LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

Becca Farrell
JMU Elementary Education Program
A. Lesson Title: Show Dont Tell
B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
The students have been working on adding more detail to their writing. This assignment ties in a visual
arts aspect as well as a writing portion of the lesson. This will require them to use their imagination
and express themselves creatively through artwork and through writing. Students are working on
creative writing and using correct grammar and sentence structure in their writing. This assignment is
developmentally appropriate, since this age group loves to express their imagination through artwork.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what are the broad
Know what are the facts, rules,
generalizations the students should
specific data the students will gain
begin to develop?
through this lesson?

U1. The students will understand

that ideas can be expressed
through showing the reader by
adding detail instead of explicitly
stating.

K1. The student will know that

emotions can be drawn and
written out by adding detail for the
reader.
K2. The student will know that
detail can be visually represented
in a drwing.

Do what are the specific thinking

behaviors students will be able to do
through this lesson?

D1. The student will draw an

emotion (sad, angry, etc.) and be
able to write a story to go along
with the drawing using creativity,
detail, and imagination.
D2. The students will use their
imagination and expressive
imagery to create an art piece.
D3. The student will be able to
show their understating of using
complete sentences with correct
grammar.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
The student will turn in a drawing and a writing sample to go with their drawing. I will assess their
learning based on the rubric I have created (attached). This will show that they understood how to add
detail to their writing and were able to use their imagination to express their imagination using the
visual arts. I will be looking for complete sentences, creativity, details, and correct grammar.
E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
Writing 4.7 The students will write for a variety of purposes including
Using supporting details and elaborating on a main idea
Writing 4.8 The students will edit writing for correct grammar
4.2 The student will listen to oral presentation
Visual Arts 4.3 The student will use imaginative and expressive imagery to create works of art.
F. MATERIALS NEEDED
- Crayons, markers, colored pencils, or oil pastels
- Paper
- Emotion cards (printed beforehand)
G. PROCEDURE
Engage: I will ask for student volunteers to come out and do some acting in front of the class.
I will tell them an emotion that they to act out for other students in a game similar to charades.
Students will try to correctly guess what they are trying to show. After a few times of students

doing this, I will explain that they are showing through details and descriptors instead of telling.
We will be doing the same thing with our writing.
I will have a student helper pass out paper to all of the students, and then I will go around and
give student their emotion that they will draw and write about. I will explain that I am looking
for them to give me descriptive words and imagery to help the reader understand what emotion
they are writing about without telling me what that emotion is. Once they start drawing, I will
walk around the room assisting any students who might need extra help.
I will give students about 20 minutes to draw. Then, I will warn them with about 3 minutes left
to finish up. Then I will tell them that I want them to write about their emotion without telling
me what it is. They will write up a story that goes along with their drawing. I will tell them that I
am looking for creativity, descriptive words, and complete sentences that help the reader
understand the emotion without having to look at the word. I am looking for a minimum of 4-7
sentences.
After students are complete, I will have students come up and share with the class and have
them guess what the word is that they drew.
As a wrap up, I will ask for student strategies for their writing and drawing. I will reinforce
what it is that I am looking for in their writing.
H. DIFFERENTIATION
- This lesson is suited for all learners. Those who are struggling, I will give them guiding questions
that will help lead them to an answer. For students who dont know what their word means, I will
explain hat to them on an individual basis, but the words are age appropriate for them to easily
understand. The students will have choice with the way they choose to decorate and write, so students
who are struggling will be able to choose how much detail and sentence variety they want to use. I will
ask early finishers to add more detail to their drawing and their story.
I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
- Students might be disruptive during the acting out part of the lesson. I will clearly explain the
expectations beforehand, and say that I will only call on you to act out if you are behaving. I will set
clear expectations during the lesson to minimize disruptive behaviors. Some students might have
difficulty thinking of something to write, but I will tell students to think of a time when they felt this
way and write about that.