Paint with Words

I always tell my students that writing is like painting with words. The writer needs to paint a clear image of what is in the story, just like an artist paints details into a picture. I use this handout with a mini lesson on using descriptions and specific words. This should be used after the students know adjectives and adverbs. And you probably should have done some lessons on "tired" words to help students choose more specific ones. This activity is a culmination of those lessons. It is quite simple. The students look at the basic, boring sentence and choose words to add to it to make it a more descriptive, exact sentence. I usually have the students choose their favorite expanded sentence and illustrate it on the back according to their descriptions. So if your students need some practice with Painting with Words, then download this freebie.