Sensory Writing Lesson Sequence ​(Adaptable for both Middle & High School)

Lesson One: Introduction and Sound (Personification).

I. Framing the Lesson

A. Lesson Rationale/Purpose Statement:​ The central purposes of this lesson
are for students to familiarize themselves with sensory writing, to analyze
an example of it and identify sensory language, to learn about
personification in regards to how it enhances sensory writing, and apply
those skills to their own sensory writing that appeals to readers’ sense of
sound.
B. Conceptual/Skill Focus/Big Idea:​ By the end of this lesson, student should
better understand sensory writing, personification, and how to write to
appeal to readers’ sense of sound.
C. ​Lesson Objectives
1. Students will…
a) Recall the definition of sensory writing.
b) Recall the 5 human senses writing can appeal to.
c) Interpret figurative language and figures of speech in
different contexts.
d) Analyze the impact of specific word choices in a text.
e) Analyze a text passage to identify examples of sensory
language.
f) Explain how specific examples appeal to our sense(s).
g) Apply their knowledge of sensory writing to create an
example of their own.
D. Michigan and Common Core Standards
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4​ Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices
on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other
texts.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.D​ Use precise words and phrases,
relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the
action and convey experiences and events.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4​ Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
 4. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1​ Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led)
with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building
on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
5. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.5​ Demonstrate understanding of
figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word
meanings.
E. Lesson Materials:​ Describe an Image worksheet, Printout of ​Don’t Let’s Go
to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood, ​Personification Worksheet
(Madlibs), Sound Words List, Audio/Sound Worksheet (Or should this be
a graphic organizer), Concert Review (if there’s time)

II. Engage
A. A photograph will be projected onto the whiteboard. Students will be
asked to “describe the scene”. This activity will take about 5-7 minutes.
1. Some students will have a chance to share what they wrote if they
want to.
B. This week students will learn about sensory writing
1. We will briefly discuss students’ experience with sensory writing.
Have they used it before? In what kinds of assignments? How
confident are you in your sensory writing abilities? At this point, we
will likely go over the learning targets we want to hit throughout the
lesson sequence.
2. One major component of sensory writing is to describe something
to someone as if they have never encountered it before. If anyone
said “this is Times Square in New York City” about the projected
image, they’re not wrong but they’re not describing the scene as if
they were talking to someone who had never been to NYC. Consider
how you might describe Times Square to someone who had never
seen it or been there before.
a) We want to write “showing” sentences instead of “telling
sentences” this week.
3. What is sensory writing? What are the 5 senses? When would we
use sensory writing? In what kinds of projects/situations? We can
look at an example of sensory writing and try to identify how it
engages the different senses. Literal language or figurative
language? Both? What kind of figurative language? Metaphor?
Simile?
 4. After a brief discussion to gauge students’
understanding/knowledge of sensory language, we will move into
the activity where we annotate a passage of sensory writing together
from Alexandra Fuller’s ​Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An
African Childhood.​

III. Explore, Enable, Explain

A. I will hand out a hard copy of the passage from Fuller’s novel to students
and read it aloud to them. I will ask students to look for sentences that
stood out to them because they engaged their sense of sound.. What words
gave it away? What words were especially impactful?
B. Sound
1. After discussing this passage as a class, we will transition into
talking about sensory writing that appeals to your sense of sound
(or hearing).
2. Why might it be important for writers to try and engage someone’s
sense of sound? In what kind of writing might it be critical for
writers to engage readers’ sense of sound?
3. We will examine a Youtube video in which sound writing is
exemplified. Students will identify parts that stood out to them. We
will discuss together what sentences or words they noticed appeal to
their sense of sound.
C. I will explain to students that in a lot of sensory writing regarding sound,
writers use personification to engage readers.
1. What is personification? How can we define it in our own words?
2. Was there personification in the sample of writing we just read?
Let’s go through the writing sample together and underline words
that we think suggest personification. Maybe I’ll ask students if they
can identify any on their own before we go through it together.
3. I may provide students with a handout of popular personification
verbs/adjs.
4. There are at least two possible activities students could engage in
next. If they want, they could fill out a worksheet in which they
identify whether sample sentences feature personification or not.
Or they could write a Bio poem about the ocean. Alternatively, I
could assign these two worksheets as homework if we find we’re
running short on time. Lastly, if possible, students could fill out a
MADLIB activity sheet in which they fill in adjectives and verbs that
personify non-human objects or beings. All of these activities
 should give them good practice using and identifying
personification and also differentiate the material nicely.

IV. Enact/Evaluate
A. From there we will transition into another activity, which is to write about
audio clips using personification.
1. I will play the following Youtube audio clips in class and ask them
to write about what they hear. The first time we listen to the clips, I
want students to list out what they hear. For example, students may
create a list for the city audio that looks like this: car horns,
screeching brakes, high heels, footsteps, talking. As we listen to the
audio clip again, they should start creating their sensory description
of the audio. They can refer back to the sample writing for
inspiration about personification words or the worksheet. We may
not have time to do both, so I will choose just one to focus on if
necessary.
a) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDWZkXjDYs
b) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGIXT7ce3vQ
(1) Students will have the chance to share what they
wrote if they wish to do so.
B. If there is enough time, we can transition into another activity. In this
exercise, I want students to write a concert review. They don’t have to have
actually went to the concert, but they should choose one musical artist
they either love or hate and write a concert review for it. While they write,
they should try to address these questions:
1. Did the singer’s voice sound good or bad? Did the band sound good
or bad? Was the guitarist good or bad? How about the drummer?
Were there sound effects? What were they like? Was the audience
loud or quiet?
2. Try to use personification in your review. Was the guitar player bad,
or did it sound like the guitar was wailing uncontrollably? Try to be
descriptive in your writing about the sounds from the concert.
a) Students can share their writing if they wish to do so.
3. If this is an activity students want to work on together, I think that
would be fine. It is also a great way to differentiate the material and
appeal to interpersonal learners. Alternatively, this activity could be
assigned as homework if we run out of time.
V. Extend
A. Depending on how the lesson goes in terms of time and pacing, I may
make SSR their homework. Instead of starting each lesson with time to
SSR and identify sensory language in their books, I may require them to
do it for homework instead. Alternatively, any of the lesson activities we do
not finish in class could be assigned as homework. It will depend on
students’ productivity throughout the lesson.
B. I will still attempt to extend the lesson into their everyday lives by
explaining that we use sensory language to describe sounds we hear
without even realizing it. When we try to describe concert experiences,
musicians, or even just loud sounds we hear randomly, we use sensory
language. I will challenge them to pay attention to the way they speak - do
they notice themselves using sensory language without realizing it? Do
they notice their friends or family members using it without realizing it?

VI. Differentiation
A. Visuals aids such as the Google Slides presentation will be projected for
students to see. Reading material that we analyze as a class will be either
handed out to them or projected on the whiteboard. Reading material will
be read aloud to assist struggling readers and ELLs. Writing activities are
varied to encourage all students (in spite of IEPs/504s and other learning
disabilities) to participate. They are varied in how much writing students
are required to complete, in whether they work alone/with partners/in
groups, and students are given the freedom to choose the subject of their
writing in the concert review activity. Students will also receive handouts
of adjectives and verbs specific to the particular sense we study that day;
additionally, sentence starters will be provided to students as needed.
Lesson Two: Smell and Taste (Simile and Metaphor)

I. Framing the Lesson

A. Lesson Rationale/Purpose Statement:​ The central purpose of this lesson is
to hone students’ sensory writing skills in regards to smell and taste. The
other purpose of this lesson is to have students recall how to create
powerful similes/metaphors in their writing.
B. Conceptual/Skill Focus/Big Idea:​ The concepts and skills students will be
learning about/building upon are figurative and sensory writing. They will
practice using similes/metaphors to create effective descriptive sensory
writing that appeals to readers’ senses of smell and taste. This will be done
through a variety of individual and small-group activities.
C. Lesson Objectives:
1. Students will…
a) Identify examples of sensory writing from their SSR books.
b) Recall the definition of simile/metaphor.
c) Interpret sensory/figurative language in writing examples.
d) Write their own examples of similes/metaphors to create
sensory language that appeals to readers’ sense of smell.
e) Demonstrate their understanding of figurative language on
practice worksheets.
f) Collaborate with peers to create a sensory description of a
car hang tag that uses similes/metaphors to appeal to
readers’ sense of smell.
g) Describe the taste and texture of their favorite food(s).
h) Produce clear sensory writing that is appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.
D. Michigan and Common Core Standards:
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4​ Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices
on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other
texts.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.D​ Use precise words and phrases,
relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the
action and convey experiences and events.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4​ Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
 4. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1​ Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led)
with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building
on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
5. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.5​ Demonstrate understanding of
figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word
meanings.
6. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.5.A​ Interpret figures of speech (e.g.
verbal irony, puns) in context.
E. Lesson Materials:​ Simile Worksheet, Taste/Smell Words List, What’s that
Smell? Worksheet, Food Critic Activity, Possibly a describe your favorite
food worksheet (or else it’ll just be done on lined paper)

II. Engage
A. This day will begin with SSR (10 minutes)
1. Students will need to read their SSR book and try to find 3
examples of sensory writing that engages their sense of taste.
a) It’s ok if they don’t find any, I just want to try and refine their
reading skills to look for details like that.
b) Students will have a chance to share any fun examples they
might have found in their novels.
B. We will then transition toward a discussion about simile/metaphor. I will
ask students to define them in their own words. We will look at some
examples in the Google Slides presentation.
1. Simile is a figurative language device often used in sensory or
descriptive writing. It is more effective to say something like “The
kitchen smells like old, rotten broccoli” than to simply say, “The
kitchen smells bad.”
2. Metaphor is a figurative language device similar to similes in that
they compare one thing to another - however, metaphor does not
use like or as. Usually the comparison in a metaphor is signified by
the word “is”. For example: She is a walking dictionary.
C. Depending on what I find, I may show a Youtube video to engage students
with simile/metaphor or taste/smell.

III. Explore, Enable, Explain

A. Smell
 1. Once students have refreshed their memory of simile/metaphor, we
will look at an example of sensory writing that uses
similes/metaphors to describe smells.
a) Students will see examples of sensory writing that use
similes/metaphors to describe smells. Like yesterday, we can
identify and talk about sentences that stand out to them - or
even keywords. Why did this stand out to you? Why is it
powerful or effective? Was your sense of smell activated?
What made the comparison (or the contrast) so successful?
b) They will be asked to identify where similes/metaphors are
used in this writing. We can have a discussion after that
about whether or not similes/metaphors made the writing
more effective or interesting than if they hadn’t been used.
B. Taste
1. As a class, we will look at brief examples of sensory writing that
engages our sense of taste. These examples will feature
similes/metaphors.
2. Together we will identify words or phrases that were especially
engaging to our sense of taste.
3. We will discuss different ways to engage the sense of taste and try to
come up with some buzzwords or phrases students can use and
refer back to.
a) I will probably write these on the whiteboard as students
come up with them so they can be easily recalled.

IV. Enact/Evaluate
A. Afterward, students will have a writing activity in which they revise boring
sentences to include sensory language via similes to engage readers’ sense
of smell. Students will receive a Smell/Taste Words Handout they can use
for inspiration as needed when coming up with appropriate adjectives and
verbs.
1. They will receive a worksheet that has 5 examples of boring
sentences. They will need to create 5 new sentences (based on the
boring ones) that include simile to entice readers’ sense of smell.
After about 5-7 minutes to work on that I will let them share with
their table groups and talk about what they came up with. I also
might encourage them to talk to each other about whether or not
they were challenged by this exercise, if a particular sentence was
harder than the others, etc.
 2. I will ask students to share some of the sentences they came up with
if they want.
B. Once the writing exercise is done, we will move into the activity: Describe
that smell!
1. Each table will have car perfumed hang tags. The goal isn’t to
identify the scent but to describe it using sensory language. This can
include descriptions of the scent and also figurative comparisons.
Students should use enticing and exciting language to try and
appeal to their listeners sense of smell. Perhaps I can ask students
for synonyms of smell so they can vary their language a bit while
writing. Possible synonyms students may provide are as follows:
aroma, scent, stench, whiff, aura, odor, fragrance, sniff, perfume,
etc. These can be written up on the whiteboard as students come up
with them so they can refer back to them during the activity.
2. Every table group should work together to come up with a
description of the smell. Each group member will need to provide at
least one sentence - it could be more, but each person needs to be
represented by one sentence in their description for the smell. I will
decide later on whether or not each group member needs to write
down their description or if only one person needs to. This would
save paper and encourage students to collaborate.
3. Groups will then share their description with the class and try to
guess each other’s scent.
C. After, students will engage in an activity in which they must pretend
they’re notoriously harsh food critics. They will have to review three
different foods that are projected onto the board. This is an individual
assignment so they should be relatively silent as they work. I don’t want to
stifle creativity so maybe I will allow whisper-level talking as they write,
but it will depend on their level of productivity. They can refer to their
smell/taste handouts for inspiration as needed. Students will be able to
share once this activity is done.
D. If there is time at the end of class, I will have students describe their
favorite foods without naming the food. Their partners will have to guess
what food they’re describing based on the description. Students should
aim to use very descriptive/sensory language in order to help their
partners visualize the food.
V. Extend
A. Depending on how the lesson goes in terms of time and pacing, I may
make SSR their homework. Instead of starting each lesson with time to
SSR and identify sensory language in their books, I may require them to
do it for homework instead. Otherwise, students will not have homework
tonight.
B. I will still attempt to extend the lesson into their everyday lives by
explaining that we use sensory language to describe sounds we hear
without even realizing it. When we describe our experiences eating at a
new restaurant or buying a new perfume, we often use sensory language. I
will challenge them to pay attention to the way they speak - do they notice
themselves using sensory language without realizing it? Do they notice
their friends or family members using it without realizing it?

VI. Differentiation
A. Visuals aids such as the Google Slides presentation will be projected for
students to see. Reading material that we analyze as a class will be either
handed out to them or projected on the whiteboard. Reading material will
be read aloud to assist struggling readers and ELLs. Writing activities are
varied to encourage all students (in spite of IEPs/504s and other learning
disabilities) to participate. They are varied in how much writing students
are required to complete and in whether they work alone/with partners/in
groups. Students will also receive handouts of adjectives and verbs specific
to the particular sense we study that day; additionally, sentence starters
will be provided to students as needed.
Lesson 3: Touch

I. Framing the Lesson

A. Lesson Rationale/Purpose Statement:​ The central purpose of this lesson is
to develop and build upon students’ sensory writing skills. In this lesson
they will be focusing on the sense of touch while writing.
B. Conceptual/Skill Focus/Big Idea:​ The concepts and skills students will
practice today are 1) descriptive sensory writing that engages readers’
sense of touch, and 2) practice using personification and simile/metaphor
to enhance their writing.
C. Lesson Objectives
1. Students will…
a) Identify examples of sensory language in their SSR books.
b) Analyze a text passage that appeals to readers’ sense of
touch.
(1) Explain why specific sentences or phrases were
especially impactful or effective.
c) Create a product review by applying their understanding of
sensory writing and simile/metaphor.
d) Collaborate with their peers to create descriptions of 5 items’
textures that appeal to our sense of touch through
similes/metaphors.
D. Michigan and Common Core Standards
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4​ Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices
on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other
texts.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.D​ Use precise words and phrases,
relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the
action and convey experiences and events.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4​ Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
4. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1​ Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led)
with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building
on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
 5. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.5​ Demonstrate understanding of
figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word
meanings.
6. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.5.A​ Interpret figures of speech (e.g.
verbal irony, puns) in context.
E. Lesson Materials:​ Textures Activity Worksheet, Texture Word List,
Product Review Worksheet

II. Engage
A. This day will begin with SSR
1. Students will need to read their SSR book and try to find 3
examples of sensory writing that engages their sense of smell.
a) It’s ok if they don’t find any, I just want to try and refine their
reading skills to look for details like that.
B. Depending on what I find, I may show a Youtube video to engage students
with simile/metaphor or touch.

III. Explore/Enable/Enact
A. Once students have had a chance to share any examples of smell sensory
writing they found in their SSR book, we will move on and look at an
example of sensory writing that engages readers’ sense of touch.
B. I will read aloud examples of sensory writing that engages the sense of
touch and ask students about what sentences or words stood out to them
in regards to sensory engagement.
1. Why did this stand out to you? What was engaging about it?

IV. Evaluate
A. From there we will transition into a group activity in which each table is
given something textured to write about. This activity will account for the
bulk of the lesson. They will work together to come up with a sensory
description of each item. They will have a Touch Words Handout to refer
to should they need help coming up with ideas for sensory adjectives and
verbs. They don’t need to all write down the same thing, but they can share
ideas and inspire each other. Whether they want to work alone or together,
it will be fine. Perhaps shoulder-buddy partner pairings will work the best.
That will be a call I make the day of depending on student productivity and
behavior.
B. We will rotate items (clockwise) so students can have experience writing
about different textural sensations. I anticipate each object will require
 about 3-5 minutes of writing time for the students. Students should
remember to use similes/metaphor in their descriptions if they can.
1. We will bring it back together to talk about the activity. Firstly,
students will have the chance to share the writing their group came
up with if they want to (just for one object, not all of them - unless
they wanted to share it all).
2. After students have the chance to share, I will ask them if any object
was particularly easier to write about than the others. Were any of
them harder to write about? What kind of struggles (or mental
blocks) did you run into?
C. If we have time, I want us to do a fun, individual sensory writing exercise
where we write a product review. Students will have the choice to either
write about how soft or how scratchy/uncomfortable the product was. I
will provide students with the following sentence starters:
1. “[The product] was as soft as…”
2. “[The product] was scratchy like…”
3. “_____ is the only thing more comfortable than [The product]…”
4. “Using [The product] is like wrapping yourself up in…”
a) I want students to be creative with this activity, but I also
want to provide students with sentence starters in case their
creativity is slow-moving that day
5. Students will have an option to share some of their writing with the
whole class if they wish to do so.

V. Extend
A. Depending on how the lesson goes in terms of time and pacing, I may
make SSR their homework. Instead of starting each lesson with time to
SSR and identify sensory language in their books, I may require them to
do it for homework instead. Otherwise, students will not have homework
tonight.
B. I will still attempt to extend the lesson into their everyday lives by
explaining that we use sensory language to describe sounds we hear
without even realizing it. When we describe our experiences buying new
clothes, furniture, or other products we touch often, we tend to use
sensory language (in addition to figurative language). I will challenge them
to pay attention to the way they speak - do they notice themselves using
sensory language without realizing it? Do they notice their friends or
family members using it without realizing it? Because we also use
 similes/metaphors without noticing, I will challenge them to say at least 5
comparative statements to either a friend or a guardian that night.

VI. Differentiation
A. Visuals aids such as the Google Slides presentation will be projected for
students to see. Reading material that we analyze as a class will be either
handed out to them or projected on the whiteboard. Reading material will
be read aloud to assist struggling readers and ELLs. Writing activities are
varied to encourage all students (in spite of IEPs/504s and other learning
disabilities) to participate. They are varied in how much writing students
are required to complete and in whether they work alone/with partners/in
groups. Students will also receive handouts of adjectives and verbs specific
to the particular sense we study that day; additionally, sentence starters
will be provided to students as needed.
Lesson 4: Sight (Imagery)

I. Framing the Lesson

A. Lesson Rationale/Purpose Statement:​ The central purpose of this lesson is
to build upon and further develop students’ sensory writing skills in
regards to the sense of sight. A secondary purpose of this lesson is to
connect figurative language (like personification and simile/metaphor) to
a discussion about imagery. This lesson will also give students a chance to
attempt sensory writing that tackles all 5 senses instead of just one at a
time.
B. Conceptual/Skill Focus/Big Idea:​ The concepts and skills students will
focus on today are 1) sensory writing that engages readers’ sense of touch,
2) imagery and how figurative language creates it, and 3) writing to engage
all 5 senses instead of just one.
C. Lesson Objectives
1. Students will…
a) Identify examples of sensory language in their SSR books.
b) Determine the meaning of figurative words and phrases as
they are used in text examples.
c) Analyze examples of writing that engage their sense of sight.
(1) Explain why sentences, phrases, or keywords were
especially impactful or effective.
d) Apply engaging sight words to their descriptive writing.
e) Produce clear writing that engages readers’ sense of sight.
D. Michigan and Common Core Standards
1. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4​ Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices
on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other
texts.
2. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.D​ Use precise words and phrases,
relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the
action and convey experiences and events.
3. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4​ Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
4. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1​ Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led)
 with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building
on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
5. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.5​ Demonstrate understanding of
figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word
meanings.
6. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.5.A​ Interpret figures of speech (e.g.
verbal irony, puns) in context.
E. Lesson Materials:​ Imagery Worksheet, Describe that Scene worksheet (A
Walk in the Woods), Postcard Activity, Describe an Image worksheet
(same as in Lesson 1)

II. Engage
A. This day will begin with SSR
1. Students will need to read their SSR book and try to find 3
examples of sensory writing that engages their sense of sound.
a) It’s ok if they don’t find any, I just want to try and refine their
reading skills to look for details like that.
b) Students may share examples they find if they wish to do so.
B. After SSR, we will transition into talking about our last sense: sight.
1. I will ask students the following questions: Why is it important for
writers to engage readers’ sense of sight? What happens if we can’t
visualize what we’re reading?
C. Depending on what I find, I may show a Youtube video to engage students
with imagery or sight.

III. Explore/Enable/Explain
A. Together we will analyze examples of writing that use descriptive language
to describe something visually.
1. What stood out to you as especially engaging? What sentence(s)
could you visualize the best? Was this effective in appealing to your
sense of sight? Could you imagine what this scene looked like?
B. I will then explain to students that a lot of sensory writing appeals to our
sense of sight through the use of imagery.
1. What is imagery? How can we define it in our own words?
2. Imagery is creating mental pictures through figurative language.
3. What figurative language have we looked at this week?
(simile/metaphor and personification)
4. What sentences(s) from the sample created the clearest mental
image for you?
 5. Let’s use simile/metaphor and personification to create imagery
that appeals to our sense of sight today.

IV. Enact/Evaluate
A. After our discussions about imagery and sensory writing that appeals to
our sight, we will transition into our first activity of the day. I will need to
provide students with lined paper for this.
1. I will read aloud a sample of writing that is totally void of sensory
imagery and ask students to describe it. For example: “You’re
walking in the woods. As you walk through the woods, you see an
animal. You come up to the animal.” PAUSE. Ask students to
describe the scene. Prompt them with questions like: what does the
woods look like? Are the trees tall or short? Do they have leaves? Is
it day or night? What animal did you walk up to? What happened as
you came up to the animal? Resume reading. “You walk deeper into
the woods and come to a clearing. There’s a house in the middle of
the clearing.” PAUSE. Ask students to describe the house. What
does it look like? Is it big or small? Is it new or rundown? Is it
fenced in or not? Resume reading. “You walk up to the front door.
It’s open a little bit. You enter and see a table” PAUSE. Describe
what’s on the table. Is it food? Old mail? Garbage? Resume reading.
“You finish looking around the house and you leave out the back
door. In the backyard, there is a garden. In the garden, you find a
cup.” PAUSE. What does the cup look like? Is it new? Old? Is it
broken? What color is it? Is it decorated? Resume reading.
“You keep walking through the woods until you come to a body of
water.” PAUSE. What kind of body of water? River, stream, lake,
ocean? Describe it.
2. This activity is meant to encourage students to practice their
description skills for mental images. They will create imagery while
describing the scene by using simile/metaphor and personification
when they can.
3. From here we will check in together. Does anyone want to share
what the wrote? Or a part of what they wrote? What was
challenging about this exercise? Do similes/metaphors and
personification come naturally to you or do you have to think really
hard about them? Do you think you did a good job creating imagery
of the scene in your head?
 B. After our check-in, we will transition into our next activity, which is to
write a postcard to someone else! Each student will get a postcard that has
a scene on the front. It is their job to describe the scene using imagery
(simile/metaphor and personification if they can/want to). They will want
to try and appeal to all of the recipient’s senses. You want them to be able
to picture the scene, including the sights, smells, textures, and sounds on
the postcard without having to look at it.
1. Once students have written their postcards, they will give them to
me. I will randomly shuffle them around and hand them to students
face down. They will read the description of the image written by
their classmate and try to picture the scene they describe. I will ask
students to raise their hand if the mental image they pictured
looked like the image on the postcard.
a) We can discuss whether or not this activity was challenging
for students. If so, what challenged them? Was it hard to use
simile/metaphor and personification?
C. After this activity, I will explain to students that even though we focused
on isolating each sense this week, really successful sensory writing engages
more than just one sense. I wanted us to hone our skills writing about each
sense before attempting to write about them all.
D. Finally, we will look at the same image of Times Square from day 1. I will
ask students to do the same thing: describe what’s happening in this
picture. However, this time I want them to tap into their sensory writing
skills. What are the smells in this picture? What about the textures? The
sounds? Students will have about 5-7 minutes for this activity.

V. Extend
A. Depending on how the lesson goes in terms of time and pacing, I may
make SSR their homework. Instead of starting each lesson with time to
SSR and identify sensory language in their books, I may require them to
do it for homework instead. Otherwise, students will not have homework
tonight.
B. I will still attempt to extend the lesson into their everyday lives by
explaining that we use sensory language to describe sounds we hear
without even realizing it. When we go on vacation and try to describe the
incredible sights we see, we tend to use sensory language (in addition to
figurative language). When we describe the way something looked to
someone else, we use sensory language. I will challenge them to pay
attention to the way they speak - do they notice themselves using sensory
 language without realizing it? Do they notice their friends or family
members using it without realizing it?

VI. Differentiation
A. Visuals aids such as the Google Slides presentation will be projected for
students to see. Reading material that we analyze as a class will be either
handed out to them or projected on the whiteboard. Reading material will
be read aloud to assist struggling readers and ELLs. Writing activities are
varied to encourage all students (in spite of IEPs/504s and other learning
disabilities) to participate. They are varied in how much writing students
are required to complete and in whether they work alone/with partners/in
groups. Students will also receive handouts of adjectives and verbs specific
to the particular sense we study that day; additionally, sentence starters
will be provided to students as needed.