Show, don't tell!: A Writing Mini-Lesson

Using descriptive language is a must if students want to be great narrative writers.  Many times students will just tell what the character is feeling.  For example,  they might write "Ben was mad."  That's it. Readers crave more! Don't just tell and leave it that.  When writers SHOW a reader what the character is feeling, it gives the reader a better mental picture and insight into the character. An example of showing is, "Ben stomped into the room with narrow eyes, a red face, and nostrils flaring.  He put his hands on his hips and pointed a finger at his older brother.  See the difference?  Now, we can tell that Ben is really mad!  We have a mental picture of  him stomping into the room and showing anger towards his brother.  Writers need to SHOW, don't Tell!

I got the idea for this anchor chart from Pinterest (Oh, how I love Pinterest for great teaching ideas!).  The "Showing Emotions & Feelings" chart was posted by www.hootyshomeroom.blogspot.com.  It was the inspiration for the chart I created with my students.  Thanks for the idea Hooty's Homeroom!

Here's a great book you can share with your writers to introduce this writing mini-lesson.  It's called Show, Don't Tell:  Secrets of Writing by Josephine Nobisso.  It's a long book, so you may want to only read an excerpt.

I started this writing lesson by having my students draw 6 squares on one sheet of their reader's notebook and 6 square on another sheet.  This gave them plenty of room to jot down their ideas.

Then I had them write the emotion and feeling words in each box.  The words included:  excited, sad, shy, shocked, tired, cold, hot, afraid, embarrassed nervous, and angry.  You could have them brainstorm their own words as well.  

As a class we brainstormed ways as writers we could SHOW the emotion, rather than just telling about the emotion or feeling.

Here are some examples of some of the questions I asked students during the lesson.  For the word "angry", I asked questions such as: 

• What does angry look like?
• How is your body language /posture when you're angry?
• How do your eyes look when you're angry?  What does your face look like?
• What actions are you doing when you're angry?

We repeated the questioning and brainstorming process with each emotion.  I recorded student responses on chart paper and students jotted their ideas in their reading notebooks.

Students can refer to these charts in their notebook as they write narrative stories.  It will remind them of the the descriptive language to show, not tell when writing!

Million Dollar Words! Cha-Ching Baby!

After working with students on writing over the years, I've noticed the use of many "blah" and "boring" words. Word choice is one of the areas that is assessed on our state writing test and needs to be addressed when planning writing instruction for students.

To make "word choice" sound a little more exciting, I started using the phrase "Million Dollar Words" which means use words that are beyond "blah" and "boring" to make your writing POP with exciting words and interesting synonyms instead of those boring, blah, and overused words.

I teach students about word choice by introducing and/or reviewing synonyms.  Sometimes, it is just a matter of exposing students to new words.  So, we have to take time to help expand our student's vocabulary.

One of the lessons I teach is when students look up synonyms for "blah" words such as happy, sad, tired, etc... using www.thesaurus.com.  You can also check out a set of student thesaurus books from your school library.

 Below is a copy of one of the assignments I had my students complete.  They look up each word and write three or more interesting synonyms for each of the words.  After the assignment, students can keep this list of "Million Dollar Words" in their writing folder to use as they compose new pieces of writing.

This also ties into a previous post:  Put SAID to Bed: A Writing Mini Lesson.  There are tons of great ideas for more interesting words to use instead of  "said" when writing dialogue.

So, when students start writing, I say, "SHOW ME THE MONEY!"  They may not get the movie reference from "Jerry Maguire", but they know I mean to use those "Million Dollar Words" in their writing!

Cha-ching!

Add Pizzazz with Similes: A Writing Mini Lesson

One way students can add pizzazz to their writing is by adding figurative language such as similes. Similes bring a person, place, or thing to life by using "like" or "as" in comparisons.

Here's a quick writing mini lesson about using similes that you can do with your students.

Introduction
Read the book Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood to students.  Although it is a picture book for young children, it's chock full of great similes that compare a small child to different animals and insects.  It's perfect for this writing mini lesson.  While reading, point out to students that there is a pattern in these similes.  They all use an adjective such as "quick" and a noun such as "cricket".  The book also teaches antonyms such as "quick as a cricket" or "slow as a snail".

Brainstorm NEW Adjectives
Create a chart with the adjectives that were used in the book (see chart below).  Have students brainstorm synonyms to replace the words used in the book.  Students can use a thesaurus or explore www.thesaurus.com to find synonyms.  They can jot them down in their notebook or journal.

Create NEW Similes
After students come up with synonyms, have them use these newly found words to create NEW similes.  They can use the pattern in the book if needed.

Share
Students share their newly written similes with a partner, or during whole group share.  They will be inspired by all the creative figurative language that is shared!

So, there it is...a writing lesson that's easy and will help your students add pizzazz to their writing.