Descriptive Language 1) Envisioned Situation: This mini-lesson could be taught at any point in the year.

I envision it being taught in a fifth grade classroom, perhaps sometime in the middle of the year. The mini-lesson connects to SOL Standards 5.7 f) Use precise and descriptive vocabulary to create tone and voice and i) Include supporting details that elaborate the main idea. This lesson would best be used when students are doing descriptive writing. It could be taught either before students start their writing process, after they have a first draft, or when that are revising a piece. 2) Purpose: The purpose of this mini-lesson is to get student thinking about and using all five senses in their writing to paint a picture with their words. Students will have already been introduced to descriptive writing in previous years and previous lessons, but this lesson will really focus on language that can help them portray the five senses into their work. 3) Materials: Descriptive Language PowerPoint presentation Student Handout on Descriptive Writing

4) Content: I would start the lesson by displaying the first picture on the PowerPoint presentation and ask students to write a sentence about it. I would ask a few students to share their sentences with the class. It is a simple photo, so I would not expect much description. I would continue through the presentation asking students to do the same thing for each photo displayed. The photos in the presentation should progressively display more senses to write about in the scene. At the end, I would ask students: What have you noticed about the photos? What changed as we scrolled through and wrote sentences? So what can we learn from this about our writing? In the end, I would want students to understand that the more details, specifically about the five senses, that they provide to readers, the better picture they are able to paint in the mind of the reader. After the photo activity, I would give students the descriptive writing handout and have them complete the activity at the bottom. 5) Techniques Used: Whole class instruction Use of PowerPoint Having students individually write sentences