Descriptive

Essay Writing
 Table of Contents
How to Use This Product Page 3
Day 1: Analyzing Pictures for Page 4
Description
Day 2: Identifying Uses of Page 5
Description in Text
Day 3: Showing vs. Telling Page 6
Sentences
Day 4: Examining a Mentor Text Page 7
Day 5: Modeling a Descriptive Page 8
Essay
Day 6: Writing Their Own Essays Page 9
Other Information to Note Page 10
5 Senses Graphic Organizer Page 11
Telling vs. Showing Sentence Page 12
Practice
Descriptive Essay Graphic Page 13
Organizer
Descriptive Essay Outline Page 14
Grading Rubric Page 15
Other Products Page 16
 How To Use This Product
Included in this product are six step by step lessons on
how to teach this essay, pre essay activities, mentor
text suggestions, graphic organizers, essay outline, and
a grading rubric for teacher and or student use.

In the lessons, I have included all the steps I use to

teach a descriptive essay. Essay writing can be really
challenging, and I’ve included some basic steps that
really help students understand and write the essay in
an easier way. Use the steps in the instructions to teach
the essay whole group, or even in a small group.

After teaching the lessons, have students brainstorm

what they want to write their essay on. I have found
that student choice is KEY in students being engaged
in writing, especially when the essay is new. After
students have picked a topic, provide them with the
graphic organizer and sentence frame. After you’ve
completed this mini unit, you might have students
practice this process with another topic. Eventually,
they should be able to write the paper without the
frame.

You can expect this mini unit to take 5-7 days of 60

minutes each.
 Day 1: Analyzing Pictures for Description

Before starting a writing unit, I try to do an activity

that will engage students while also introducing
important aspects of our essay writing process. To start
the descriptive writing unit, I show students pictures of
everyday objects that are named in a descriptive way.
They can be found at this
link:https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/25/other-
names-for-things_n_5621554.html (Please note: While
the pictures and descriptions are completely school
appropriate, the ads on the side of the page are not.
The website may be blocked at school for this reason.
So that I don’t have to worry about that, I drag the
images into a PowerPoint and show them to the
students in that way.)
The reason I include this step is I want students to
see how slightly changing the words you use can help
the reader better visualize what you are trying to
explain.
As we look at the images, I have students think
about 3 things:
1) What is the real name of the object?
2) How does the new name help us understand better
what the object is?
3) How does the new name better help us understand
the object’s purpose?
Day 2 : Identifying Uses of Five Senses in Text

I start the lesson by explaining to students that I am going

to show them some pictures and I want them in their notes to
write down a description of the picture so that if someone
wasn’t able to see it, they could explain it better.
I show pictures of men with food stuck in their beards
which is odd, I know, but if you read the rest of the lesson, you
will understand why I chose them. You can find the same
pictures I did if you Google “food stuck in beard”.
After I show the pictures and the students have written
their description, they share it with a partner.
I then explain that I am going to read an excerpt from the
book “The Twits” by Ronald Dahl. The chapter is called “Dirty
Beards” You can find the excerpt at this link
http://ebooks.rahnuma.org/children/Stories/Roald.Dahl/Roald.
Dahl_The-Twits.pdf I ask the students to draw a picture of a
beard that looks like the one the passage is describing. I give
students a minute to draw an outline of a beard so they don’t
waste concentration on that. Then I read it two times. The first
time I read it, students are to draw in details with pencil. The
second time, they are to color the beard in.
When I have finished reading, students share their work
with one another. I then ask how the text was different from the
picture and how so. They should notice that the text appealed
to the five senses and the text used the five senses to describe
what the author was trying to convey. I pass out the 5 Senses
Graphic Organizer. We reread the passage, “Dirty Beards” and
write each instance of the five senses into the organizer.
I end the lesson for the day by explaining that in
descriptive writing, we want to SHOW the reader instead of TELL
the reader about an object, person, place, etc., so we use all
our five senses.
 Day 3: Showing vs. Telling Sentences

Now that students understand how to use the five senses, I

teach students about the difference between showing and
telling sentences.
I start by passing out a blank 5 Senses Graphic Organizer. I
tell students that we are going to describe summer using those
senses. As a class, we brainstorm different phrases that we
could write under each category. I then ask if we could make
our sentences even better. In order to do so, we need to know
how to write better sentences.
I pass out the “Telling vs. Showing” worksheet. We talk
about how an author can show what they want to say instead
of tell. We talk about the first example on the worksheet. Next,
we talk about how we could turn the next two sentences into
showing sentences instead of telling ones. Then I have students
work in groups to complete the rest of the chart. When
everyone is done, we share out the sentences that were
written.
We then go back to our sentences on summer. Using
what we learned, we change the sentences to showing
sentences instead of telling sentences.
 Day 4: Examining a Mentor Text

The mentor text I chose for the descriptive essay is a

student written essay about carnival rides. I chose it because it
is a thing (descriptive essays are about people, places, things,
or events) and the essay flows from general to specific. Most of
the student essays (unless they are an event) will flow in this
way, so I chose a mentor text that flows in this way as well. You
can find the essay at this link:
http://www.factmonster.com/homework/writingskills5a.html.
I pass out the text to all the students and have them take
out colored pencils to highlight with. In the introduction, I have
them choose 3 colors. We highlight the hook (interesting
statement that grabs our attention), background information
(how does this person feel about carnival rides), and the thesis
(why do they care so much about the ride? What keeps them
coming back for more?)
In the body paragraphs, I have them choose 2 colors. We
highlight the topic sentence of each paragraph, and we
highlight the descriptive phrases that go with each topic
sentence. We talk about how the author could have just said
“telling” sentences like “My favorite ride is the Tilt-a-Whirl” but
instead he describes the rides as beasts, dinosaurs, and fire
breathing dragons.
In the conclusion, we highlight the thesis, review of ideas,
and concluding sentence.
 Day 5: Modeling a Descriptive Essay
Students should now be ready to learn how to write a real
descriptive essay. I find that modeling is so important, especially with
essay types like descriptive essays, which are often unfamiliar to students
and are challenging because of the sensory details they require.
I start by having students take out their sensory details list that we
made about summer as a class. We have already written our sensory
details in a previous lesson, so we are ready to move onto the next step,
organizing the essay.
I help students to organize our ideas from general to specific. For
our first body paragraph, we could talk about the overall feeling of
summer: the heat on our skin, the cool splash of water in the swimming
pool, and the freedom from school. In the second paragraph, we could
focus on our favorite activity to do during summer, such as swimming. We
could talk about waiting in line for the community pool doors to open,
excitedly fast walking (because we’re not allowed to run at the pool), to
the water’s edge, nervously touching the tip of our toes into the water to
feel the temperature, and the determination that goes through us as we
decide to just get it over with and jump in from the deep end.
For our last body paragraph, we could talk about our favorite part
of swimming in summer which is swimming with friends. We could write
about how we plan to meet at the same time every day, we help each
other spread gobs of sunscreen on our backs, we scope out the perfect
spot for our towels, hoping no one has taken “our” spot, etc.
Once we have decided on the sequence of our paper and the
details we are going to use, we write them in our descriptive essay
graphic organizer. (Note: Students do not need to use complete
sentences in this part. The graphic organizer’s purpose is to jot down
ideas.)
Now we are ready to write our paper. I pass out the Descriptive
Essay Outline. The outline should be quickly completed because we have
already written most of the body paragraphs. As a class, we complete
the introduction with a hook (interesting sentence about summer),
background (what do we feel about summer?) and thesis statement such
as (summer is the best time of year because…).
Next, we write the body paragraphs using our graphic organizer.
We then write the conclusion together. Then we are done!
 Day 6: Now What? Writing Their Own Essays

Students should now be able to write their own descriptive

essays. Before they do so, I quickly go through the steps with
the class.
1. Pick a topic.
2. Develop a thesis.
3. Fill out a sensory details chart for your topic.
4. Pick the best details.
5. Organize your essay from general to specific(unless an
event which then would be organized chronologically) and fill
out the descriptive essay graphic organizer.
6. Write the essay using the essay outline.
7. Read over, edit, and fix any mistakes.
8. Type or neatly handwrite your essay.
9. Grade yourself on the rubric.

You should expect this mini unit to take 5-7 days of 60 minutes
each.
 Other Information to Note:
The sentence outlines will include the words: hook,
background, thesis, review, and closing. I will explain what is
meant by each of these.
A hook is a interesting statement, sentence, quote, fact,
or analogy. A hook helps to grab the reader so they are
interested in reading the text.
Giving the reader background information is what I refer
to as “background”. In our essay this looks like 1-2 sentences
talking about basic information about your topic. What would
a reader need to know about this topic before reading? How
do you as the author feel about your topic?
The thesis is where the writer states what they are going
to be writing about in the paper.
The review is the part of the conclusion where the writer
reviews what was talked about in the paper. They might write
3 sentences, one sentence summarizing each of the three
main body paragraphs.
The closing is the last sentence of the paper. It is often
what I refer to as the “wrap up” sentence. This is where
students write a sentence that “wraps up” the paper. It might
be a sentence summarizing what was said. It might be telling
the reader something that they should know now.
Name________________
5 Senses Graphic Organizer
Sight Sound Smell Taste Touch
Name________________
Telling vs. Showing
The young Her head pounded so loudly, she
girl had a was sure that anyone in the house
headache.
could hear it.

The big dog

licked the
boy in the
face.

The sun
slowly rose in
the sky.

The wild
horses
galloped in
the meadow.

The boy’s
face turned
red as the
other kids
laughed.
The woman
gasped for air
as the cold
water hit her.
Name____________________

Descriptive Essay Graphic Organizer

Body Paragraph 1 Detail 1
Topic Sentence:

Detail 2

Detail 3

Body Paragraph 2 Detail 1

Topic Sentence:

Detail 2

Detail 3

Body Paragraph 3 Detail 1

Topic Sentence:

Detail 2

Detail 3
Name____________________

Descriptive Essay Outline

Introduction
Hook___________________________________________________________________
Background on place, event, person, etc. and feeling about it
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Thesis ___________________________________________________________________

Body Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence __________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 1 _________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 2 _________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 3_________________________________________________________
Closing Sentence _______________________________________________________

Body Paragraph 2
Topic Sentence __________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 1 _________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 2 _________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 3_________________________________________________________
Closing Sentence _______________________________________________________

Body Paragraph 3
Topic Sentence __________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 1 _________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 2 _________________________________________________________
Sensory Detail 3_________________________________________________________
Closing Sentence _______________________________________________________

Conclusion
Restate Thesis __________________________________________________________
Review Ideas
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Concluding Sentence
_________________________________________________________________________
Name____________________

Descriptive Essay Rubric

Category 5 4 3 2 1

Essay All 5 Only 4 Only 3 Only 2 Only 1

Completion paragraphs paragraphs paragraphs paragraphs paragraph
are complete are are are is complete.
with required complete. complete. complete.
elements.

Essay The essay The essay The essay

Organization clearly flows has some has very
from general structure, little
to specific, or but some structure.
chronological structure is
for events. lacking.

Sensory The author The author The author The author The author
Details clearly shows mostly uses uses half uses mostly does not
instead of tells showing showing telling use showing
by using the sentences, and half sentences sentences
five senses to with few telling and very at all.
describe the telling sentences. few showing
person, place, sentences. sentences
event, or
thing.

Conventions There are no There are There are The essay has The essay is
grammar, very few some a lot of unreadable
punctuation, grammar, grammar, grammar, .
spelling, or punctuation, punctuation, punctuation,
capitalization spelling, or spelling, or spelling, or
capitalization capitalization capitalization
errors.
errors. errors, but errors that
they don’t interfere with
interfere with meaning.
the meaning.

Neatness Final essay is The essay is The essay is

typed or somewhat unreadable
neatly neat. .
handwritten.
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