Use the Five Senses to Describe a Picnic

Before the senses page, go outside or into the kitchen and name one thing for each sense together. Read the verb choices aloud in the sentence to hear which fits. Use the planner to write a short paragraph afterward.

Sort the sense details of a picnic description by sense, then add a sound and a smell detail. A sensory detail tells what you see, hear, smell, taste or touch. The directions on the page read: Read the picnic description. Then, write each underlined detail in the row for the sense it uses. Then, add one sound detail and one smell detail of your own. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 3rd Grade writing process, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with descriptive language. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Telling names a feeling, like Mia was scared. Showing gives clues so the reader figures it out, like Mia's hands shook as she held the rail. The show, not tell page pairs telling and showing sentences so children see the difference.

Sense details let a reader see, hear, smell, taste and feel a place. Most children only write what they see, so the picnic page asks them to sort details by sense and then add a sound and a smell of their own.

A strong verb shows exactly how something happens. Kicked, raced or dove tells more than went or got (L.3.3.A). The soccer page has children pick the stronger verb, then use strong verbs in two sentences about another sport.

Three of the four sheets have an answer key. The place description planner has no key, since each child describes their own kitchen or park.

It is the set of steps writers use: plan, draft, revise, edit and share. CCSS W.3.5 asks 3rd graders to strengthen their writing with guidance from adults and peers by planning, revising and editing. These sheets give each step its own page, so a child can practice one step at a time.

Revising changes what the writing says: adding details, putting events in order or cutting a sentence that does not belong. Editing fixes the rules: capital letters, commas, end marks and spelling. Revise first, since there is no point fixing commas in a sentence that may be cut.

Talk the topic through first, then have your child fill the organizer with words and short phrases, not full sentences. The plan becomes the draft on lined paper. Keep the planner beside the draft so your child can check that every part made it in.

18 of the 28 sheets have an answer key, including every revising and editing page. The 10 planners and open writing pages have no key, since each child writes about their own ideas. For those, check that every box is filled and the plan fits the topic.