New El-Quds American School

Lower Grade Department

English Language Arts
Grade 5

Name: …………………………………………………….

Class: …………………………………

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One of the most important things to

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✓ Which one is clearer?
The description in the The descriptions in
first example (labeled A) the second example
tells you what is (labeled B) create
happening but it does images in the reader’s
not create pictures in mind and allow them to
the reader’s mind. experience it fully.

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 Descriptive Writing
How to Structure Descriptive Writing

To describe a person, place or thing so that your writing

creates a picture in the reader’s mind.

Start your descriptive writing with a topic sentence that clearly says what your writing is
about. Explain clearly who or what you are describing. Remember to start your first sentence
in an interesting way to hook your readers and make them want to keep reading!
You can do this in several ways, such as some interesting adjectives, a feeling, an emotion or
exclamation, an exclamatory sentence, a rhetorical question, a funny or factual statement,
etc.

Each body paragraph should be a description of a key part of what you are
describing and gives your reader the sense of being there. An easy way to do this is by using
the senses:
• Sights
• Sounds
• Smells
• Tastes
• Touch
You can write in detail about each sense to make sure that your reader has a full idea of
what you are describing. The best way of describing something is show, don’t tell.
To describe a person, you should consider two things:
1. The physical appearance 2. The personality characteristics

Finish your writing with a conclusion that can summarize what you have just described.
End your paragraph with a closing sentence. Sometimes it helps to add a thought, or
something else you noticed.

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Descriptive Writing Checklist

Features of Descriptive Writing ✓

Choose the best adjectives, nouns and verbs for the
description.

Use a variety of conjunctions to add detail.

Use the same tense during the whole description.

Use a variety of sentence types (simple, compound and

complex).

Use some of the five senses to help the reader create an

image in their mind.

Use a variety of sentence starters to keep the reader

engaged.

Check punctuation, spelling and capital letters.

Group similar ideas into paragraphs.

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We can describe people through:
1. The physical appearance The personality characteristics
a. Height and weight
a. Character and Behavior
b. Age
c. Color and shape of the eye
d. Hair
e. Skin
f. General aspect

1. The physical appearance

a. Height
short - medium height - tall
b. build (weight)
skinny – thin – slim – plump – chubby – fat - medium-built - muscular/well-built
c. Age
baby – child – teenager - young adult - middle-aged - old
d. Color and shape of the eye
1. shape: big - round - large – small – bright – narrow – Asian – upturned –
downturned – hooded - almond - deep
2. color: blue – gray – brown – dark – green – hazel
e. Color and shape of the face
round – oval – square – heart – triangle – diamond – wrinkles – freckle - sun-tanned
– beard – moustache - dimples
f. Hair
1. length: short - shoulder length - medium length - long
2. style: bald – straight – curly – spiky - wavy
3. color: black - dark brown - light brown – blonde – redhead - grey
g. Skin
pale – fair – olive – tanned - light brown - dark

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h. General aspect

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2. The personality characteristics

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Example describing a person:

My name is John. I study in class 5C. I have many friends, whether in my

neighborhood, or at school. Despite this large number of friends and
acquaintances, I can say that I tend to have a few personalities, perhaps one or
two people. I find them different from their behavior and personality. The best of
them is my friend Adam.

I find Adam a person who appreciates the meaning of friendship and cares a lot about my feelings
and what I tell him. His best characteristic is that he listens carefully to what I tell him and answers me
with the best advice that anyone can advise me. I feel that he is my brother whenever he advises
me and guides me to the right path.

Also, I can tell him my secrets without fear of revealing these secrets. He is also excellent at speaking
and making funny jokes, and he can speak on any topic fluently.

When it comes to discussions, he is so flexible. He is not one of the arguing personalities who wants to
prove themselves that they are always right, or tell you what they see and like to force you to be
convinced with their point of view. Rather, he is a rational person and tends to have a reasoning
persuasive side based on evidence and realistic events.

So, I like to spend all my time with him.

First: describe a person with good characteristics:

Example:
My brother is tall. His length is 190 cm, and his weight is 80 kg. He is very
muscular; he likes to exercise. He also eats healthy food and goes to the gym
three times a week.

His favorite game is football, so he joined the football team at school. He trains
seriously with the rest of the team. Last week, there was a match between my
brother’s football team and another school football team; my brother won. The
coach praised my brother because he is characterized by his fast running, high concentration, a
collaborator who likes to cooperate with the rest of the team.

My brother is an ambitious person, he likes to be a famous football player, and joins a famous club, so
he trains a lot, and listens to the guidance of his coach well.

Second: – describe a person with bad characteristics:

Example:

My friend in the classroom is nervous. He is always angry. He always speaks out loud, and fights
a lot with others. He is muscular, and he practices violent sports.

He loves wrestling sport and hurts his friends so much. He shamelessly pronounces bad words, so we
made a complaint to the principal. We wrote in the complaint all the bad deeds happen from him.
The school director punished him, and advised him to be quiet and gentle with his friends.

Now he is polite and kind. He begins to loves his friends a lot and spends weekends with them. We
are delighted by his new behavior.

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1. Describe the strangest person you ever met.

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2. Describe an inspiring teacher.

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3. Describe a family member.

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 4. Describe a famous person.
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