Year 7 - English
Using vocabulary choices, similes, and metaphors to plan descriptive writing
Step into the unknown: fiction reading and creative writing
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils develop their fiction reading and creative writing by reading extracts from famous fiction and then emulating key techniques in their own writing. They start by securing and extending their knowledge of key sentence grammar, before reading and emulating the extracts.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to create a plan for a piece of effective descriptive writing based on an image using vocabulary choices, similes and metaphors for effect.
Key Notes
- Planning before you write will support you to demonstrate skill in key areas and ensure your piece is cohesive.
- Supporting details describe the focus of each paragraph in more detail – using sensory detail (at least 3 senses).
- Similes and metaphors are effective in descriptive writing because they help the reader to picture the scene.
- Choose verbs or adjectives that work together to create an overall atmosphere.
Vocabulary To Learn
- Plan: A set of actions that have been thought of as a way to do or achieve something.
- Atmosphere: The feeling or sense evoked by an environment or setting.
- Descriptive: Describing something in an interesting and detailed way.
- Evoke: To bring (a memory, feeling, image, etc.) into the mind.
- Mood: The general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- That there is a set formula to follow when it comes to choosing what to focus on in an image.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Planning before you write will support you to demonstrate skill in key areas and ensure your piece is cohesive. Supporting details describe the focus of each paragraph in more detail – using sensory detail (at least 3 senses).
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'Plan'
A set of actions that have been thought of as a way to do or achieve something.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: That there is a set formula to follow when it comes to choosing what to focus on in an image. Correction: When looking at an image for descriptive writing, you should think about what catches your eye and then focus on those elements.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Analysing and emulating Baum's use of unknown characters in 'The Wizard of Oz' Study Guide
- Analysing character in an unseen extract from Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird' Study Guide
- Analysing Dorothy's return from the unknown in Baum's 'The Wizard of Oz' Study Guide
- Considering sensory language in Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird' Study Guide
- Considering sentence structures in Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird' Study Guide
- Considering strategies for refining and editing your descriptive writing Study Guide
- Contrasting the everyday and the unknown settings in Baum's 'The Wizard of Oz' Study Guide
- Contrasting the familiar and the unknown in your descriptive writing Study Guide
- Developing explanations in analytical writing about Akala's 'The Dark Lady' Study Guide
- Developing your explanation of quotations from 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' Study Guide
- Drafting a piece of descriptive writing on 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' Study Guide
- Explaining and emulating how Bilan uses light in 'Asha and the Spirit Bird' Study Guide
- Explaining how Akala uses patterns of language for effect in 'The Dark Lady' Study Guide
- Explaining how Burnett presents the garden setting in 'The Secret Garden' Study Guide
- Identifying and emulating Baum's use of pathetic fallacy in 'The Wizard of Oz' Study Guide
- Meeting a fantastical creature in Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird' Study Guide
- Practising planning and writing a detailed description based on an image Study Guide
- Responding to an unseen extract from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' Study Guide
- Responding to an unseen extract from Burnett's 'The Secret Garden' Study Guide
- Responding to key images in an unseen extract from Akala's 'The Dark Lady' Study Guide
- Revising topic sentences and selecting precise evidence from 'The Dark Lady' Study Guide
- Using adjectives and semantic fields to plan and write descriptive paragraphs Study Guide
- Using adverbs, subordinate clauses and compound sentences in descriptive writing Study Guide
- Using ambitious language and colour imagery to improve your descriptive writing Study Guide
- Using dashes, colons, and commas for effect in descriptive writing Study Guide
- Using figurative language and structure to create an unsettling atmosphere Study Guide
- Using precise evidence from Burnett's 'The Secret Garden' to support an idea Study Guide
- Using sensory language and figurative language to create an atmospheric setting Study Guide
- Using simple, compound and complex sentences in descriptive writing Study Guide
- Writing clear analytical paragraphs about Bilan's 'Asha and the Spirit Bird' Study Guide
- Writing complete sentences and correcting sentence fragments Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 7 English guide library.