Thirty Days to Unlock FCAT Writing Success - Polk County School ...

Elaboration Using Sensory Language
Hershey Kiss Discovery
• Students create a writing piece using their senses of sight, touch, smell and taste to describe
the outside and inside of a Hershey Kiss without using the words chocolate, Hershey, or Kiss.
The Naming of the Shoe
• Foster different modes of writing focusing on elaboration strategies.
Build curiosity the day before the assignment by telling students to be sure to wear socks
with no holes the next class day. The day of the assignment, have students take out paper
and pen. Assign them an identifying number- students are NOT to put their names on their
papers. Next, have them take off both shoes and place the right one inside a large plastic
bag which you will keep at your desk. Instruct students to place the left one on top of their
desks. Allow students 10-15 minutes to describe in detail their left shoe. After they have
described their shoe, they may give it a personality, name, tell where the shoe has been,
how they value their shoe, or why they chose that type of shoe (encourage creativity).
After allowed time, collect all papers. Students place their left shoe in a pile centrally
located in the room. Be sure shoes are "mixed up" and the right shoes remain hidden. A
volunteer selects a paper and reads it aloud to the class. Volunteers may NOT read their
own paragraphs. The teacher monitors this by the assigned identifying numbers. If the
volunteer/reader can find the correct shoe from the DESCRIPTION, the owner of the shoe
gets to put on both shoes. Should the reader not choose the correct shoe, the paper goes
back in the stack and no shoe is taken from the pile. The student whose paragraph was
written well enough to regain his/her shoe, selects and reads the next paper. This continues
until all shoes are gone from the pile. This activity could also be conducted in small groups,
so that students would get their shoes back faster!
Sense(ability) Sense(itivity)
• Use the SENSORY WORD CHART to create paragraphs and essays that include sight,
sound, touch, taste, and smell. Hand out the SENSORY WORD CHART to each student. Ask
students to use one word from each column to write a short paragraph. After five minutes,
ask for student volunteers to read their work. Explain how the addition of this sensory
elaboration increases the substance of the piece.
Continue the activity by asking students to select one more sensory word from each column
to add to the first paragraph. Start a second paragraph that extends the ideas presented in
the first paragraph. Use more sensory words in this paragraph. Use as many of the words
from each column as needed to reinforce adding sensory elaboration to the writing.
• Extension:
Assign a row from the list of SIGHT words from the chart to create a SIGHT poem using all of
the words.
Assign each of the other rows one of the sensory topics: SOUND, TOUCH, TASTE & SMELL.
Tell each row they need to create a poem specific to that sensory topic.
Ask for volunteers to read the sensory poems.
Illustrate the poems with related sensory images or symbols.
Keep the SENSORY WORD CHART in a writing portfolio for future use.
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