the class. Have the students in the other groups confer, and then and choose one student from another group to go to the table at the front and select the object that was described. If the child picks the correct object, reward the group that wrote the paragraph. Continue in this way until one paragraph from each group has been read.

Follow-up with a discussion of what details were the most useful to the groups in deciding what object was being described. And remember, it is okay for everyone to be able to guess the correct object - it's the practice in using description that counts here!

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