NOTE: To change the image on this slide, select the picture and delete it. Then click the Pictures icon in the placeholder to insert your own image. SILENT READING Take out your book and read silently!

RAM DAILY NEWS

BAD NEWS….. AND GOOD NEWS….

WRITING VIVID DESCRIPTIONS

The Importance of Writing Vividly!  When using vivid words or phrases in our writing it helps to create a picture or appeals to the reader’s sense of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.  Vivid writing may also paint pictures of the feelings the person, place or thing invokes in the writer.  It helps create a connection between the reader and the written material.

Examples of Vivid Descriptions Color: Don't just say "green", be specific about what shade of green. This helps the reader picture it exactly as you see it in your head. Simple Description The green leaves on the tree. Vivid Description The leaves of the tree in spring were glittering emeralds, shimmering in the light; in places, the green was as dark as a shadow at midnight, while in others, it sparkled like LED beacons.

Examples of Vivid Descriptions Size: As with color, be specific and give easy-to-relate-to comparisons that allow the reader to get a strong mental image of what you're describing. Simple Descriptions The horse was big. Vivid Description My father, a tall man, was dwarfed by the horse; his head barely reached the beast's shoulders. It had to be nearly ten feet tall from the ground to the tip of its ears.

Examples of Vivid Descriptions Mood/emotion: The word "happy" is rather weak, descriptively; it doesn't really provide much in the way of intensity. A person who finds a penny might be happy, as might a person who wins ten million dollars in the lottery, but they're probably not feeling the same level or degree of that emotion. Many emotive words are similar. Again, the use of comparison can help quantify for the reader the type and intensity of emotion. Simple Description Marco was very sad. Vivid Description Marco felt himself being pulled down in a whirlpool of depression; he could feel it sucking him deeper and deeper into darkness, choking off whatever breaths of happiness he tried to draw to help sustain him. The deeper he went, the harder it pulled at him, until all he could feel was the crushing, numbing pain.

Examples of Vivid Descriptions Sound: Nowhere is comparison and analogy more important than when discussing sound. There are few words that can accurately capture volume, and people have a very wide range of tolerances for sound that one person's "loud" is another person's "inaudible". Simple Description The music was loud. Vivid Description The music coming out of the speakers caused Jim's insides to shake and rumble. Items on his shelves were bouncing in time to the beat, getting ready to jump to the floor, which itself was vibrating.

Vivid Descriptions Activity  You are about to watch a video that was shot in Spain.  Please begin writing as you start watching and listening to the video. NO TALKING!  Pay attention to the sights and sounds of the video.

Vivid Descriptions Activity Imagine… it’s a warm and quiet afternoon, and you are on vacation in a small, quaint town. As you stroll down a street, you notice something unusual. Write a text message to a friend, explaining what’s going on. Use vivid sensory language to DESCRIBE what you see, hear, and feel. Som Sabadell