<p>Students study the elements of an effective description in this unit; these elements will serve as a guide for them as they start writing their first draft. At the end of this course, students are going to:<br>- Recognize and compose&nbsp;sensory information.<br>- Recognize and employ metaphors.<br>- Recognize and employ similes.<br>- Determine and make specific word choices.<br>- Create unique sentences by utilizing a particular sentence structure as a guide.<br>- Enumerate the qualities of a successful description.<br>- Create the description's initial draft.</p>

<p>- What function does writing serve in our daily lives?<br>- How can we improve our writing skills?<br>- To what extent does the writing process influence the quality of the writing?</p>

<p>- Writing Process: The stages of writing (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing). These stages are recursive, rather than linear. For example, the writer might brainstorm and draft, step back and make changes, then write more.<br>- Description: Words used to evoke images in the reader’s mind.<br>- Topic: the subject matter with which a writer is working in a particular piece of writing.<br>- Purpose: The reason or reasons why a person composes a particular piece of writing. Different types of purpose include the following: to express, to describe, to explore/learn, to entertain, to inform, to explain, to argue, to persuade, to evaluate, to problem solve, and to mediate. However, it should also be emphasized that writers often combine purposes in a single piece of writing.<br>- Audience: The intended readers of a particular piece of writing.<br>- Prewriting: The initial writing stage of gathering ideas and information and planning writing. Students may sketch, brainstorm, or use webs, outlines, or lists to generate and organize ideas.<br>- Sensory Detail: Specific details relative to sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste working together in harmony to create concrete images and strengthen writing.<br>- Metaphor: A literary device in which two different objects are compared by analogy (i.e., “The lake is a mirror.”).<br>- Simile: A literary device in which two unlike things are compared, using words such as like or as (e.g., “Her cheeks were as pink as roses.”).<br>- Figurative Language: Language enriched by word images and figures of speech.<br>- Word Choice: The use of rich, colorful, precise language that communicates not just in a functional way, but in a way that moves and enlightens the reader. Strong word choice can clarify and expand ideas and/or move the reader to a new vision of things. Strong word choice is characterized not so much by an exceptional vocabulary that impresses the reader, but more by the skill to use everyday words well.</p>

<p>- copies of the Dillard and Thoreau model sentences used in Lesson 2<br>- copies of sample descriptions from your file of student work, compose your own, or use Sample Descriptions and Assessments (L-C-1-3_Sample Descriptions and Assessments)<br>- copies of the rubric you will use to assess student descriptions (see the Performance Assessment at the end of the unit), perhaps including the PSSA Writing Scoring Guidelines (L-C-1_PSSA Writing Scoring Guidelines), also available at <a href="http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_system_of_school_assessment_(pssa)/8757/resource_materials/507610">http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_system_of_school_assessment_(pssa)/8757/resource_materials/507610</a>. Or you can compose - your rubric or use Sample Rubric for Description Paper (L-C-1-3_Sample Rubric for Description Paper)<br>- a board, large screen, or easel with a large drawing pad to put up examples, student responses, etc.<br>- the Descriptive Writing Exercises by Jennifer Jensen (Suite 101, 2007), available at <a href="http://writingfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/descriptive_writing_exercises">http://writingfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/descriptive_writing_exercises</a>&nbsp;</p>

<p>- Prioritize the qualities of an effective description throughout the lesson. Using the assignment's model sentences, you can quickly identify those who are struggling and take examples of well-written descriptions to use as models. You'll also be able to identify those in need of assistance by using metaphors and/or similes.<br>- As the groups examine the descriptive samples, move among them and make sure they are focused by listening to their responses. Pause group work if needed so that the class can concentrate on suitable examples of successful voice, transitions, and sensory details.</p>

<p>Direct Instruction, Modeling, Active Participation, and Scaffolding<br>W: Students present some of their information using complex sentence structures, looking at samples to find useful features. They will construct phrases that they can utilize in their own narratives.&nbsp;<br>H: After reading and debating the sentences written by their peers, students get feedback on their own.&nbsp;<br>E: Students gain the ability to discern when specifics enhance or detract from the writing's main point.&nbsp;<br>R: Students talk about how they felt about the example descriptive papers and the model sentences. Both their model sentences and their group work analyzing the example descriptive papers are used in the assessment process.&nbsp;<br>E: Students revise their descriptions by adding more details, looking at sample papers written at different skill levels, looking at model sentences to help them come up with new ideas, and looking at the rubric that will be used to assess their work.<br>T: Students can work in groups, on their own, and as a class. With the use of tangible models and examples, they can better understand expectations before they begin writing.&nbsp;<br>O: Building on the first two lessons, this one helps students develop a descriptive detail bank for their description as well as an awareness of the elements of a strong description.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Focus Question: How can the writing process be used to compose a descriptive piece of writing?</strong><br><br>After reading the sample sentences written by their peers, students will note which details they find particularly effective and whether the sentence's components all work together to paint the same picture. Along with analyzing sample descriptions, they will evaluate their work using the same rubric. They will next write their descriptions' initial draft.<br><br>Students can read each other's sentences in small groups when you pick up your copy of the model sentence from them.&nbsp;<strong>"You now&nbsp;have the opportunity to view the assignments that your classmates completed. Each member of your group will have their sentence read aloud, but make sure you read each one by&nbsp;yourself. Don't just have someone read them aloud. Examine the sentence on the page and consider its construction. Once you've read through everyone's, identify the specific details that you believe are most effective and explain why. Additionally, each student in the group should share with the others their impressions of the writer's perspective on the specific location mentioned in the sentence."</strong><br><br>Give each group member ten to fifteen minutes to discuss their thoughts on their sentence. After that, give the students a chance to hear what other people have to say about the location they are presenting in their sentences.<strong> Say, "If their response didn't match your expectations, you should consider the reasons behind it. Additionally, you were able to consider your favorites and observe various approaches to the assignment. Spend the next five minutes coming up with a new sentence. Using the other sentence structure model, write the second sentence on the same sheet that you used for the first. Use Thoreau's sentence structure now if you used Annie Dillard's for today's assignment, or vice versa. Don't worry about finishing it in such a short time; just try to start."</strong><br><br>Let students know that it's okay if they haven't finished it after five minutes, and then have them stop. When they begin their first draft, they can utilize the sentence they started on as a model, or, at the very least, they realize they can employ a wider range of sentence structures.<br><br>Ask students to discuss a model sentence that contains details that don't belong together next. As an example, consider this: "The lake was a mile long, ruffled, peaceful, blue as a Texas sky, and narrow as a snake, a poised scimitar." (Place this—or something similar—on the board or screen.) They ought to observe that the details don't complement one another to produce an effect; rather, they operate counter to one another.<br><br>Regroup the students and provide them with the grading rubric for their descriptions. Refer to the Sample Rubric for Description Paper (L-C-1-3_Sample Rubric for Description Paper), your rubric, the state scoring guidelines linked in the Performance Assessment at the end of the unit, and four sample descriptions that illustrate varying levels of achievement (L-C-1-3_Sample Descriptions and Assessments). It's possible that you or your students wrote the other samples.<br><br>You can use samples such as those in Sample Descriptions and Assessments (L-C-1-3_Sample Descriptions and Assessments), but using descriptions from your students is the most effective way to go. Give students just the descriptions—not the assessments—if you decide to use them. The evaluations could come in handy later.<br><br>Ask students to discuss the papers and explain which one they would give a perfect score to. To substantiate their claims, they ought to provide particular examples. After one of the groups presents its findings, have the class discuss this. Concentrate on the particular examples of sensory details used to describe the location or successful transitions that are used to support each point on the rubric. You could utilize the assessments found in Sample Descriptions and Assessments (L-C-1-3_Sample Descriptions and Assessments) to incorporate them into your group or in class discussions. Make sure the students understand the goal of this exercise, which is to consider the kinds of modifications that can be made to a description to make it more compelling. Post the samples and the evaluation criteria so that students can refer to them as they work on their descriptions.<br><br><strong>Complete the assignment's first draft:&nbsp;</strong>Give a description of a location that has affected you, and then use the details to explain why. Incorporate at least one metaphor and one simile into the description as you expand it with sensory details. If your description is published on a class website or bulletin board, or in a literary magazine, newsletter, or class collection, your audience will include other students as well as yourself. It should be between 250 and 400 words long. (This is not a one-night task. Make sure that students have three evenings, or at least two, to work on this draft.)<br><br><strong>Note</strong>: For students to hear audience reactions and see other students' strategies, they should read and discuss the first draft with their classmates in groups. Tell students that some specific additions or changes are needed to take a composition from one level of achievement to the next. These are some of the things that are shown in the sample descriptions. If you see that the class as a whole needs more practice in areas like focus, sensory details, and figurative language, this could require at least one extra class period.<br><br><strong>Extension:</strong><br><br>For those who think they might be going above and beyond the requirements, there are exercises where students create a fictional character in a scene using description. The Descriptive Writing Exercises (Suite 101, 2007) by Jennifer Jensen are accessible at <a href="http://writingfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/descriptive_writing_exercises">http://writingfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/descriptive_writing_exercises</a> .</p>