Using ambitious language and colour imagery to improve your descriptive writing
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can rewrite a description of an image using ambitious language devices and colour imagery.
Key learning points
- Free writing is designed to help you unleash your creativity.
- Rewriting is the process of rewriting sentences, adding, dropping or reframing ideas and choosing more precise words.
- You want to be precise and ambitious in your use of language devices in order to evoke specific emotions in the reader.
- The way you use colour imagery can also affect the mood of a piece of writing.
Keywords
Rewrite - the process of rewriting sentences, adding, dropping or reframing ideas and choosing more precise words
Ambitious - it needs a lot of skill and effort to be successful
Evoke - to bring or recall (a feeling, memory, or image) to the conscious mind
Cliche - a phrase, remark or opinion that has very often been said or expressed before
Enhance - to improve the quality, amount or strength of something
Common misconception
That using similes is in itself effective descriptive writing.
You should aim to have a simile that creates a specific emotion and avoids clichés.
Teacher tip
You could ask the pupils to peer assess their use of similes and colour imagery to help them see how they could enhance them.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The emotional response that a writer wants to create in a reader is known as the...
Q2.Free writing is when you...
Q3.What does the word evoke mean?
Q4.Starting with the first, put the following synonyms for 'good' in order of how ambitous they are.
Q5.What is a simile?
Q6.What is a metaphor?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Descriptive writing is designed to...
Q2.Which two adjectives make you think of something beautiful?
Q3.How does the use of language devices help create an effective piece of descriptive writing?
Q4.Match the key terms to their definitions.
a process of rewriting sentences, adding, dropping or reframing ideas
it needs a lot of skill and effort to be successful
to recall a feeling, memory, or image
a phrase or remark that has been expressed often
to improve the quality, amount or strength of something
Q5.Which of the following is true for creating language devices?
Q6.Complete the sentence: __________ can influence the mood of your writing. E.g 'arctic' and 'sapphire' have different connotations.
To help you plan your 7 English lesson on: Using ambitious language and colour imagery to improve your descriptive writing, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 English lesson on: Using ambitious language and colour imagery to improve your descriptive writing, 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 3 English lessons from the Step into the unknown: fiction reading and creative writing unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.