Sad, depressed, miserable, inconsolable, forlorn: so many synonyms have a lot of variety with their connotations. Through the guided imagery activity, writers explore the use of connotation and its influence on imagery and description by reading an excerpt of Words by Heart and describing an experience of their own. The activity also offers teachers a great opportunity to examine second person point of view. Clever for using Words by Heart as a model, the second activity out of six has learners begin to write like professionals and make their readers feel as if their writing is coming to life. 

Concepts

prereading, reading strategies, imagery, descriptive writing

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Conduct the lesson as a writer's workshop
• Compare the imagery in Words by Heart to another excerpted work. What do the writers have in common? How are they different? 
• Show the class a model before their timed writing to set expectations

Classroom Considerations

• Have class seated in rows to promote individual work

Pros

• All resources needed are attached, including an excerpt of the text
• Activity promotes creative thinking and is differentiated in nature

Cons

• None

Common Core

W.6.3.a W.7.3.a W.8.3.a