Descriptive Writing: Engaging Readers with Vivid Language, Study notes of Online Journalism

Download Descriptive Writing: Engaging Readers with Vivid Language and more Study notes Online Journalism in PDF only on Docsity! LINKS NEWS LITERACY LESSON PLAN 4 Descriptive Writing This lesson was developed by Sue Laue, program manager, Columbia Links, Columbia College Chicago, and Billy Montgomery, journalism professor, Roosevelt University and Columbia College Chicago. Journalism – English Language Arts Overview & Purpose Vivid, colorful and detailed description makes a news or feature article more interesting. Using words to paint a picture helps to engage the reader in a very powerful way, by eliciting emotion. In print articles, using descriptive language makes stories more three-dimensional. Readers are able to put themselves in the place or perspective of the story, and more readily identify with the content and the source of the incident. For new writers and reporters, a key to writing good descriptive copy is not to rely on memory, but rather to think about the five senses when in the field reporting. Reporters should take notes about their perceptions and impressions, how they are moved and how their senses relate to what they are seeing and experiencing. In his way, vivid description helps writers to portray their stories with confidence that they are truly sharing a unique experience with readers, and not just relating a set of dry facts. State Common Core Curriculum Standards www.isbe.net or www.corestandards.org This lesson applies the State Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Social and Emotional Learning, Grades 9-12. Teachers are aligning their teaching and curriculum with these new federal and state learning performance standards to produce a common achievement outcome for all students. Scroll down to bottom of lesson plan for individual standards and their relevance to this lesson. Materials/Sources for Teaching the Lesson Descriptive Writing with Virginia Hamilton, Steps 1-4 www.teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/diary/descriptive_journal.htm.. This learning activity helps students increase their skills in descriptive writing by following helpful tips and suggestions (see below). Louise Kiernan, award-winning Chicago Tribune reporter and 2001 Pulitzer Prize winner, excerpts from her story on flaws in the nation’s air travel industry. Learning Links for the Classroom In this section of the lesson plan are classroom teaching options, discussion and question/answer prompts and journaling and writing assignments for assessment and evaluation of student learning and knowledge. Definition of Descriptive Writing Descriptive writing engages the reader by employing vivid, colorful language to paint a picture of an event, a place, a person, a thing or an experience. The writer uses all his or her senses to convey the experience, and allow the reader to sense and experience something even though not present. Teach 1 Writing Review Louise Kiernan, award-winning Chicago Tribune reporter, wrote the 2001 Pulitzer Prize winning piece on the flaws in the nation’s air travel industry. She began the article like this: “The air smells like stale hamburgers and unbrushed teeth. It smells like cold coffee, like sour beer. It smells like exhaustion. The air smells as if it has been inhaled and exhaled by too many people for far too long and they are breathing it still, snoring and snuffling, sighing and murmuring as they sprawl about O'Hare International Airport like refugees from some invisible war.” Activity The following activity can be assigned to your students to sharpen their senses and observation skills for descriptive writing. Kiernan was a guest at the Columbia Links Reporting Academy high school class session. She emphasized that good writing starts with good reporting. She assigned each student a sense, i.e. touch, taste, smell, sight and sound. She then sent them to a local restaurant and told them to spend five minutes honing in on that sense and writing adjectives that described the experience. The students headed off to the local Panera Bread Restaurant. The student assigned to taste, for example, didn’t buy a Danish. Instead, she described the look on people’s faces as they ate, ie., Sweet. Satisfied. Ask your students to select a sense and spend five minutes during their next lunch session in the school cafeteria observing and feeling the experience through their sense. Ask them to observe the smallest details and tap into their emotions to describe the experience. In the next class session, have students explain their descriptions. Teach 2 Activity Descriptive Writing With Virginia Hamilton, Step 3 – Write Your Own Description (see web link above) Excerpt: As you write your own journal entry, you will practice sharpening your powers of observation. Good writers try to clearly see and describe the world around them. They also try to understand themselves through their writing. Focusing on details is the key to descriptive journal writing. Here are some challenging questions that can help as students begin to write a journal. Give them a try! Who are you? Observe and describe your world. Describing the characters around you Revise your writing 1. Who are you? Make a list of all the qualities that describe who you are. For example: Are you a student? A musician? An athlete? Are you friendly? Outgoing? Serious? Happy? Come up with a list of five to ten qualities. Understanding who you are will make it easier for you to describe yourself in your journal entry. 2. Observe and describe your world. Think and write about an event — for example, a birthday party, a trip to the zoo, or a ride on the school bus. As the event unfolds, concentrate on what happens not only to you but around you. Record in your memory the details of what you experience. Here are some questions to ask yourself:  What do you see?  What can you hear — voices? music?  What can you smell?  What do you taste?  How does the place feel — temperature, textures, etc.?  How do you feel — excited? scared? happy? sad?  What are you thinking?