Copyright John Schacter, Ph.D.

Teacher Series
Descriptive Writing
by John Schacter, Ph.D.

The

Master

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Master Teacher Series

The
Descriptive Writing
Contents
Preface LESSON 1: Pretest and Portfolios LESSON 2: Introduction to Descriptive Writing LESSON 3: The Snow Person (Attribute Charts) LESSON 4: The Storm (Where Topic Sentences) LESSON 5: The Storm (Top to Bottom Paragraph Frames) LESSON 6: The Storm (Writing Concluding Sentences) LESSON 7: The Storm (Revising for Precise Language) LESSON 8: The Playground (When Topic Sentences) LESSON 9: The Playground (Left to Right Paragraph Frames) LESSON 10: The Playground (Writing Concluding Sentences) LESSON 11: The Playground (Revising for Strong Verbs) LESSON 12: The Insect (Skill Review & Attribute Charts) LESSON 13: The Insect (Writing Comparison Sentences) LESSON 14: The Insect (Details Paragraph Frame) LESSON 15: The Insect (Interesting Fact Topic Sentences) LESSON 16: The Insect (Writing Concluding Sentences) 8 11 15 18 22 26 31 35 40 45 49 55 60 63 67 70 75

Contents Continued
LESSON 17: The Insect (Skill Review) LESSON 18: The Place (Creating Attribute Charts) LESSON 19: The Place (Precise Words, Verbs & Comparisons Draft) LESSON 20: The Place (Evaluate & Rewrite) LESSON 21: Descriptive Writing Posttest LESSON 22: Pretest to Posttest Growth (Self-Evaluate) LESSON 23: Sentence Combining LESSON 24: Writing Multi-Paragraph Essays LESSON 25: The Stuffed Toy (Creating Attribute Charts) LESSON 26: The Stuffed Toy (Essay Organizer) LESSON 27: The Stuffed Toy (Writing Your First Draft) LESSON 28: Sentence Combining LESSON 29: The Stuffed Toy (Writing Orientations) LESSON 30: The Stuffed Toy (Writing Closing Paragraphs) LESSON 31: The Stuffed Toy (Self-Evaluation & Feedback) LESSON 32: The Stuffed Toy (Evaluating Classmates Essays) REFERENCES
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Preface

Preface
This book and accompanying CD ROM
incorporate the best in educational research with classroom practices that show the theory in action. In this volume, we present 32 lessons on how to teach descriptive writing in grades 1 to 5. Each lesson is guided by experimentally proven writing strategies that increase student achievement from 13 to 86 percent (see reviews by Hillocks,1984, and Graham & Perin, 2007). In the pages that follow, lessons are described through visual storyboards. All lessons include Teacher PowerPoint Slides (with grade-levelspecific model texts, prompts, pictures, and activities), and Student Workbooks stored on the accompanying CD ROM. Writing this book and developing the teaching examples would not have been possible without the creativity of classroom teachers, researchers, and state department educators. Thank you, Dr. Gina Koency, Katie Welch, Janet Grevious, Dr. Phyllis Veith, Ellen Oderman, Paula Wykle, and Kathy Mears for your instructive comments and encouragement! Appreciation is also expressed to Jennifer Duke for her graphic design, Paul Kepple for his innovative cover artwork, and Joanne Michiuye for her meticulous copyediting. Lastly, thank you Nikki Serafin for your abundant creativity and wealth of ideas.

Model Texts, Pictures and Skill Development Activities

Teaching writing involves careful selection of pictures, model texts, prompts, rubrics, and skill development activities. Considerable time and effort were spent creating the Teacher PowerPoint Slides and Student Workbooks that house these materials. While the descriptive writing skills taught in this book remain the same each year, the model texts, activities, and performance demands change based on gradelevel expectations.

Lesson Progression
Lessons progress from writing simple descriptive sentences to paragraphs to multi-paragraph essays. Skill development exercises range from generating descriptive attributes to sentence combining to including comparisons and hyperbole. Some first-and second-grade students may not be ready to compose multi-paragraph descriptions. Others may. We encourage teachers to use their judgment to decide how far through this curriculum each student is prepared to advance. As educators, we know that students learn at different rates and enter every grade with different performance levels. That being said, a possible ending point for lower elementary students (grades 1 to 3) is Lesson 21.

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Defining Descriptive Writing and How to Use This Book

What Is Descriptive Writing? Descriptive writing describes a person, place, or thing in a way that enables the reader to visualize it. This type of writing is characterized by: sensory details, precise language (tulip instead of flower; mansion instead of home), comparisons (under the jeweled sky; speaks like a queen), strong verbs (He slammed the book down.), and hyperbole (faster than a speeding bullet; strong as an ox). Why Write Descriptively? Writing descriptively teaches students to: organize their thinking, search for and communicate details, define people, places and things, and write with clarity and purpose. In a recent review of experimental writing studies, Graham & Perin (2007) demonstrated that students taught the Goals and Progress Feedback approach gained on average 26 percent more on a variety of writing assessments than similar students randomly assigned to control groups. The Goals and Progress Feedback writing approach includes: 1. INTRODUCING THE WRITING GOAL 2. MODELING THE WRITING SKILL 3. PRACTICING THE SKILL OUT OF CONTEXT 4. USING THE SKILL IN CONTEXT 5. RECEIVING IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK 6. RETEACHING AND/OR EXTENDING SKILL USE Improving Writing Requires Expert Instruction and Practice Dont expect your students to master all the descriptive writing skills introduced in this eight-week curriculum. These skills need to be retaught and reinforced throughout students elementary education. How to Use This Book This book is a curriculum with 32 descriptive writing lessons. Accompanying this book are grade-level-specific Teacher PowerPoint Slides and Student Workbooks. While the writing skills and strategies are the same each year, the prompts, pictures, model texts, examples, and writing exercises change for each grade level. The Descriptive Writing Skill Sheet on the next page shows the writing skills you will teach. Each X represents how many times that skill is introduced.

Teaching Descriptive Writing Rather than teach writing using a singular approach (e.g. process writing, rubrics, study of models, collaborative writing, self-regulation strategies, scaffolds, etc.) we employ a variety of experimentally proven strategies (see Reference section). While your students will experience elements of process writing, study of models, rubrics, collaborative writing, and self-regulation strategies, the guiding instructional approach in this book is called Goals and Progress Feedback (Schunk & Swartz, 1993).

Descriptive Writing Skill Sheet

Descriptive Writing Skill Sheet
COMPOSING SKILLS Includes descriptive words and details (look, sound, movement, taste, composition, age, size, location, etc.). Uses precise language (tulip instead of flower; mansion instead of home). Includes strong verbs (She raced to the park. He gulped down his lunch.). Uses transitions (Before, During, After . . . In front of, Behind, Beside) and sentence variation (combines choppy sentences, revises repetitive sentence starts). Makes comparisons (fast as lightning, hair like silk, hotter than burning coal). Uses words that engage and surprise the reader (enormous shrimp; muscles bigger than a mountain).* ORGANIZING SKILLS Generates attribute charts to develop and sort ideas and details for descriptive writing. Organizes descriptions either by time, visual field (left to right; top to bottom; small to large), details, or procedure. Writes topic sentences that orient and engage the reader. Writes concluding sentences that use a concluding word or phrase, give advice, or summarize the description. *This skill is taught in the 4th and 5th grade Teacher PP Slides. X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X

X X X X X

Lesson 4

Lesson 4: Descriptive Paragraph #1, The Storm

OUTCOMES Students will: Write Where Topic Sentences. Create a descriptive attribute chart to describe a picture of a storm. MATERIALS Teacher PP Slides Student whiteboards Red and Black dry erase markers Post It Notes Where Topic Sentence Poster PREPARATION Read the lesson storyboards.

1
Today, we have two writing goals. One is writing Topic Sentences, the other is generating descriptive attributes. Open your workbooks and put a check next to: Writes topic sentences that orient and engage the reader. Put another check next to: Generates attribute charts.

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING SKILL SHEET ORGANIZING SKILLS Generates attribute charts to develop and sort ideas and details for descriptive writing. Organizes descriptions either by time, visual field (left to right; top to bottom; small to large; large to small), or procedure. Writes topic sentences that orient and engage the reader. Writes concluding sentences that use a concluding word or phrase, give advice, or summarize the description.

2
One way to engage and orient a reader is to tell the reader WHERE what youre describing takes place. There are lots of ways to write WHERE Topic Sentences. On our writing bulletin board, I have placed several examples. In a minute, youll practice writing different WHERE Topic Sentences.

WRITING WHERE TOPIC SENTENCES In the school gym . . . . Across the train tracks . . . Inside our classroom . . . At my friends pool . . . Next to the creek . . . On the soccer field . . . Outside my bedroom window . . .

8 3

Lesson 4 4
After I write WHERE, I need to write what happened. Ill say the volcano erupted, and write that in RED. Watch me write another WHERETopic Sentence. This time Ill start with Next to . . . Next to my grandpas sugar cane field. . . Now, I need to write what happened in RED, I heard the volcano rumble.

Im going to write a WHERE Topic Sentence for this picture (volcano). When you write a WHERE Topic Sentence, first look at the Topic Sentence Poster for an idea. Im going to start with On the soccer field . . . But this isnt a picture of a soccer field its On the big island of Hawaii . . . Ill write this with my BLACK marker on my dry erase board.

WHERE On the big island of Hawaii WHERE Next to my grandpas sugar cane field

WHAT HAPPENED the volcano erupted

WHAT HAPPENED I heard the volano rumble

5
Heres another picture (CITY). On your whiteboards, make an organizer that looks like this. First write the WHERE part of your Topic Sentence in BLACK, then write the WHAT HAPPENED part in RED. Share your topic sentence with your neighbor, then hold up your whiteboards.

6
Nice work on writing WHERE Topic Sentences. Remember, we have two writing goals today. 1. Write WHERE Topic Sentences. 2. Generate descriptive attributes. Today you are going to describe this picture, The Storm. To help us come up with details that describe this picture well make an attribute chart, just like we did with the snow characters.

CITY WHERE

+ WHAT HAPPENED
AMUSEMENT PARK WHAT HAPPENED STORM

WHERE

WHERE

WHAT HAPPENED

Here is the next picture (AMUSEMENT PARK). First write the WHERE part in BLACK, then WHAT HAPPENED in RED. Share your topic sentence with a different person. This is the last picture (STORM).

Lesson 4 7
Im passing out small Post-It Notes. In your workbook, open to the page, The Storm Attribute Chart. As I look at the picture, Im going to write down descriptions for the attribute, TEMPERATURE.

8
At your table, study the picture of The Storm, then write down one descriptive word on a Post-It for one of the attributes. Next, pass your attribute chart to the person on your left. Write a different descriptive word for another attribute on a Post-It, and stick that Post-It on your tablemates chart.

THE STORM ATTRIBUTE CHART

Hear See Location Movement Temp -cold -wet - 40 degrees -rain clouds -icy winds

Watch and listen as I think and record ideas on my Post-It, and then stick the ideas under the Temperature column on my attribute chart.

Keep passing your charts around the table until there are at least 2 descriptive words for each attribute in the chart.

9
Lets have some tables share the descriptive words they recorded. Ill write them on a big class chart. Tomorrow, were going to use these ideas to write a descriptive paragraph about the picture, The Storm.

10
Today we had two writing goals. Goal #1 was to write a WHERE Topic Sentence. Goal #2 was to generate descriptive attributes. Make sure you checked these two skills on your Descriptive Writing Skill Sheet.

THE STORM ATTRIBUTE CHART

Hear -thunder -rain on roof -wind howling - horses neighing See -lightning -farm -house -barn -trees -rain - dark clouds Location -country -farm -field -Midwest Movement - rain falling - wind whirling - lightning streaking - trees swaying Temp -cold -wet - 40 degrees -rain clouds -icy winds

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING SKILL SHEET ORGANIZING SKILLS Generates attribute charts to develop and sort ideas and details for descriptive writing. Organizes descriptions either by time, visual field (left to right; top to bottom; small to large; large to small), or procedure. Writes topic sentences that orient and engage the reader. Writes concluding sentences that use a concluding word or phrase, give advice, or summarize the description.

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Lesson 5

Lesson 5: Descriptive Paragraph #1, The Storm

OUTCOMES Students will: use their attribute chart to compose a paragraph frame that contains a topic sentence and sentences that describing the TOP, MIDDLE AND BOTTOM of the picture, The Storm. MATERIALS Student Workbook Teacher PP Slides Red, yellow, and green highlighters PREPARATION Read the lesson storyboards. WORKING WITH STRUGGLING STUDENTS In this lesson, make sure that you pair each stuggling writer with a proficient writer. As students use the Think-Write-Pair-Share cooperative strategy, monitor these pairs progress closely. WRITING TIP Skilled writers organize their compositions like a video camera shoots a scene. Writing, can pan from LEFT to RIGHT, TOP to BOTTOM, ZOOM IN or ZOOM OUT.

1
Yesterday we wrote WHERE Topic Sentences, and made an attribute chart for The Storm picture. Today, our writing goal is to compose a draft paragraph about The Storm. To do this, we will use a paragraph frame.

DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH FRAME

WHERE
TOPIC SENTENCE TOP ATTRIBUTES MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES BOTTOM ATTRIBUTES CONCLUSION

WHAT HAPPENED

2
Share with your partner, why you think we are we using a paragraph frame? If you said, Good writers organize their writing, you are correct. Put a check next to Organizes descriptions by time, visual field, procedure or details on your Descriptive Writing Skill Sheet.
DESCRIPTIVE WRITING SKILL SHEET ORGANIZING SKILLS Generates attribute charts to develop and sort ideas and details for descriptive writing. Organizes descriptions either by time, visual field (left to right; top to bottom; small to large; large to small), procedure, or details. Writes topic sentences that orient and engage the reader. Writes concluding sentences that use a concluding word or phrase, give advice, or summarize the description.

Lesson 5 3
If your descriptions are not organized, readers get confused. Heres an example of a recipe for cookies. Its in your workbook. Notice that its out of order.

11

4
Like a recipe, your descriptions need to be organized to help the reader understand. Paragraph frames help us organize our writing. This frame starts with a Topic Sentence, then describes the picture from top to bottom, and finishes with a conclusion. DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH FRAME
WHERE
TOPIC SENTENCE TOP ATTRIBUTES MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES BOTTOM ATTRIBUTES CONCLUSION

RECIPE FOR COOKIES Place the baking pans in the oven and bake. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Let the cookies cool after baking. Mix butter and eggs with the dry ingredients. Scoop one tablespoon of cookie dough onto a baking sheet one inch apart.

WHAT HAPPENED

With a partner, cut out the steps, then organize the sentences into an order that will result in good-tasting cookies.

5
Lets start by writing a Topic Sentence. First, look at the picture. Next, choose a WHERE Topic Sentence starter from the poster. Ill choose, Outside . . . Then, add what happened, there was a storm. Now its your turn. Look at the picture, use the WHERE Topic Sentence Poster, and write your topic sentence in your Storm paragraph frame.

6
Now that we have our Topic Sentence, we need to describe the picture in an organized way. Our organization is from TOP to BOTTOM.

WHERE TOPIC SENTENCES In the school gym . . . . Across the train tracks . . . Inside our classroom . . . At my friends pool . . . Next to the creek . . . On the soccer field . . . Outside of the classroom . . .
WHERE
TOPIC SENTENCE TOPIC SENTENCE TOP ATTRIBUTES MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES BOTTOM ATTRIBUTES

DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH FRAME

WHERE Outside WHAT HAPPENED

there was a storm.

WHAT HAPPENED

Outside

CONCLUSION

there was a storm.

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Lesson 5 8
Next, Ill write the descriptive words I highlighted in the box, TOP ATTRIBUTES. Now, Ill write a sentence or two that includes these descriptive words. My sentences are, Lightning came from the dark clouds, and The sound of thunder was loud. DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH FRAME
WHERE
TOPIC SENTENCE Outside

Watch as I show you how to use the attribute chart we made yesterday to describe the picture from TOP to BOTTOM. First, Ill look at the TOP of the picture.

THE STORM ATTRIBUTE CHART

Hear Thunder Rain on roof Wind howling Horses neighing See Lightning Farm House Barn Trees Rain Dark Clouds Location Country Farm Field Midwest Movement rain falling wind whirling lightning streaking trees swaying Temp. cold wet 40 degrees dreary

WHAT HAPPENED

there was a storm.

TOP Dark clouds ATTRIBUTES Thunder

Lightning streaking

Lightning came from the dark clouds. The sound of thunder was loud.

MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES BOTTOM ATTRIBUTES

Second, Ill highlight the words that relate to the TOP part of the picture in red.

CONCLUSION

9
Are you ready to describe the TOP part of the picture? First, THINK and highlight in red the details and words in your attribute chart that describe the TOP of the picture. Now PAIR up and discuss the attributes you highlighted.

10
Lets look at the middle of the picture. Im going to highlight in yellow the words that describe the MIDDLE of the picture.

THINK-PAIR-WRITE-SHARE Think - Highlight the words from your attribute chart that describe the TOP of the picture. Pair - Discuss the words you highlighted with a partner. Write - Write your ideas in the TOP Attributes box, then use them to write a sentence or two. Share - Share your sentences with different members at your table.
WRITE the top attributes in the TOP ATTRIBUTES box, then write a sentence or two. SHARE your sentences with others at your table.

THE STORM ATTRIBUTE CHART

Hear Thunder Rain on roof Wind howling Horses neighing See Lightning Farm House Barn Trees Rain Dark Clouds Location Country Farm Field Midwest Movement rain falling wind whirling lightning streaking trees swaying Temp cold wet 40 degrees dreary

Lesson 5 11
Ill write the descriptive words from the MIDDLE of the picture in the box, MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES. Then, Ill write a sentence or two that includes these descriptive words. My sentences are, The rain fell on the barn. Trees moved as the wind blew. DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH FRAME
WHERE
TOPIC SENTENCE Outside

13

12
Are you ready to describe the MIDDLE part of the picture? First, THINK and highlight in yellow the details and words that describe the MIDDLE of the picture. Now PAIR up and discuss the attributes you highlighted.

THINK-PAIR-WRITE-SHARE Think - Highlight the words from your attribute chart that describe the MIDDLE of the picture. Pair - Discuss the words you highlighted with a partner. Write - Write your ideas down in the MIDDLE Attributes box, then use them to write a sentence or two. Share - Share your sentences with different members at your table.
WRITE down the middle attributes in the MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES box and write a sentence or two. SHARE your sentences with others at your table.

WHAT HAPPENED

there was a storm.

TOP Thunder ATTRIBUTES Lightning

streaking

Dark clouds

Lightning came from the dark clouds. The sound of thunder was loud.

MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES BOTTOM ATTRIBUTES CONCLUSION

Rain on roof Trees swaying Wind whirling

The rain fell on the barn. Trees moved as the wind blew.

13
The last thing well do today is look at the bottom of the picture. Follow the same process. Highlight the bottom details in your attribute chart in green. PAIR and discuss what you highlighted. WRITE AND SHARE. When you finish, your paragraph frame should look like this. DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH FRAME
WHERE
TOPIC SENTENCE TOP ATTRIBUTES Outside

14
Remember, todays writing goal was to use our descriptive attribute chart and our paragraph frame to write a description of The Storm. Tomorrow we will write a conclusion.

WHAT HAPPENED

there was a storm.

Dark clouds Thunder Lightning streaking Rain on roof Trees swaying Wind whirling

Lightning came from the dark clouds. The sound of thunder was loud.

MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES

The rain fell on the barn. Trees moved as the wind blew.

BOTTOM Field ATTRIBUTES Horses

neighing Wet

Horses neighed as they walked on the wet cold field.

CONCLUSION

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Lesson 6

Lesson 6: Descriptive Paragraph #1, The Storm

OUTCOMES Students will: Write different concluding sentences for a series of short text selections. Write a concluding sentence for their Storm paragraph. Use their Storm Paragraph Frame to write a descriptive paragraph. MATERIALS Sentence strips Student Workbook Teacher PP Slides Writing Conclusions Poster WORKING WITH STRUGGLING STUDENTS In storyboards 4 to 6 reteach a group of 4 to 8 students the skill of writing conclusions.

2
Todays goal is writing Concluding Sentences. The Conclusion Poster lists 9 different ways to write Concluding Sentences. Lets practice one way, writing conclusions that USE A CONCLUDING PHRASE OR WORD.

CONCLUSION POSTER 1. Tell how you feel Example - When I saw that my robot worked, I was proud of all the effort I put into building it. 2. Summarize the main point Example - Mammals have hair, are warm blooded and are born alive. 3. Offer advice Example - Wearing a helmet when you ride your bike will protect you if an accident happens. 4. Challenge the reader to think Example - If a tornado were to strike your home, make a list of the things you need to be prepared. 5. Ask a question Example - I love playing in the park. Where is your favorite place to play? 6. Use a concluding phrase or word Example - To sum up . . . In conclusion. . . All in all . . . Always. . . Everybody . . . Clearly. . . Obviously . . . Surely . . . In fact . . . No one 7. Encourage the reader to take action Example - One way you can prevent pollution is to recycle. 8. Convince the reader of your point Example - Clearly smoking is bad for your health. 9. Make a prediction Example - I think that if our school is full, theyll use trailers for classrooms instead of sending children to a different school.

1
Last night, I used the sentences in my frame to write a paragraph about The Storm. Lets read it. Whats wrong with the ending?

THE STORM Outside there was a storm. Lightning came from the dark clouds. The sound of thunder was loud. The rain fell on the house. Trees moved as the wind blew. Horses neighed as they walked on the grass. The end.

Good writers finish their descriptions. There are lots of ways to complete your paragraph. Writing The end, is not one of them.

Lesson 6 1 3
Watch how I USE A CONCLUDING PHRASE OR WORD to write a Concluding Sentence for the paragraph, Siti The Orangutan. First, Ill read the paragraph. Second, Ill look at the Conclusion Poster. Third, Ill choose a CONCLUDING PHRASE OR WORD and write a Concluding Sentence on one of my sentence strips.

15

1 4
I am placing you in pairs. Open your Writing Workbook and read the paragraph about Elephant Problem Solvers. Im handing out one sentence strip to each person. Individually, read the paragraph and write a conclusion USING A CONCLUDING PHRASE OR WORD on the sentence strip. Next, pass your sentence strip to your partner. That person will read your conclusion, and write a different conclusion on the back. I WOULD LIKE THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS TO COME WORK WITH ME.

SITI THE ORANGUTAN

After being saved from people who kept her illegally as a pet, Siti the orangutan tried to crack open a coconut. Unable to do it, she handed it to the rescue worker. The worker handed it back because he was trying to teach Siti how to live on her own in the forest. Siti poked the coconut with a stick then gave it back to him. Again, the worker played dumb and handed the coconut back. Siti then picked up another stick and swung at the coconut as one would with a long knife. She showed the worker what she wanted him to do, something shed seen him do many times.

ELEPHANT PROBLEM SOLVERS

A wild baby elephant fell into a mud hole in Kenya, Africa. Luckily, the calf didnt get hurt, but it was too little to walk out. The elephants mother ran into the hole and shouted. Two other elephants heard the noise and rushed over to help. First, they studied the problem. It wasnt a deep hole, but the sides were too steep to climb out. Then, the elephants climbed into the pit, dug out one side of the hole with their tusks, and formed a ramp. When they finished, the mother pushed her calf up the ramp. Elephants are very cooperative, says Erin Moss, the scientist who saw this event.

Conclusion #1 To sum up, Siti knew how to open the coconut, but didnt want to do the work.

Conclusion #1

Conclusion #2 Clearly, Siti was smart enough to open the coconut on her own. Conclusion #3 In conclusion, intelligent animals can learn how to do something just by watching.

Conclusion #2

I was able to write three different Concluding Sentences by using three different CONCLUDING PHRASES OR WORDS. Remember to look at the Conclusion Poster under Concluding Phrases or Words for ideas.

Pairs, share your Concluding Sentences with another pair. Read all the Concluding Sentences and choose the best one to share with the class.

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16 5

Lesson 6 6
Turn to the page with your descriptive writing frame for The Storm. Im going to read my paragraph frame, then write a conclusion USING THE CONCLUDING PHRASE OR WORD technique. Remember to look at the Conclusion Poster for ideas. DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH FRAME
WHERE
TOPIC SENTENCE TOP ATTRIBUTES Outside

Lets read the next paragraph in your Workbook. This time you will read it on your own, and individually write two different conclusions USING THE CONCLUDING PHRASE OR WORD technique. Dont forget to look at the Conclusion Poster for ideas.

PRAIRIE DOG WARNINGS

A prairie dog lifts its head in the air and screams the warning call of a coyote: Eeep! All the prairie dogs run and hide. Scientist Tom Flynn laughs. Hes been studying prairie dogs for one year, and has found that prairie dogs have warning calls for at least 10 different enemies such as hawks, elks, or humans. Each warning call is a different short loud sound. In all his time studying prairie dogs, Dr. Flynn has never heard a prairie dog make a mistake.

WHAT HAPPENED

there was a storm.

Dark Clouds Thunder Lightning Streaking Rain on roof Trees swaying Wind whirling Field Horses neighing wet

Lightning came from the dark clouds. The sound of thunder was loud.

MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES BOTTOM ATTRIBUTES

The rain fell on the house. Trees moved. The wind blew.

Horses neighed as they walked on the field.

Clearly, you would not want to be caught outside

CONCLUSION during this storm.

7
Conclusion #1
Now its your turn. Read your descriptive paragraph frame, choose a concluding word or phrase, and write a Concluding Sentence in your paragraph frame. After you write your conclusion, transfer the writing in your frame to paragraph form.

THE STORM Conclusion #2 Outside there was a storm. Lightning came from the clouds. The sound of thunder was loud. The rain fell on the house. Trees moved as the wind blew. Horses neighed as they walked on the grass. Clearly, you would not want to be caught outside during this storm!

Share the conclusions that you wrote at your table. Pick your tables favorite conclusion to share with the class. Now that weve had some practice writing conclusions, lets write a conclusion for our descriptive paragraph, The Storm.

To do this use your Topic Sentence as the first sentence, then add your TOP ATTRIBUTES sentence, the MIDDLE ATTRIBUTES sentence, and so on. When youre finished, your descriptive paragraph should look like mine.

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