Reading/Language Arts
Grade 6
Descriptive Words and Phrases
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Dear Parent or Guardian:
Your son or daughter is currently learning to use words and phrases
to describe a person, place, object, or animal. Here is your chance
to help him or her practice this important skill.
In this PAL Packet you will find a short activity for you and your
son or daughter to do. Please do the activity and The Back Page
this evening. Then sign your name on The Back Page and have your
son or daughter return it tomorrow.
Thanks for your help.
Sincerely,
________________________
Your son or daughter’s teacher
Grade 6 – Descriptive Words and Phrases
© 2004 Evans Newton Incorporated
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USING DESCRIPTIVE WORDS AND PHRASES
Parent Pointer —
As a writer, it is important to use words, phrases, and sentences that
stimulate a reader’s interest. To do this, writers use descriptive
language to paint a colorful picture. Descriptive language uses vivid or
sensory details to describe people, places, things, or ideas. These
sensory details are meant to appeal to one of the five senses (sight,
smell, sound, taste, touch) to help the reader see, smell, hear, taste,
and feel the subject. Using these sensory details to describe a
subject is essential to writing an effectively descriptive paragraph or
story. An author also uses descriptive details to describe characters
and settings in stories he or she writes.
Reading In the Home, On the Go, and For the Fun of It —
DIRECTIONS: With your parent or partner, read and discuss the
ideas presented in the Writing with Descriptive Details page. Then
choose a subject (e.g., person, place, object, animal) and write it in the
center of the Something to Describe! page. Fill in the surrounding
bubbles with descriptive details that help describe the subject using
each of the five senses. Use the Writing with Descriptive Details page
to help you.
On the Descriptive Sentences page, write five complete sentences
about the subject you chose, one for each of the senses, using the
descriptive words and phrases you wrote in the bubbles. Read the
completed sentences to your parent or partner.
Talk About It —After you have finished the activity, turn to The
Back Page to show what you know.
Now go have some fun with the activity!(
Grade 6 – Descriptive Words and Phrases
© 2004 Evans Newton Incorporated
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Writing with Descriptive Details
Descriptive details (words and phrases) are used to tell, in “story”
form, how something or someone . . .
feels or what something feels like
±
hears or how something sounds
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sees or how something looks
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smells or what something smells like
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tastes or what something tastes like
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These details should be strong, vivid, colorful, and appealing to
the reader, as well as to the writer. When using these details in
this way, the following will occur:
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The writer’s style will be improved by using the best
word(s) to describe the subject.
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The writer’s words will have meaning, feeling, sight, and
sound because of using the best descriptive words.
±
The subject of a story will be more interesting,
appealing, and clear to a reader because a writer uses
strong and effective adjectives (modifiers).
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The story or paragraph will be more interesting, clear,
and creative because a writer uses figurative language.
Grade 6 – Descriptive Words and Phrases
© 2004 Evans Newton Incorporated
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Writing with Descriptive Details
(Continued)
Avoid using adjectives that are frequently used such as:
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bad
±
fun
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great
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pretty
± big
± funny
± neat
± small
± cute
± good
± nice
Instead, use adjectives such as:
±
terrible
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entertaining
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impressive
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attractive
± enormous
± hilarious
± efficient
± insignificant
± adorable
± delightful
± pleasant
These words give greater meaning to the description and make
the descriptions more pleasing and interesting to the reader.
Examples of Figurative Language:
simile - compares two different things using like or as
±
Example: The car was as yellow as the bright, midday sun.
metaphor - compares two different things without using
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like or as
Example: The falling hail was a popcorn machine.
personification - an idea, object, or animal is given
±
characters of a person
Example: The exhausted dog slept like a newborn baby.
Grade 6 – Descriptive Words and Phrases
© 2004 Evans Newton Incorporated
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Something to Describe!
Grade 6 – Descriptive Words and Phrases
© 2004 Evans Newton Incorporated
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Descriptive Sentences
Descriptive Sentence #1 - Sight
Descriptive Sentence #2 - Smell
Descriptive Sentence #3 - Sound
Descriptive Sentence #4 - Taste
Descriptive Sentence #5 - Touch
Grade 6 – Descriptive Words and Phrases
© 2004 Evans Newton Incorporated
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The Back Page
Talk About It
Parent —
Ask your son or daughter the following questions:
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Why is it important to use descriptive details when
writing a story?
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What should a writer include in a descriptive story to
make it interesting and clear to the reader?
Student —
Answer the above questions in complete sentences on the
reverse side of this page.
OR
Do one of the following activities (use the reverse side of
this page if needed):
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Write a descriptive paragraph about the subject
discussed in the previous two pages.
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Write a descriptive story about a character from your
favorite book.
__________________________ __________________________
Student’s Name
Parent or Guardian’s Signature
Grade 6 – Descriptive Words and Phrases
© 2004 Evans Newton Incorporated
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