1. Detail and Sensory Writing
Writer’s Notebook

2. Inspirational Quote
“I get my ideas from living my life wide-eyed and awake. I sit on the edge of chairs. I pay attention to wherever I am.” -Drew Lamm

3. Example #1 – Winter Busstop
We are waiting for the bus in the cold winter morning. It is freezing. We are bundled up and shivering. Finally, the bus arrives, and we are relieved to get out of the cold.

4. Example #2 – Winter Busstop
The naked winter trees line the avenue. Our breath rises in visible puffs to join the darkened clouded night sky. There is a freezing chill in the air that brings crispness to the leaves, jewelled with frost, that crunch underfoot. Rosy cheeked, we stamp to keep warm, pulling woollen hats over our reddened ears and tightening scarves over our blue-tinged lips. Teeth chatter and the cold seeps into our gloves numbing our fingers until they cease to bend properly, stiffened and frigid. Suddenly the illuminated sign on the bus appears, trundling slowly down the icy black road and we raise our arms to hail it.

5. Sensory Detail and Imagery
Writer’s pay attention to the world around them. They include sensory details. Using the five senses (taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound) takes the reader to the place and shows the reader the situation.
****Be sure to copy the five senses into your writer’s notebook so that you can refer to them later.

6. Good Imagery
Good IMAGERY uses the five of the senses to create an overall impression of what it describes. It should transport the reader to the scene. It does NOT tell what it looks like, tastes like, feels like, smells like, or sounds like, but rather describes each of those senses.

7. Tone
Tone is the overall feeling or attitude of the author. Tone is developed through sensory description, dialogue, word choice, and included or excluded details.

8. Detail Practice
Use your vivid verb list and descriptive adjective list to make the sentences you were provided with more detailed and interesting.

9. Tone Practice
Look around the room. Write a descriptive passage capturing the classroom. You must use at least two different senses. Students on the hallway side of the room must use a POSITIVE tone. Students on the window side of the room must set a NEGATIVE tone.

10. Homework:
Your job this weekend is to go on an observation walk. Talk a walk around your yard, neighborhood, event, and sit down for a few minutes and try to capture the setting using description and sensory imagery. Try to use at least four senses. Use vivid language to paint a picture in the mind of the reader and set a tone for the observation. This can be a poem or a paragraph.

11. Taboo Instructions
Write a Taboo description of your prompt. We will use these to play Taboo on Monday. You must use at least three of your five senses to describe the word you selected and you may not mention the name of the item, any part or form of the name, and any of the other terms included on the slip you chose.

12. Guess my taboo description!
The sickly sweet blood of watermelon dribbles off my chin. A tiny pool forms in my flip-flop, watermelon pool for five little piggies to splash in. The salty, greasy smell of hot dogs wafts toward me as they pop and crack in the fire. A sudden “BOOM!” and I shiver, the heat so close, I swear I can feel it kissing my skin. The sky is a rainbow of lights.