Descriptive Writing: Fast Food Edition Ms. Ward’s Fourth Grade Class

Purpose & Mission PURPOSE: To thoroughly describe a topic MISSION: To “paint a word picture” for the reader KEY WORD: “describe”

Organizer Rectangle: Topic (what the whole paper is about; something that can be divided into 3 parts!) Triangle: Supporting Detail: Object (a PART of the topic that I can hold or touch AND divide into 3 parts!) Circle: Elaborating Detail: Object (a PART of the triangle that I can hold or touch!)

Sentences Your sentence can be a TELLING sentence, so it can use a WEAK verb. Your sentences must be SHOWING sentences, so they must use ACTION verbs!

Paragraphs Remember…a paragraph = A paragraph can only be about ONE thing! Which is a proper paragraph? food taco taco shell burrito meat nachos cheese

Topics vs. Prompts It is important to understand the difference between a topic and a prompt! Sometimes the prompt IS your topic, but sometimes it is NOT! Remember that a paper can only be about ONE topic!

Topics vs. Prompts Prompt: Describe a Chick-Fil-A restaurant. Prompt = Chick-Fil-A Topic = Chick-Fil-A Prompt: Describe your favorite restaurant. Prompt = favorite restaurant Topic = Chick-Fil-A NOTE: A clue word like “favorite” will indicate that the prompt and topic are different!

Topics vs. Prompts Determine which prompts have different topics: 1. Describe a Dairy Queen banana split. 2. Describe your favorite Dairy Queen food item. 3. Describe any Dairy Queen food item. 4. Describe a Dairy Queen restaurant. 5. Describe a Dairy Queen uniform.

Triangles There are 2 tests that all triangles must pass: 1. Can it be divided into 3 parts? 2. Can you hold it or touch it? If your triangle choice can’t pass BOTH tests, you can’t use it as a triangle!

Triangles Which detail(s) would pass BOTH triangle tests?

Circles There is only 1 test that all circles must pass: 1. Can you hold it or touch it? If your circle choice can’t pass that test, you can’t use it as a circle!

One Final Thought Don’t be a …just follow these tips to do descriptive right!