Do At Home Writing 3rd and 4th Grades
Week Two - Descriptive Writing

This week you are going to work on writing a descriptive story. You will need to get out your notebook to keep your ideas in.

• Has many details
• You can see a picture of it in your mind
• Use lots of words to describe how things look, feel, sound, etc.

• Describe a place that you have visited.
• Describe a person that you know.
• Describe a day at school.
• Describe an exciting adventure that you have had.

Day 1: Prewriting Activities:

Definition of Prewriting: This is when you are getting ready to write. You choose a topic that you want to write about from the prompts above. Use a brainstorming strategy to write down all of the ideas that you can think of on that topic(brainstorms such as: lists, webs, clusters, etc.). Write them down on a piece of paper. Do as many as you can.

Ex. Disneyland: Huge lines, many languages, gigantic rides, beautiful fireworks

Day 2: Rough Draft

Definition of Rough Draft: This is when you start writing all of your ideas down on paper. You use the ideas that you had in your prewriting and you put them down in sentences.

Now you need to take the ideas that you wrote down on your prewrite and use them to write your own rough draft. Make as many sentences on the topic as you can. Be sure to put in lots of describing words.

Day 3: Revising

Definition of Revising: This is when you try to make improvements on your rough draft. Read it over two or three times and look at what you can add or take out. Ask someone else to read it over too and see what they think needs to be changed. You are trying to make your writing better.

Now it is time for you to look over your own rough draft and see what you want to change. What can you add to make your writing better. Where does your story need work on it so that it makes sense and sounds like the stories that you read? Read it several times yourself before you ask someone else to look at it. Write your corrections where they need to be.

Day 4: Editing and Proofreading

Definition of Editing and Proofreading: This is when you add in all of the changes that you thought about in the revising part. You check it over and over for any errors and see if it flows smoothly when you read it. Ask someone else to check it again for you.

Now you need to make your own piece of writing error-free. Be sure to use any reference tools that you might need such as a dictionary or thesaurus. Ask someone else to look it over for anything that you might have missed.

Day 5: Publishing

Definition of Publishing: This is when you write your final copy that is error free. You add your cover or author page and illustrations. You share it by reading to your audience.

Now write your final copy. Add all of the extras that you want to have to make it a published product. Take it to share with the audience of your choice - grandparents, teacher, class, etc.