Elaborating with Details

SHOW, DON'T TELL
We want the students to be able to elaborate their descriptions with details. They should create a snapshot, a frozen moment in time, to bring to life their story-critical characters, setting, and objects. The description should always enhance the story by drawing the reader in.
EXAMPLE USING QUESTIONS TO GENERATE ELABORATIVE DETAIL

Prompt: Sitting on a pedestal, with a mysterious light shining down on it, was a royal crown.

color - What color was the crown?
texture - What was the texture?
size - What size was it?
condition - What condition was it in?
material - What material was it made out of?
shape - What shape was it?
age - How old was it?
weight - How much did it weigh?
           - What did it remind you of?


After you answer all the questions, now use the sentence starters written below to use a variety of sentences to describe the royal crown.
SENTENCE STARTERS

It was ______________________________________
I noticed ____________________________________
I supposed that _______________________________
As I ran my hand along it _______________________
I was surprised by _____________________________
It felt like ____________________________________
The ______________ was _______________________
I love the way _________________________________
It reminded me of ______________________________
click here to read an example of a paragraph on the royal crown with elaborate detail
PRACTICE:
Possible Sample Topics
with detail-generating questions
Description using the Main Character's
Thoughts and Feelings
We want the students to be able to show us what they're thinking or feeling instead of simply telling us. The students enjoy acting out what furious looks like and they do a great job, but we want them to do the same thing with their writing. The results are much more powerful and memorable when they show what furious looks, sounds, and feels like.
click here for a chart
with several emotions and feelings
click here to go back to The Beginning Page
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