In a previous post, I discussed having
students master theme by writing their own stories designed around a
self-chosen theme. But why stop with mastering a reading skill when we can
incorporate a writing one as well?
I can't tell you how many stories I have read where
the main character was "pretty," "popular," or "smart."
No further description needed, to many a middle school mind. If I wasn't to
tear my hair out with boredom, my kids needed to learn to "show, not
tell."
Introducing Vivid Writing
To begin with, I did a whole-class lesson, using this Powerpoint (here in PDF form, so that you do not lose formatting). I like to use passages from books
for minilessons, because there is always a chance that a child may end up wanting
to read that book. We discuss whether the author ever directly said what was happening in a
passage, and students use individual whiteboards to do the practice questions
on the slides before we discuss as a class.
It's also great to do a
read-aloud where students can hear and notice great vivid writing. I recommend
anything by Chris Van Allsburg. I usually choose a few
pages that I will reread so that students have time to write down any vivid
words or descriptions they noticed. We then use these to have a backwards
discussion--we decide what bland words these exciting ones might have been
replacing. This can make for a rich discussion, and a fun way to give students
a list of bland word replacements, if you have them write down the results of
your discussion.
Practicing Vivid Writing With Sorts
Sorts are a great way to work with your kids who may need a little more experience seeing and thinking about vivid writing. I have created this one, in which students match the "showing" description to its bland "telling" counterpart.
Group Work With Vivid Writing
Immediately after our introduction, I give each of my
small groups an index card with a "secret emotion" written on it,
along with the following set of instructions:
Working with your group,
you should:
1.) Create a list of
actions that you might do if you were experiencing your given emotion.
2.) Create a list of
events that might cause your given emotion.
3.) Create a list
describing what someone experiencing your emotion might look and sound like
4.) Write a paragraph
that shows the emotion without ever using its name or synonyms. You must switch
off writers each sentence! (I do this so that everyone gets practice with the
physical aspects of the writing process.)
5.) When you are done, go
back and check for spelling and conventions.
Students then get to walk
around and submit their guesses as to what emotion each group was describing. I
like to have a shoebox at each table where students can submit their guesses on
Post-it notes.
Evaluating Writing For Vividness
At some point, your kids
just have to write! I like to pair practicing this skill with our theme
stories, but you can do it with any writing assignment. I have always found my
kids excited and proud to show off their new skills, and eager to revise for
this skill with peer revision groups. I usually give my students this peer editing and revision sheet to help guide them
through the process (Keep in mind that, as this is our first major writing of
the year, I keep my editing requirements minimal at this point!).
Teaching students to write vividly can be one of the most fun experiences of the year, both for you and your kids. Every year, this work is well worth the time invested, both for the skills that my students learn and for the joy they begin taking in words when they realize their beauty and power.
Happy learning!
Cheers,
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