1.3 Writer's Workshop: Descriptive Writing

Preview - The Writing Process

Writing Goal: Descriptive Writing

To deepen your understanding of sense of place through description, you will plan and write a descriptive piece on a meaningful place  - one with which you have a strong emotional connection. You will dip into your language toolbox and use imagery and figurative language. 

Workshop Overview:  The Writer's Workshop consists of 2 parts.

1.  Writer's Notebook:  As you go through the first three lessons, you may be asked to open your writer's notebook to complete specific steps that will lead to your writing piece.  

1. Review elements of descriptive text
2. Brainstorm places with which you feel a strong emotional connection or sense of place. 
3. Look at mood, order, and mentor texts. 

2.  Writer's Workshop:  Writing a Description 

1. Plan your own place-based descriptive text.
2. Write a first draft and get some feedback.
3. Revise your writing. and submit for feedback.
4. Edit, publish, and submit your final draft. 

 You will earn marks for:

- Prewriting and Draft

- Revising

- Editing and Publishing (Final Copy) - RUBRIC

Home Facilitator / Student: Suggestions for Adaptations and Enrichment

Adaptations: The following are ideas/suggestions for students with challenges in written output. If the student has an individual education plan, there may already be adaptations in place. Contact the teacher if you have questions about the possible adaptations or don't have an individual education plan but still would like some adaptations.

Enrichment: The following are ideas/suggestions for students with strengths in the area of writing. Together, students and home facilitators can look through them and select ideas of interest. Contact the teacher if you have questions about the ideas or other ideas.

- Write an essay (longer piece) instead of a descriptive paragraph.

- Describe the same place from two perspectives (like the lake two students sat beside to complete homework). 

- Find or create images/art to enhance and support the text.

- Add use of technology (powerpoint, blog, podcast) to further share your description with friends and family. 

Descriptive Writing Defined

Feast your eyes on the video below to review descriptive writing.

Descriptive text transports the reader or viewer. By engaging the senses (sight, smell, taste, sound, touch) through imagery and using strong descriptions through figurative language (simile, metaphor, alliteration), writers bring places to life. 

When reading and viewing descriptive text, you explored brilliant examples of writing that not only transported you to places, but helped you to feel what the writer felt about each place. Now it is your turn to create descriptive text. Where you will take us?

Writer's Notebook 1: “Sense of Place” and Mood

A strong mood helps to create strong sense of place text. What is meant by mood? Watch the following video:

To start thinking about ideas for your piece, first take a trip down memory lane to reflect on your special people and places in your life. Where have you been that stands out? Who were you there with? 

• Try to come up with an example for each category that captures a place to which you have an emotional connection – positive or negative. 
• Remember, sense of place text evokes strong emotions. These can be positive (happy, content, peaceful). or negative (fearful, awful). 

Open your Writer's Notebook and complete: 1 Personal Places with a “Sense of Place.

Writer's Notebook 2: Order and Mentor Texts

Good descriptive writing is organized. Some ways it can be organized are:

1. Chronological - Time-based - Ideas or events are presented in the order they happened. This is best for describing events. This can be used for describing place if you are showing how a place changes over time (through the day, season-to-season) or stays the same over time (grandma's kitchen over a series of visits). 

Word clues that show chronological order: during, next, finally, at first, while, meanwhile, before, afterwards, suddenly, from then on.  

2. Spatial - Uses location - Ideas or descriptions are presented top to bottom, left to right, right to left, or bottom to top. This is best for describing places. 

Word clues that show spatial order: above, below, next to, beside, beyond, behind, around, near, in front of, over, to the right/left/north/south/east/west

Read the following examples of descriptive writing. As you read them, try to decide:

• What is the mood?
• How does the author use imagery (senses) and figurative language to create the mood?
• What is the organization? (Chronological or Spatial) 
• What word clues tell you the organization? 

Open your Writer's Notebook and complete: 2. Mood, Order, and More, while reading and rereading the texts:  Text #1: Mt. Cheam Musings Text #2: My Uncle's House Text #3: Sunset

Writer's Notebook 3: Understanding the Writing Process

Before your fingers start typing away, it is important you understand the writing process. While watching this video, in your Writer's Notebook, complete 1.3C Understanding the Writing Process.

Open your Writer's Notebook and complete: 3. Understanding the Writing Process.

When you have completed your Writer's Notebook, submit it in the Unit 1 Writer's Notebook dropbox. 

Writer's Workshop 1 - Step One: PreWriting

You are ready to start a writing project. You will write a one or more paragraphs about a place to which you have a strong connection. You have seen many examples and had a chance to start thinking about your own sense of place, so let's get started! 

This is where you get your mental rain cloud to pour out ideas. (Did you see that metaphor!)

Don’t worry about how it looks – just get your pen moving on the paper. There are many different brainstorming techniques. Read through the following ideas and find what works best for you.

Listing

Write down your topic as the title. Then list as many related ideas underneath it. Write phrases or single words. Your list when brainstorming does not have to be in any kind of order – just list as many things as you can about the topic. It can be in an organizational chart.

Mind Mapping

Put your topic in a circle in the middle of the page. Then create branches off it and write down ideas. From these bigger branches, draw smaller branches with related ideas. You can use different colours and add images (quick sketches) to help you with the process.

Free Writing

One way to get started is to set a timer for five to ten minutes and just start writing ideas. Have your topic in mind and keep your words flowing. Don't worry about spelling or grammar; the goal is to get as many ideas as possible down. If you can't think of what to write, just write anything that comes to mind. We won't use this technique this time! 

For each step of this workshop you will use this template to complete your writing.

Along the way, you will submit it using the online drop boxes.

You will continue in the same file and add to it, each step of the way.

Download it, save it, and get started by completing:

1. STEP ONE: PREWRITING. 

Writer's Workshop 2 - Step Two: First Draft

The drafting stage is also called a sloppy copy.

• Take your ideas and write them into sentences and paragraphs.
• Do not worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation.
  

Before writing your draft, watch the video below. 

On your assignment template, you will find a place to write your first draft. Don't worry about errors. You will have a chance to revise and edit this draft. Go write your draft.

Then, submit your planning and draft in the Description: Prewriting and Draft dropbox. After your teacher gives you feedback on this step, you can continue to the next step. 

Writer's Workshop 3 - Step Three: Revising - Part One

NOTE: THERE ARE TWO ONLINE PAGES IN THIS BOOK FOR LESSON 1.3F.

So your rough draft is done. Now what? 

Copy your draft and paste it under "Step Three: Revising" in your template. Then, using a different colour text (red is recommended) make the changes suggested below. By using a different colour, your teacher can see your revisions. 

Check the overall content:

• Is it in the best order?
• Did I say everything you wanted to say?
• Is it all relevant?
• Should I add, subtract, move, or change anything?

Look at word choice.

• Check: Do I have figurative language? Your teacher would like to see one or more simile, one metaphor, and one or more alliterations. 
  • If you said no to any of the above, take the time to enhance your word choices. 
• Check: Have I used sensory language? Your teacher would like to see three senses addressed (sight, sound, touch/feel, taste, smell)
  • If you do not have three senses included, take the time to enhance your word choices.
  include stronger action verbs. Can you substitute, add, or remove any words? (looms, winding, pedaled, sought, absorbed, lapping, hummed)
• Check: Have I used vivid verbs and creatively applied adverbs? 
  • Where can I substitute, add, or improve any verbs and adverbs? (menacingly, casually, reluctantly, seemingly )
• Check: Have I enhanced some nouns with tantalizing adjectives? (majestic, grass-filled, endless, gentle, peaceful, threatening) 
  • Where can I substitute, add, or improve any adjectives?

Step Three: Revising - Part Two

Mini-Lesson: Look at sentence variety. 

Sentence variety is important. How can you vary sentences?

• You can vary sentences by adding the occasional question or exclamation.
• You can vary sentence length. Include some short, some medium, and some longer (but not "too long" or "run-on") sentences.
• You can vary the way you start sentences. (A common error is to start more than one sentence in a paragraph with "I", "Then", or "Next". Please do not overuse these words!)

Here are some options for varying the way you start:

1. Subject (who or what is doing something; examples - person's name, he, she, it or they)
2. Preposition (a word that shows position, time or location and is part of a phrase; examples -on, at, in, after, down, near... 
3.   Adverb (usually tells how, or when something happened and ends in -ly..... examples: unfortunately, eventually, suddenly
4.   -ing word  Example:  Screaming, the child fled from the malicious mad man. 
5. Clausal ( where,when, while, as, since, if, although)

Example: (Notice the underlined words) 

Seconds before (#2 - starting with a preposition) the old, faithful alarm blared a distorted top-forty through its tiny top speaker, the thick, burnt scent of roasted coffee tickled the tip of my nose. Wiping (#4 - starting with an "ing" word) away the grit of last night's sleep, the starch white sunlight blinded me momentarily as I slung my arm like an elephant trunk along the top of the alarm, searching for the snooze button. While (#5 - starting with a clausal word) stretching hands and feet to the four posts of my bed, my eyes opened after several watery blinks. I (#1 - starting with the subject) crawled out of the comforter, edging awkwardly like a butterfly from a cocoon, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. The dusty pebbles on the chilled, wood floor sent ripples spiraling from my ankles to the nape of my neck when my feet hit the floor. Grabbing (#4 - starting with an "ing" word) the apricot, terri-cloth robe, recently bathed in fabric softener and October wind, I knotted it tightly at my waist like a prestigious coat of armor. I was ready to battle! (short sentence, exclamation) 

On your assignment template, you will find a place to COPY your first draft and complete your revisions. Go to your assignment template to complete your revisions now. 

Writer's Workshop 4 - Step Four: Editing

Complete your edits.

Then, submit your assignment template with all of your steps, including your revised and edited drafts for feedback.

After your teacher gives you feedback, you can complete your "published" (final) version.

Writer's Workshop 5 - Step Five: Publishing

Publishing is when you are ready to polish, present, and submit your work. You can do this at the end of your assignment template, or you can get fancy and use powerpoint or another tool you like. You could even complete it by hand, if you can scan it or take good pictures of it put in a single document to submit. 

• You may need to revise and edit your work several times.
• Do one last check of your writing and look over the marking rubric before you hand it in. 
• Make sure you have everything you need to get the best mark you can get.

With your home facilitator, go through your writing as you think and talk about the questions below:

____ Does my paragraph or descriptive essay show originality?

____ Does my writing show a strong sense of place and mood?

____ Do I develop some ideas or images in creative or unusual ways?

____ Have I used detail / language effectively to create strong descriptions, with strong action verbs, adverbs, and adjectives?

____ Do I use some imagery to engage the senses – sights, sounds, touch, smells, and maybe even taste?

____ Have I used some literary devices (onomatopoeia, alliteration, simile, metaphor?

____ Have I used sentence variety strategies from the revising lesson (part two)?

____ Have I used correct basic spelling, punctuation, and grammar?

____ Have I met criteria on the marking rubric well? (see next page)

Final Touches

Add final touches:

___ Give your description a title.

___ Give yourself (the author) credit. (By Your Name)

___ Optional: Add an image. 

When you are finished, please submit your final copy.