Using descriptive language to describe yourself
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can write descriptive sentences to describe my appearance and personality.
Key learning points
- a character description of yourself can be made about your personality and your appearance
- describing your personality is about what you are like on the inside and how you feel, such as "curious", "resilient"
- describing your appearance is about what you look like such as "curly, brown hair"
- descriptions can create expanded noun phrases or be listed as nouns separated by a comma, like ‘socks, jumper and hat’
- using verbs and adverbs can help to explain the adjectives you have chosen to describe yourself
Keywords
Character - a person or animal in a story
Description - using words to help someone imagine what something is like
Adjective - a word that describes a noun
Adverb - a word that describes a verb
Joining word - a word that joins words or ideas
Common misconception
Pupils may struggle to know when to separate nouns with a comma and when to use 'and'.
Get a list of nouns and discuss where the commas and 'and' will go. Move the nouns into a scaffold to ensure it is structured correctly. Spend more time on this as it is newer learning. If needed, remove expectation to include adjectives in the list.
Teacher tip
Ask pupils to talk in partners and describe each other's appearances and personalities. Create a class word bank to share adjectives that were chosen. This is a great opportunity to celebrate similarities and differences in the class, as well as what makes us unique.
Equipment
You will need a copy of the 2016 Abrams Books for Young Readers edition of 'Ada Twist, Scientist' by Andrea Beaty.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Complete the sentence: Your appearance is...
Q2.Match the word to its word class in this sentence: Ada climbs bravely in the messy room.
Q3.Which of these expanded noun phrases describe Ada's appearance?
Q4.Which of these expanded noun phrases describe Ada's personality?
Q5.Which of these words are adverbs?
Q6.Which of these lists of nouns has the punctuation in the correct place?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these might you describe in a character description?
Q2.Match the word class to the example word.
Q3.Which of these adjectives can describe your personality?
Q4.Which of these adjectives can describe your appearance?
Q5.Which of these nouns are listed correctly using the correct punctuation?
Q6.Which of these is a being verb?
To help you plan your 1 English lesson on: Using descriptive language to describe yourself, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 1 English lesson on: Using descriptive language to describe yourself, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 English lessons from the 'Ada Twist Scientist': reading and writing unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.