Descriptive writing synonyms lesson plan

Using Synonyms to Expand Descriptive Writing CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS/COMMON CORE ADDRESSED Area: English Language Arts Strand: Writing Standard: W.2.3. Write narratives in prose or poem form that recount a well-elaborated event or experience, or a set of events or experiences; include details and dialogue to show actions, thoughts, and feelings; use temporal words to signal order where appropriate; and provide a sense of closure.

LESSON OBJECTIVE: Learners will replace the adjectives in a sentence with synonyms to expand their descriptive writing.

TEACHER ACTIONS: ❖ INTRO: • GRABBER: ▪ Show the class a bright, colorful, busy photo of a theme park and say, “This photo is so colorful and there are so many things going on in it! What do you see in this picture?” (give students a minute or so to share what they see in the photo).

▪ Write a sentence on the board: “The sky is filled with rollercoasters. The rides are reflected in the lake below.”

• Read the sentence to the class; ask them if they think it describes the picture.

▪ Write a new sentence on the board: “The bright sky is filled with the fast turns of crooked rollercoasters. The huge rides are reflected in the shiny, still lake below.”

• Read this sentence to the class; ask them which sentence is more descriptive; which sentence paints a more vivid picture in their mind • DIRECT TEACHING: ▪ Explain that we can use adjectives to make our writing more descriptive; descriptive writing paints a vivid picture of the scenery or event in the reader’s mind.

▪ Review nouns and adjectives: • Circle the nouns and underline the adjectives in the first sentence. o Nouns are person, place, or thing (name some and then ask students to name some) o Adjectives are words that describe nouns (name some and then ask students to name some) o Have students identify the nouns and if there are already any adjectives, and what noun they describe (in the first sentence). o Explain that you can add in more adjectives to describe the noun and paint a more vivid picture for the reader to imagine. o Circle the nouns and underline the verbs in the second sentence. Point out the new verbs added in, and explain that these words helped to make these sentences more descriptive.

▪ Explain that almost all words have SYNONYMS (ask students to define/give examples of synonyms

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Explain that synonyms are words that mean the same or nearly the same as another word. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs all have synonyms.

• Explain that today we are going to learn how to use synonyms for adjectives to make our descriptive writing paint an even more vivid picture for the reader to imagine.

▪ Write a new sentence on the board: • “The brilliant sky is filled with the brisk turns of warped rollercoasters. The vast rides are reflected in the glossy, tranquil lake below.”

• Ask students which of the three sentences is the most descriptive.

• Show students how synonyms were inserted into the third sentence by crossing out the adjectives in the second sentence and writing the synonym above.

• Explain that we can first add in obvious adjectives that we can think of more easily, and then we can edit and revise our writing by finding synonyms to replace the “boring” adjectives. o Underline the synonyms used in the third sentence. ❖ ACTIVITY #1: WORKSHEET: SYNONYMS: Adjectives for 5 Senses • MODEL: o Tell students that this worksheet is full of adjectives: the words that describe a noun.

▪ Tell students that the adjectives on this worksheet may be familiar to them, or they might be new. They are arranged by the five senses: smell, taste, sound, touch, and sight. In each “sense” box there are words that describe what we might hear, smell, feel, taste, or see. o Tell students that this worksheet has a word bank at the bottom which is full of more adjectives: each word is a SYNONYM for one of the words above. o Review a synonym by asking students to define and/or give an example. o Tell students that they are going to fill in the synonym for each of the “descriptive sensory adjectives”. Students should use the word bank at the bottom of the worksheet to find a synonym for each sensory adjective. o Model the first three adjectives from each box (15 total) by reading the adjective (or asking a student to), and then asking a student to find a synonym from the word bank.

Fill in the model worksheet in unison with the students to provide a reference.

• PRACTICE: o Break students into groups of 3-5 and ask them to fill in the synonyms for each remaining adjective. o Circulate the classroom to monitor and check for understanding.

• REVIEW: o After students have about 5-7 minutes to practice finding synonyms on their own, collect

the large group and review the remaining adjectives by calling on a student to name the synonym for each adjective. ❖ ACTIVITY #2: WORKSHEET: Synonyms for Adjectives in Descriptive Writing • MODEL: ▪ Show students the model worksheet with the camping dome picture.

• Have students help come up with 2-3 sentences describing the picture, and write the sentences in box one.

• Tell students that its time to add in some adjectives (“Remember, adjectives are words that describe nouns”) Remind students that they can use their ‘SYNONYMS: Adjectives for 5 Senses worksheet’ as a resource/starting point, or they can think of their own adjectives. o Ask students for adjectives that describe the nouns in the sentences. Model inserting a ‘carrot’ and writing the adjective above the noun.

• Model re-writing the revised sentence into box #2, then point out all of the adjectives that were added in. Say, “This sentence is a little bit more descriptive with these adjectives, but let’s find some more descriptive synonyms to replace them”. o Cross out each adjective and ask students to come up with a synonym. Remind students that they can use their prior knowledge, their synonym worksheet (activity #1), or they can borrow a thesaurus to look up a synonym. o Model how to re-write the synonym above the original adjective.

• Read the final revised sentence as you model writing it in box #3.

• PRACTICE: (Can be done as part of Daily 5 if Needed) ▪ Break students up into groups of 2-4; give each group copies of the same picture (different pictures for each group) and ask them to paste it onto the top left side of their ‘SYNONYMS for Adjectives in Descriptive Writing’ worksheet.

▪ Ask students to look at their picture converse as a group to share ideas about “bland” sentences to write about that picture for the first exercise on the page. Students can decide to all write the same sentences, or to each write their own.

▪ Instruct students to insert adjectives to describe the nouns in their sentences, and to then rewrite the revised version of the sentences.

▪ Ask students to cross out the adjectives they chose and replace each one with a synonym.

• Remind students that they can use each other, prior knowledge, their first synonyms worksheet (from exercise #1), or a thesaurus to look up synonyms for the adjectives they used.

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Instruct students tore-write their final revised sentences in box #3, and then share their final descriptive sentences with their group members.

REVIEW: ▪ Ask students to share their pictures and each of their sentences. Ask them to point out the adjectives and what synonyms they replaced them with.

▪ Review the idea that good descriptive writing paints a vivid image in the reader’s mind, and good descriptive writers can use adjectives, and then find even more descriptive synonyms for those adjectives to add description to their own writing.