Creative Writing for Kids & Teens: Sensory Detail Deep-Dive – Show Don't Tell Tips that Hook Readers Learn how to write sentences that crackle and linger or sparkle and snap in this Descriptive Writing BootCamp video. We'll dive into how to craft sensory details with action verbs that show instead of tell, drawing readers into the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and temperatures of your fictional world. Whether you’re writing action-packed adventure, blood-spattered horror, or a subtle and nuanced portrait of frenemies, getting a feel for strong verbs and developing an understanding of the power of precision will make your slasher script more gory, your thriller more gripping and your fantasy more magical. We'll walk through examples and revision tips to help make your fiction, memoir, script, TV series, poem, song lyric, or video game narrative pop. CHECK OUT COMICS & VIDEOS BY KIDS in writing workshops featuring this video (and the teaching resources below) as part of the curriculum: https://room2ruminations.home.blog/ COMPANION TEACHING RESOURCES If you’re an educator looking to teach descriptive writing skills, our companion resources below offer ready-to-use teaching tools like show-don’t-tell/descriptive writing graphic organizers to scaffold revision and mentor sentence studies that highlight elements of craft like point of view, figurative language, sensory detail, character, and conflict. Geared toward young writers who want to sharpen their writing chops, as well as reluctant writers who need a little extra engagement, these EDITABLE, DIFFERENTIATED & GAMIFIED revising & editing practice tools can help deepen your students' grasp of foundational skills for strong writing. Save time with these ready-to-use materials designed to support Grade 4+ writers (and their teachers!) in classroom or homeschool settings: FINDING FILTERS: Descriptive Writing Revising/Editing Practice Show-don't-tell Anchor Chart & Quizizz Game https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-RevisingEditing-Practice-Show-dont-tell-Anchor-Chart-Game-7935927 Verb Word Bank & Descriptive Writing/Show-Don't-Tell/Part of Speech Anchor Chart https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Verb-Word-Bank-Descriptive-WritingShow-Dont-TellPart-of-Speech-Anchor-Chart-5181261 PART CHARTS: Revision Workshop Scaffold | Show-Don’t-Tell (Explode the Moment) Descriptive Writing Graphic Organizers & Sensory Detail Worksheets https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-Graphic-Organizers-Explode-the-Moment-Show-Dont-Tell-8123139 SENSORY DETAIL DEEP-DIVE: Writing Sound | Descriptive Writing Anchor Chart & Game https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-Anchor-ChartGame-Sensory-Details-Writing-Sound-8158181

Learn how to turn telling sentences into scenes that show with graphic organizers we call Part Charts in this Descriptive Writing BootCamp video. We'll look at drafts and revisions by other young authors and analyze how they used Part Charts to organize their thinking and help them visualize individual elements of their scene, zooming in on each of its "parts," then revising with verb-powered sensory detail descriptions that draw readers into the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and temperatures of their fictional worlds. Whether you’re writing action-packed adventure, blood-spattered horror, or a subtle and nuanced portrait of a relationship between frenemies, getting a feel for strong verbs and developing an understanding of the power of precision will help bring your scenes to life. We'll walk through examples and revision tips to help make your fiction, memoir, script, TV series, poem, song lyric, or video game narrative pop. If you’re an educator looking to teach descriptive writing skills, our companion resources below offer ready-to-use teaching tools like show-don’t-tell/descriptive writing graphic organizers to scaffold revision and mentor sentence studies that highlight elements of craft like point of view, figurative language, sensory detail, character, and conflict. Geared toward young writers who want to sharpen their writing chops, as well as reluctant writers who need a little extra engagement, these EDITABLE, DIFFERENTIATED & GAMIFIED revising & editing practice tools can help deepen your students' grasp of foundational skills for strong writing. Save time with these ready-to-use materials designed to support writers (and their teachers!) in classroom or homeschool settings for Grades 4 and up: PART CHARTS: Revision Workshop Slideshow & Scaffold | Show-Don’t-Tell (Explode the Moment) Descriptive Writing Graphic Organizers/Sensory Detail Worksheets https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-Graphic-Organizers-Explode-the-Moment-Show-Dont-Tell-8123139 This resource is featured in this video. Make your own Part Chart with the Google Doc table feature or buy them premade for students to copy & paste into drafts in progress. They come with guiding prompts and links to the verb word bank resource below. Verb Word Bank & Descriptive Writing/Show-Don't-Tell/Part of Speech Anchor Chart https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Verb-Word-Bank-Descriptive-WritingShow-Dont-TellPart-of-Speech-Anchor-Chart-5181261 FINDING FILTERS: Descriptive Writing Revising/Editing Practice Show-don't-tell Anchor Chart & Quizizz Game https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-RevisingEditing-Practice-Show-dont-tell-Anchor-Chart-Game-7935927 SENSORY DETAIL DEEP-DIVE: Writing Sound | Descriptive Writing Anchor Chart & Game https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-Anchor-ChartGame-Sensory-Details-Writing-Sound-8158181

Learn how to write magical or scientific powers that drive engaging stories in this creative writing explainer video for kids & teens. Whether you’re writing action-packed adventure, blood-spattered horror, or a subtle and nuanced portrait of frenemies, developing an understanding of the "power of powers" will make your slasher script more gory, your thriller more gripping, and your fantasy more magical. We'll walk through writing tips to help make your fiction, memoir, script, TV series, poem, song lyric, or video game narrative pop. CHECK OUT COMICS & VIDEOS BY KIDS in writing workshops featuring this video (and the teaching resources below) as part of the curriculum: https://room2ruminations.home.blog/ COMPANION TEACHING RESOURCES https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Genre-Fiction-Writing-Hyperdoc-Science-Fiction-Fantasy-Horror-Dystopia-9667784 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Creative-Writing-Mini-unit-BUNDLE-The-Invention-of-Hugo-Cabret-as-Mentor-Text-8301863?st=92bda4c4d6f0114c095645efdbd9eef6

In this writing strategy explainer video for storytellers aged 9 and up, we look at ways to use color descriptions to reveal character. To create the most vivid descriptions, to truly show––not tell–– writers are careful about how they use adjectives. When color is key to a description, sometimes adjectives like red, blue, or green are not precise enough to give us a sense of what the noun described is really like. “Red” doesn’t show as much as “the color of blood,” for example. In this video, we’ll look at ways to describe color with nouns that show rather than tell, including examples from Sarah Weeks' novel So B. It. CHECK OUT COMICS & VIDEOS BY KIDS in writing workshops featuring this video (and the teaching resource below) as part of the curriculum: https://room2ruminations.home.blog/ COMPANION TEACHING RESOURCE Educators: Looking for teaching resources designed for use with this video? Check out Writing Color: Descriptive Writing Graphic Organizers and practice with Mentor Sentences from The Thief Lord. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-Graphic-Organizers-Mentor-Sentences-The-Thief-Lord-12329470 Teach sentence-level mastery of descriptive writing fundamentals with this editable and differentiated writing or revision workshop resource, featuring mentor sentences from Cornelia Funke’s The Thief Lord. This sensory detail deep-dive is designed to build descriptive writing skills, specifically around writing color. This Mentor Author study for grades 4-8 includes: • A link to this 5-minute intro explainer video linked in a Google slide to prevent YouTube distractions, embedded with discussion questions to consider as you watch. •Mentor author excerpts and student writing samples that model approaches to applying the mentor author techniques under consideration. •Discussion questions to guide an exploration of evocative ways to describe color, also available as a class game on Quizizz. •Graphic organizers and sentence frames to scaffold student experimentation with mentor author strategies. • COLOR NOUN, ABSTRACT NOUN and Motion Verb Word Banks to help power precision in sensory descriptions. • Digital, printable & flexible formatting: this is an editable Google doc you can easily alter to fit your needs and/or copy and paste into your learning platform of choice. Delete or modify to customize and differentiate. If you download as a PDF to print, each white box will appear in landscape orientation on a separate page. Ways to Use This Resource As a multi-session series of whole-class revision lessons Share this document with students and/or project on screen. Ask students to write in the gray boxes on the doc or wherever they normally do their writing workshop work. Lesson 1: Watch and discuss the 5-minute Skill in the Spotlight intro video. Lesson 2: Read and discuss the mentor text excerpts. Lesson 3: Play the Quizizz version of the discussion questions. Lesson 4: Experiment with the writing activities. Lesson 5: Reflect on ways to integrate the sentences into works in progress As a revision workshop hyperdoc Students already familiar with the concepts covered here can work through this lesson independently, using it as a guide to revising a piece in progress, recording their responses to discussion and reflection questions in each section’s corresponding gray boxes.

A sensory detail deep-dive for young authors and teachers designed to build descriptive writing skills, specifically around imagery that evokes sense of taste and smell. Learn how to write sentences that rot and stink or tempt and zing in this Descriptive Writing BootCamp video. We'll dive into how to craft sensory details with action verbs that show instead of tell, with a focus on describing the tastes and smells of your fictional world. Whether you’re writing action-packed adventure, blood-spattered horror, or a subtle and nuanced portrait of frenemies, getting a feel for strong verbs and developing an understanding of the power of precision will make your slasher script more gory, your thriller more gripping and your fantasy more magical. We'll walk through examples and revision tips to help make your fiction, memoir, script, TV series, poem, song lyric, or video game narrative pop. If you’re an educator looking to teach descriptive writing skills, our companion resources below offer ready-to-use teaching tools like show-don’t-tell/descriptive writing graphic organizers to scaffold revision and mentor sentence studies that highlight elements of craft like point of view, figurative language, sensory detail, character, and conflict. Geared toward young writers who want to sharpen their writing chops, as well as reluctant writers who need a little extra engagement, these EDITABLE, DIFFERENTIATED & GAMIFIED revising & editing practice tools can help deepen your students' grasp of foundational skills for strong writing. Save time with these ready-to-use materials designed to support Grade 4+ writers (and their teachers!) in classroom or homeschool settings: FINDING FILTERS: Descriptive Writing Revising/Editing Practice Show-don't-tell Anchor Chart & Quizizz Game https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-RevisingEditing-Practice-Show-dont-tell-Anchor-Chart-Game-7935927 Verb Word Bank & Descriptive Writing/Show-Don't-Tell/Part of Speech Anchor Chart https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Verb-Word-Bank-Descriptive-WritingShow-Dont-TellPart-of-Speech-Anchor-Chart-5181261 PART CHARTS: Revision Workshop Scaffold | Show-Don’t-Tell (Explode the Moment) Descriptive Writing Graphic Organizers & Sensory Detail Worksheets https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-Graphic-Organizers-Explode-the-Moment-Show-Dont-Tell-8123139 Imagery Writing Mentor Author Study featuring passages from work by Gloria Whelan, Thanhha Lai https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Descriptive-Writing-Graphic-Organizers-SmellTaste-Gloria-Whelan-Thanhha-Lai-8753907 Preview the entire resource here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o8hjPr7bHY About the Resource Teach sentence-level mastery of writing fundamentals with this editable writing or revision workshop resource, featuring passages from Gloria Whelan's Goodbye, Vietnam and Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out & Back Again. This sensory detail deep-dive is designed to build descriptive writing skills, specifically around imagery evoking sense of taste and smell. This Mentor Author study for grades 4-8 includes: • A 5-minute intro explainer video linked in a Google slide to prevent YouTube distractions, embedded with discussion questions to consider as you watch. • Link to a Quizizz game that builds skills introduced in the video. • Mentor author excerpts. • Discussion questions to guide an exploration of effective ways to describe taste and smell, also available as a class game on Quizizz. • Graphic organizers and sentence frames and starters to scaffold student experimentation with mentor author strategies. • Concrete Adjective Word Bank and Motion Verb Word Bank to help power precision in sensory descriptions. • Links to student writing samples that model approaches to applying the mentor author techniques under consideration. • Digital, printable & flexible formatting: this is an editable Google doc you can easily alter to fit your needs and/or copy and paste into your learning platform of choice. Delete or modify to customize and differentiate. If you download as a PDF to print, each white box will appear in landscape orientation on a separate page.

Metaphor writing is tricky. If you want your words to pack a punch, you gotta find that Goldilocks sweet spot: a comparison of two things that are not too similar but not too different. In this video we zoom in on ways to avoid writing "too close" comparisons. Wondering what a metaphor is? Watch this video first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CBAcHep5OU&list=PLwUzv2y33rWz_qMplrYZhtpo61kyc5vHw&index=8 Companion Teaching Resource If you're an educator looking for teaching resources to use with this video, maximize your metaphor mojo with this ready-to-use kit: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/P... Components include: • A colorful anchor chart with 3 "Don'ts” to avoid for writing metaphors that work. •Links to video explainer versions of each "Don't" embedded in the digital version of the chart •An editable Google table version of the chart. •Links to 4 Quizizz games that reinforce concepts introduced in the chart. •A link to download the anchor chart formatted for poster-sized printing.

Metaphor writing is tricky. If you want your words to pack a punch, you gotta find that Goldilocks sweet spot: a comparison of two things that are not too similar but not too different. In this video, we zoom in on ways to avoid writing "too different" comparisons. Wondering what a metaphor is? Watch this video first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CBAcHep5OU&list=PLwUzv2y33rWz_qMplrYZhtpo61kyc5vHw&index=8 Companion Teaching Resource If you're an educator looking for teaching resources to use with this video, maximize your metaphor mojo with this ready-to-use kit: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/P... Components include: • A colorful anchor chart with 3 "Don'ts” to avoid for writing metaphors that work. •Links to video explainer versions of each "Don't" embedded in the digital version of the chart •An editable Google table version of the chart. •Links to 4 Quizizz games that reinforce concepts introduced in the chart. •A link to download the anchor chart formatted for poster-sized printing.

Metaphor writing is tricky. Metaphors people say all the time are called clichés. When you use them in writing, they come across to readers as "telling" instead of "showing." This video explains why and what to reach for instead. Wondering what a metaphor is? Watch this video first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CBAcHep5OU&list=PLwUzv2y33rWz_qMplrYZhtpo61kyc5vHw&index=8 Companion Teaching Resource If you're an educator looking for teaching resources to use with this video, maximize your metaphor mojo with this ready-to-use kit: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/P... Components include: • A colorful anchor chart with 3 "Don'ts” to avoid for writing metaphors that work. •Links to video explainer versions of each "Don't" embedded in the digital version of the chart •An editable Google table version of the chart. •Links to 4 Quizizz games that reinforce concepts introduced in the chart. •A link to download the anchor chart formatted for poster-sized printing.

In this video for storytellers aged 9 and up, we explain what a metaphor is and how metaphors differ from similes then we walk through a couple examples. If you're an educator looking for teaching resources to use with this video, maximize your metaphor mojo with this ready-to-use kit: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Metaphor-Writing-Anchor-Chart-Videos-Quizizz-Games-8196618 Components include: • A colorful anchor chart with 3 "Don'ts” to avoid for writing metaphors that work. •Links to video explainer versions of each "Don't" embedded in the digital version of the chart •An editable Google table version of the chart. •Links to 4 Quizizz games that reinforce concepts introduced in the chart. •A link to download the anchor chart formatted for poster-sized printing.