DescriptiveVerbsLessonPlan

Endorsement
Subject
Class
Unit
Lesson
Resources

4thGrade
English
Writing
Verbs
DescriptiveSaid
Print:literatureanthology
Nonprint:NA
Standard
StateofNebraskaCurriculumStandards
ThisprojectwillhelpstudentsmeetthestandardssetforthbyNebraska,andwillbeused
asaprojectinthemiddleoftheunit.Thisprojectwillmeetthestandardsofvocabulary
andcomprehension,byacquiringnewvocabularywordsandunderstandinghowtoapply
thosewordsincontext,aswellasunderstandingwhytheyaremakingdecisionswith
regardtotheirwordchoice.
Introduction
Thislessonwillhelpstudentstoanalyzethewritingandwordchoiceofanadvanced
writingtohelpthemimprovetheirownskills,focusingparticularlyontheadvanced
writersuseofdescriptivealternativestothewordsaid.Theywillworkon
understandingwhatmakesagoodwritersogood.Finally,theywillapplythisknowledge
toashortpaperoftheirown,andthencontinuetousethisknowledgeastheycontinuein
theirwritingcareers.
Technology
Materialsneededforthislessonwillprimarilybetheliteratureanthologies.However,
Uses/Materials therewillalsoabeawholegroupdiscussionthatwillutilizethewhiteboardandmarkers,
Needed
aswellassmallgroupworkwherethestudentswillneedapostitnotetowriteon.
Finally,thestudentswillneedpaperfromtheirwritingnotebookstowritetheirfinal
creationon.
Objectives
1. Identifytheplacesinaworkwheretheauthorhasdescriptivewordchoices.
2. Identifyalternativestothewordsaid
3. Understandwhythesewordchoicesmakeapieceofwritingbetter
4. Comparetextsthathavedescriptiveverbswiththosethatdonot
5. Applythisknowledgetotheirownwriting
Preparingthe ThestudentswillbepreparedforthislessonbyreadingACricketinTimesSquareand
Student
fillingworkingonliteracypacketsthatgoalongwithit.Theclasswillalsohave
previouslytalkedaboutverbs,aswellastheimportanceofdescriptivewordchoicesin
makingaworkreallyexcellent.
Assessmentof Remember:Studentswillrecallpreviousexperiencesthathavehadwithdescriptive
Student
alternativestosaid(iereplied,whispered)andsharethesewiththeclass
Learning
Understand:Studentswillbeabletocontrastthedifferencebetweenwordchoiceslike
saidandsaidsoftlyandwhispered
Apply:StudentswillapplytheirknowledgebyidentifyingallthetimestheauthorofA
CricketinTimesSquareusesalternativestothewordsaidthatmakethestoryricher
andmoreeasytovisualize
Analyze:Studentswillcompareandcontrastthetextsthatonlyhavethedifferenceof
saidreplacingmoredescriptiveverbsinoneofthem,inordertobetterexaminethe
relationshipbetweentheseverbsandadetailedandvisualstory

Lesson
Sequence

Measurement
ofSuccess

Evaluate:Studentswilldeterminewhichoftheverbsthathavebeencompiledasaclass
arethemosteffective
Create:Studentswillcreatetheirowndialoguebetweenthecharactersinthestoryusing
onlywordsthattheclasshascompiledontheboard,ratherthanusingthewordsaid,in
ordertodemonstrateabilitytoapplyknowledgetoarealworldsituationofdoingtheir
ownwriting
1. Teacherintroducesthetopic,makingsuretotakeamomenttoexplainthatthe
classisabsolutelynottalkingaboutthewordsaid
2. Haveawholeclassbrainstormingsessiontocomeupwithalternativestothe
wordsaidandwritethosewordsupontheboard
3. SplitACricketinTimesSquareupintofourpartsanddividetheclassintofour
partsaswell
4. Assigneachgroupasectionofthereadingandassignthemtofindeverytimethe
authorusesamoredescriptivewordinplaceofsaid
5. Returntowholegroupandhaveeachgroupsharewhatwordstheyfound,and
writethemupontheboardwiththeonesthatwerepreviouslybrainstormed
6. Compareasectionofthetextthathasdescriptivewordchoicewiththatsame
sectionthathasthedescriptivewordssubstitutedwithsaid
7. Discussthebenefitsofmoredescriptivelanguageinwriting
8. Havestudentswriteathreesentencedialoguebetweenthemaincharactersinthe
story,usingwordsfromtheboard
9. Pickthreestudentsofvaryingabilitiestopresenttotheclass,anddiscussthe
strengthsofeachdialogue
10. Wrapuplesson
Studentsuccesswillbemeasuredbyhowmanywordstheycancomeupwithasaclass
andhowwelltheyidentifywordsinthestoryontheirown.Theywillalsobemeasured
baseduponthequalityoftheirwrittendialogues.Ahighscoringdialoguewould
effectivelyincorporatetheverbsintoittoenhanceit,ratherthanjustincorporatingthem
forthesakeofincorporation.Itwouldalsobewellwrittenandmakesensewiththe
characterspersonalitiesaccordingtothestoryalreadywritten.Finally,thereshouldbe
littletonogrammarorspellingmistakes.Thislessonwillbeapplicableinthefutureas
thestudentsdocreativewritingwherecharactersinithaveadialogue.Theywillalsobe
abletousethistounderstandwhysomewritingisstrongerthanotherwriting.