多くの親が、子どもの作文を上達させる最も早い方法は何かと私たちに尋ねます。. 私たちは、真に有能で熟練したライターになるための近道はないと固く信じていますが、, 生徒がより効率的に次のレベルに進むために文章に組み込めることがいくつかあります. Like with anything trying to be mastered, the key to success lies in hard work and repetition. Practicing these skills regularly will help your child reach their educational goals.
This article will be the first in a series of articles that will focus on skills suited for different types of writing. This week, we will focus on descriptive writing tips.
Descriptive Writing Tips:
Descriptive writing is a true art form, as its purpose should be to create an image in the minds of the readers. One cannot tell a story on action and dialogue alone, and one cannot convey deep meaning and emotion in a poem without painting a picture with his or her words.
One powerful way to excel in description is to add adjectives and adverbs wherever possible. For example, if your child is writing a story he or she might write something like:
“Harry went outside and started looking for his friends.”
While this sentence conveys a basic meaning, it’s effect on the reader is also basic. By adding descriptive language in the form of adjectives and adverbs, we can quickly and effectively add imagery to the sentence:
“Harry zipped out the front door, slamming it shut behind him. His heart raced as he ran around the neighborhood eagerly looking for his friends.”
In the revised sentence, we see descriptions that tell us not only the action that is taking place, but also helping us feel the emotion of the character, an important aspect of storytelling.
Another great way to make a story or poem more effective is by adding figurative language, such as similes. Similes are comparisons that use like or as that can be used to help the reader imagine what is happening more clearly.
For example, your child might write something like:
I was so happy!
It was so cute!
He was so scared!
We can add similes to help create an even better result:
I was as happy as a a kitten in a yarn shop.
It was a cute as a baby panda playing in the snow.
He was as scared as a rabbit that just heard a wolf howl.
Our final tip for descriptive writing is to choose vocabulary that is so precise that it communicates exactly what the writer wants the reader to feel. Often, students will write descriptions that are a bit vague, with sentences like:
He was very tired.
The movie was very boring.
They were very cold.
The room very hot.
Again, these sentences convey a simple meaning, but in descriptive writing, that is simply not enough. Effective description uses vocabulary that has an impact, and we can achieve that by choosing only the best words to convey the most exact meaning.
See how we can take the sentences above from ordinary to extraordinary by replacing part of the sentence with powerful vocabulary:
He was exhausted.
The movie was unimaginative.
They were chilled to the bone.
The room was roasting.
The good news is that your child doesn't need to rely on his or her current vocabulary knowledge in order to succeed in creating sentences like those above. The thesaurus has all of the words they need to create memorable descriptions.
We hope these tips have been helpful! If you would like for your child to learn how to put these skills into practice with one of our passionate educators, stay tuned for coming announcements on our new summer and fall courses!
Next week, we’ll have a look at persuasive writing tips!
