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Subject

English Language Arts (2005), English Language Arts (NYS P-12 Common Core)

Assessment

A rubric will be used for assessing the culminating project.

• Assessment Rubric

Learning Context/ Introduction

As part of our fifth grade writing curriculum, we will be learning to use the five senses when writing a descriptive paragraph.

Duration

• Day 1: 50 minutes
• Day 2: 42 minutes
• Day 3: 42 minutes
• Day 4: 50 minutes

Essential Question

Why is it important to include the five senses when writing a descriptive paragraph? How did your writing improve when you used descriptive language in your writing?

Instructional/Environment Modifications

Due to the fact that the class includes AIS students whose language, writing, and skills are not as proficient as their classmates, either the AIS support staff or myself worked with those children on completing their tasks.

Procedure

Day One
• Teacher will place a Hershey Kiss on each of the students' desk. The students will have 3 minutes to write about the Hershey Kiss.
• The teacher will then play an interactive PowerPoint to the class about the five senses.
• The teacher will pass out a graphic organizer with the five senses listed and the students will write about the Hershey Kiss again by filling in the graphic organizer. The teacher will give 1 minute for the students to respond to the following questions:
- See: What do you see?
- Touch: What do you feel? (unopened Hershey Kiss)
- Hear: What do you hear as you open the Kiss?
- Touch: What does it feel like? (open end)
- Smell: What do you smell?
- Taste: Eat the Kiss. What do you taste, hear, and feel as you are eating it?
• The students will share their ideas as a class.
Day 2
• The teacher will ask the following question to the class:

"How did using your five senses improve your thoughts about the Hershey Kiss?"

• The teacher will pass out the writing rubric and review the assignment expectations.
• The students will go to the computer lab and create a graphic organizer with Kidspiration.
• The students will use ideas from their hand written graphic organizer when they are completing their Kidspiration graphic organizer.
Day 3
• The teacher will discuss descriptive writing and how important word choice is when writing a descriptive paragraph.
• The class will share some of their first paragraphs about the Hershey Kiss. We will then discuss how we could improve our writing with descriptive language.
• The teacher will model a descriptive writing piece about a piece of bubble gum. The class will be asked to share what descriptive language was used in the bubble gum writing piece.
• The students will use their Kidspiration graphic organizer to write a rough draft descriptive paragraph about the Hershey Kiss.
Day 4
• The students will revise their rough draft, with either a teacher or peer, and be ready to type their final copy.
• The class will return to the computer lab and the students will type their final paragraphs using a Word program. At the end of class there will be a conducted class discussion addressing the following questions:

"Why is it important to include the five senses when writing a descriptive paragraph? How did your writing improve when you used descriptive language in your writing?"

• Five Senses PowerPoint

Reflections and Feedback

I would definitely plan on doing this lesson again next year. The students were very motivated throughout the entire lesson. The use of the SMART Board, Kidspiration, and Word was appealing to my fifth graders.

Student Work

Examples of three student pieces.










Related Resource

• SMART Board
• Kidspiration
• Word Processing Program
• Computer Lab
• PowerPoint
• www.teach-nology.com

Related Academic Standards

New York State

5W1a Introduce a precise claim and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

5W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

5W3a Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters.

5W3b Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue and description, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

5W3d Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.

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