Content Map of Unit Descriptive Paragraph

Content Map of Unit Topic: Descriptive Paragraph Grade: 1st
Key Learnings:
• Adjectives are describing
words.
• We can use our five senses
to describe people, places,
objects, or events.
Unit Essential Questions:
How can I use adjectives to write a
descriptive paragraph?
Optional
Instructional Tools:
Overhead projector, graphic
organizers, writing paper, overhead
transparencies, cookies, lollipops
Concept:
First Practice
Concept:
Second Practice
Concept:
Assessment
Concept:
Lesson Essential Questions:
How can I use adjectives to
write about a place?
Lesson Essential Questions:
How can I use adjectives to
write about an object?
Lesson Essential Questions:
How can I use adjectives to
write a descriptive paragraph?
Lesson Essential
Questions:
( school library)
(cookie)
( lollipop)
Vocabulary: see, smell, touch,
feel, taste, adjectives, describe,
wow words
Vocabulary: see, smell,
touch, feel, taste, adjectives,
describe, wow words
Vocabulary: see, smell,
touch, feel, taste, adjectives,
describe, wow words
Vocabulary:
Additional Information: Lessons will take longer than one day. Advanced students can use more than 4 adjectives in their
paragraphs. Cookies are just one suggested food item. Other possibilities include: popcorn, Hershey kisses, apples.
Grade level: First Participants:

Created By: Joyce McDonald First Grade Library Lesson 1
Essential Question: How can I use adjectives to write about a place?
Activating Strategies:
(Learners Mentally Active)
Acceleration/Previewing:
(Key Vocabulary)
Teaching Strategies:
(Collaborative Pairs;
Distributed Guided Practice;
Distributed Summarizing;
Graphic Organizers)
Review the five senses and discuss how they help us learn about things around us. Then take a walk
through the school’s library. Tell students that during this walk, they should use their senses to make them
aware of how the library smells, looks, feels, and sounds. (If it is not possible to walk through the library,
have them close their eyes and try to remember the last time they were in the library.
see, hear, smell, touch, taste, adjectives, describe, “wow” words
• After taking the walk, show students the overhead story, “The Library”, and have them read it aloud.
Explain that it is a good story and makes sense, but it is not very interesting. It sounds boring
because it does not have any “wow” words. “Wow” words are called adjectives and they tell about
how things look, feel, taste, smell, and sound. They make stories a lot more interesting to read.
Explain that students can use their senses to help them think of words that describe the school’s
library.
• Distribute the web graphic organizer and make a large one on the board or chart. Point to the “see”
box and ask students to think of words that describe how the library looked. As students give their
answers, write them in the box. Instruct them to fill in their graphic organizer as you complete the
one on the board. Continue this procedure for the “hear”, “smell”, and “feel” boxes. Students may
need some guidance with the “feel” box. Generate a discussion about the library being cold, hot,
friendly, cozy, etc.
• Next, reread the adjectives in the web and discuss how they would have made the overhead story a
lot more interesting. Tell students that we will now try to write a story about the library using some
of the “wow” words on the web. Explain that although there are several good adjectives on the web,
we cannot use all of them. Say, “Today we will choose 4 adjectives to put into our stories.” Choose
students to pick one adjective from each box and place a star beside it. Instruct students to mark the
same words in their boxes.
• Set the timer for 3 minutes and have partners read the 4 chosen adjectives and make up possible
sentences to use in their stories.
• Next, distribute writing paper. Say,” Now we are ready to write an interesting story about our
library.” You may or may not want to guide them into writing a topic sentence such as, “I like our

school’s library.” Then point to the starred word in the “see” box. Ask, “Who can give me a
sentence using this adjective?” After hearing several ideas, write one on the board. Have class copy
onto their writing paper. Remind them to use the editing checklist.
• Continue in this manner, one sentence at a time. You may or may not choose to have students write
a concluding sentence.
• When the story is finished, choose students to read it aloud. Then reread the first story on the
overhead. Have students vote by showing thumbs up or thumbs down on which story sounded
better. Ask, “Why did the story we wrote sound better than the first one?”
Distributed Guided Practice/
Summarizing Prompts:
(Prompts Designed to Initiate
Periodic Practice or
Summarizing)
• Students can work in pairs and read the stories to each other. They can use a yellow crayon to
highlight all the “wow” words in the story. Partners may also edit each others papers using the
editing checklist.
Summarizing Strategies:
(Learners Summarize &
Answer Essential Question)
• Practice answering the essential question.
• TOD: Choose a student to read an adjective from the “see” box, from the “smell” box, etc.

Transparency One First Grade
The Library
I like the school library. It
has books. It is fun.

First Grade
See Smell
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
My Library
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Touch / Feel Hear
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

Name_______________________________________ Date_________________
First Grade Descriptive Paragraph Lesson 1
Library Rubric School _____________________________
Task
Component
4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Total
Adjectives
Uses 4 or more
adjectives correctly.
Uses 3 adjectives
correctly.
Uses 2 adjectives
correctly.
Uses 0-1 adjective
correctly.
Sentences
Writes 4 or more
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes at least 3
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes at least 2
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes 0-1 complete
sentence with no
words omitted.
Capitalization
All sentences begin
with a capital letter.
At least 3 sentences
begin with a capital
letter.
At least 2 sentences
begin with a capital
letter.
0-1 sentence begins
with a capital letter.
Punctuation
All sentences end with
the correct
punctuation.
At least 3 sentences
end with the correct
punctuation.
At least 2 sentences
end with the correct
punctuation.
0-1 sentence ends
with the correct
punctuation.
Total

Created By: Joyce McDonald First Grade Lesson Plan 2
Essential Question: How can I use adjectives to write about something?
Activating Strategies:
(Learners Mentally Active)
Acceleration/Previewing:
(Key Vocabulary)
Teaching Strategies:
(Collaborative Pairs;
Distributed Guided Practice;
Distributed Summarizing;
Graphic Organizers)
Distributed Guided Practice/
Summarizing Prompts:
(Prompts Designed to Initiate
Periodic Practice or
Summarizing)
Remind students that using adjectives can make our stories about places be much more interesting. Explain
that we can also use “wow” words to tell about things. Give each child a cookie and a cookie graphic
organizer. Place a large one on the board or on a chart.
Web, graphic organizer, adjective, describe, describing words, “wow” words, see, hear, touch/feet, smell,
taste
• Starting with the “see” box, ask students to think of describing words that tell how the cookie looks.
Write several of their responses in the box on the board. Students write as many as possible on their
graphic organizer.
• Continue this procedure, filling in every box, ending with the “taste” box. After students have eaten
their cookies, explain that they will now write a story describing their cookie.
• Explain that although there are many great adjectives on the graphic organizer, they can only choose 4.
Instruct them to put a star beside the adjective in each box that they want to use. (Advanced students
may be able to use more than four or may combine two adjectives in one sentence)
• Partners may work together and read their chosen “wow” words.
• Tell the students, “Now that you have chosen your adjectives, you are ready to write. Choose 1 of your
starred adjectives and write a sentence with it. Remember to use the editing checklist when you finish
your sentence.”
• Continue in this manner, one sentence at a time, until students have written one sentence for every
starred word in their web. You may or may not want to guide them in writing a concluding sentence.
•
• Working in pairs, partners read their stories to each other.
• Using bingo markers, chips, etc, partners read each others stories and place a marker on all the
“wow” words.

Summarizing Strategies:
(Learners Summarize &
Answer Essential Question)
• TOD Answer the essential question. (I used my senses to help me think of describing words.)

First Grade
See Smell
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
My Cookie
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Touch/Feel Taste
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

Name_______________________________________ Date_________________
First Grade Descriptive Paragraph Lesson 2
Rubric Cookie School _____________________________
Task
Component
4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Total
Adjectives
Uses 4 or more
adjectives correctly.
Uses 3 adjectives
correctly.
Uses 2 adjectives
correctly.
Uses 0-1 adjective
correctly.
Sentences
Writes 4 or more
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes at least 3
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes at least 2
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes 0-1 complete
sentence with no
words omitted.
Capitalization
All sentences begin
with a capital letter.
At least 3 sentences
begin with a capital
letter.
At least 2 sentences
begin with a capital
letter.
0-1 sentence begins
with a capital letter.
Punctuation
All sentences end with
the correct
punctuation.
At least 3 sentences
end with the correct
punctuation.
At least 2 sentences
end with the correct
punctuation.
0-1 sentence ends
with the correct
punctuation.
Total

Created By: Joyce McDonald First Grade Assessment Lesson Plan
Essential Question: How can I use adjectives to write a descriptive story?
Activating Strategies:
(Learners Mentally Active)
Acceleration/Previewing:
(Key Vocabulary)
Teaching Strategies:
(Collaborative Pairs;
Distributed Guided Practice;
Distributed Summarizing;
Graphic Organizers)
Distributed Guided Practice/
Summarizing Prompts:
(Prompts Designed to Initiate
Periodic Practice or
Summarizing)
ell the students:” We have used our senses to help us think of adjectives to describe our library and a
cookie. Today we are going to use our senses to write about something else you may like to eat. Start
writing the letters in “lollipop” on the board slowly and allow students opportunities to guess.
adjectives, describe, describing words, see, touch/feel, smell, hear, taste, “wow” words
• Give each student a lollipop and a lollipop graphic organizer. Display or make a large one on the board.
As they lick their lollipop, ask students to name “wow” words that describe the way it feels, tastes,
smells, and looks.
• Write their suggestions on the board in the correct boxes. Students may copy those on the board or may
use some of their own adjectives. When each box is complete, instruct them to place a star beside the 4
adjectives they want to put in their stories.
• Instruct students to work independently to write a descriptive story about their lollipop. Write one
sentence at a time using the starred words on their graphic organizers. (Advanced students may use
more than four or may combine two adjectives into one sentence.)
• Remind students of the editing checklist and rubric.
Summarizing Strategies:
(Learners Summarize &
Answer Essential Question)
• Descriptive paragraph writing assessment will be graded according to the rubric.

First Grade
See Taste
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
My Lollipop
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Touch Smell
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

Name_______________________________________ Date_________________
First Grade Descriptive Paragraph Assessment Rubric School _____________________________
Task
Component
4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Total
Adjectives
Uses 4 or more
adjectives correctly.
Uses 3 adjectives
correctly.
Uses 2 adjectives
correctly.
Uses 0-1 adjective
correctly.
Sentences
Writes 4 or more
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes at least 3
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes at least 2
complete sentences
with no words
omitted.
Writes 0-1 complete
sentence with no
words omitted.
Capitalization
All sentences begin
with a capital letter.
At least 3 sentences
begin with a capital
letter.
At least 2 sentences
begin with a capital
letter.
0-1 sentence begins
with a capital letter.
Punctuation
All sentences end with
the correct
punctuation.
At least 3 sentences
end with the correct
punctuation.
At least 2 sentences
end with the correct
punctuation.
0-1 sentence ends
with the correct
punctuation.
Total

Teacher’s Name ________________________________________ First Grade Assessment: Descriptive Paragraph
School ________________________________________________ Month ____________________
Student’s Name Adjectives Sentences Capitalization Punctuation Average
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21
Class Average

School: _____________________
Teacher: ____________________
Principal’s Report
First Grade: Assessment Three – Descriptive Paragraph
Task Components
Adjectives
Sentences
Capitalization
Punctuation
Average for all components
Class Average Scores