Descriptive writing lesson plan for differentiated learning

by Divya Pandanda |

This detailed lesson plan provides teachers with an introductory lesson to the unit on developing descriptive writing skills. it takes into account the fact that different learners learn differently, thus incorporating Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. It also includes the resources that one could use the classroom, at the same time allowing teachers the flexibility to tweak it to cater to the needs of their students.

Resource Type: Lesson Plan

Audience: Secondary

Audience Language Proficiency: Intermediate

Duration: 2 x 40 mins

Materials And Technology:
  • iTunes audio of sea waves
  • Extract from Roald Dahl's, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
  • Pictures of a haunted house, market scene, garden, zoo.
  • Projector, A4 sheets and coloured pens
  • Descriptive writing toolkit

Objective:

By the end of the lesson/s the students will be able to:

  • Identify 2-3 types of imagery as used to describe some scene/person/object
  • Comment on the imagery/word choice in terms of the effect created
  • Focus on and analyze the effect of the word choice made by an author in a given passage
  • Use language acquired or by referring to the toolkit to create a short piece.

Outcome:

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to realize the importance of appropriate word choice to create a certain effect- one of the key tenets to creating effective descriptive pieces. They will recognize how a simple word change can create a different effect. Through discussions with one another, they will also see that a certain word or image may have different connotations for different people depending on their experience and learning style. The idea is to make them feel empowered about the word choices they make individually.

Procedure:

Time

Teacher activity

Learner activity

Interaction

Stage aim

5-10 min

1. Play the sound of sea waves. Ask students to close their eyes for I minute and imagine themselves on a beach. What do they see, hear, smell and feel?

2. The words will be written on the board to form clusters.

 

 

1. Students to jot down words that convey what they visualize, hear, see or experience in their imagination-give them 3-4 minutes

2. They share what they wrote. Each cluster will represent a type of imagery. (this will not be mentioned yet)

 

T-S, individual, whole class

Pre-assessment/Starter activity ( an audio used for auditory learners, allows for visual learners to imagine)

 

5-7mins

1. Put up the first LO on the board. Ask the students and see if anyone can connect this to the activity done above. If yes, then build on it, if not explain to them and introduce 3 types of imagery-visual, auditory and olfactory.

 

1. Students see the connections to the clusters created on the board.

2. They jot down in their logs

 

T_S

Introducing key terms

8-10mins

1. Put up the 2nd LO on the board. Inquire from them how these different types of imagery create different experiences. Here, get them to comment on the effect, add more words/adjectives if needed, to make it more descriptive.

 

Students to look at the words they have written and add more adjectives to make them more descriptive individually.

They will in pairs try to describe their experience of being by the beach using these 3 types of imagery, either in the form of a paragraph or just a few lines.

 

They will then share some of their expressions, vocabulary first within the group and then these will be posted up on the Word Wall by the students

 

S-S, group work, pair work

Linguistic learner can develop his /her skills and provide input to the rest of the class.

 

Interpersonal learner will learn interacting and discussing in pairs and groups

 

 

 

 

Also gives the kinaesthetic learner a chance to get up and move towards the Word Wall. Will help the SEN child, he loves to get up and move around

 

 

5 mins

1. Lead a discussion on whether all experiences of the imagined beach scene are the same. If not why? How is this revealed from what each one wrote?

 

Students recognize that each person’s experience has been different depending what kind of a learner they are. Did some only see visuals of the beach, some only heard the sounds of the sea waves, some just smelt the salt in the air etc

T-S

All types of learners feel that there is nothing right or wrong, it depends on one’s ways of knowing.

10 mins

Put up on the projector, a descriptive passage from a Roald Dahl story, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that uses several of the above mentioned imagery.

2. Briefly discuss what is being described-the main idea and the effect created.

3. Now, get them to replace some of the words with alternate ones. Question them and get them to analyze: Is the effect the same? What changes?

Add teacher input on how word choice is an important aspect of an author’s technique.

 

Student volunteers to come up and highlight the 3 types of imagery as they spot them in the passage. These can be colour coded for greater understanding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students to discuss the word choices as a whole class and see how the effect would alter if some words changed

 

Student led, whole class discussion, teacher facilitates

The 3rd LO : to show them- the idea of how important word choice is, in creating any effect and the focus here is on description. Supports linguistic, visual, kinaesthetic and logical learners (as they need to analyze here as well and apply their critical thinking skills.

 

 20- 30 mins

1. Divide into groups of 4, (ask them to do it themselves- they have 1 minute to do it) and then hand out a picture to each group.

2. Strands of the criterion under which they will be assessed will be shared.

 

 

Students to describe what they see in the picture (in around 75 words) They are to imagine further and include auditory as well as olfactory imagery. Students in each group will be encouraged to discuss words/phrases amongst themselves and choose the ones they as a group find most appropriate and write it down. Any new words they came across during the previous activities could also be included.

Student work to be displayed on board. Peer Assessment will be done in the next lesson.

Students to be allowed to use dictionary, online sources for synonyms like Word Web, refer to the Descriptive toolkit provided (a list of words for different contexts and settings)

 

S-S, small groups,

Interpersonal and collaborative learning takes place while students learn to apply the skills acquired in class.

5 mins

Wrap up session- throw questions at the students

Students to respond, here the teacher can ensure that the quiet ones share their learning, as well as the struggling ones.

 

Closure-recall learning and time given to ask questions or clear doubts
Assessment: As detailed above- creating a written piece using 3 types of imagery or more (for the advanced learners) and peer assessing it based on a rubric shared with them. 
Differentiation: The lesson plan has been structured to suit the needs of different learners (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic etc). Besides, there are visual (ppts) and worksheets provided to support SEN learners as well as beginners. This unit can continue over the next few lessons with students reading up and bringing to class passages from published authors that use descriptive writing and sharing. They can then be taken outside classrooms to different settings (for eg the park, a historical monument, the school canteen, the Principals' office, the football field) and asked to write describing what they see, feel, hear, think etc. Ideas can be drawn from their daily experiences and interactions.
References: The links are provided below. However, I am unable to hyperlink them. The pdfs uploaded for further practice and activities to devleop this unit have been taken from the sites below.

Useful Link:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/descriptive-writing-experience

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/directions-writing-descriptive-essay-middle-school-9294.html

http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/922  30 ideas to teach writing

http://www.ehow.com/how_2197270_descriptive-writing-middle-school-students.html

https://prezi.com/a-akkjpgnn9p/descriptive-writing-for-middle-school-students/

Supporting Files:
Descriptive Writing Lesson Plan For Differentiated Learning 01.pdf
Descriptive Writing Lesson Plan For Differentiated Learning 02.pdf
Descriptive Writing Lesson Plan For Differentiated Learning 03.pdf
Descriptive Writing Lesson Plan For Differentiated Learning 04.pdf
Descriptive Writing Lesson Plan For Differentiated Learning 05.pdf

TESOL Interest Section: English for Specific Purposes, Secondary Schools

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