The method of group discussion to make a vocabulary list for writing can be used in the creation of all kinds of writing assignments as listed and then discussed below:
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-description of a small object that the child thinks of as a city thing
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a hat to a uniform
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a gun (they all come up with this one)
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sneakers
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a bench
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a Walkman
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a hooded sweater
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-description of a larger object
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a dump truck
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a tree on the Green
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a stop sign
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a traffic light
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-description of a building
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(one time the interior only, another the exterior only)
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your school
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your church
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the courthouse
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your building or house
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-description of a city employee
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a policeman
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a street person
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a businessman
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a teacher
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-a city event a parade
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people hanging on the street
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a group of school children people waiting on line
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leaving a theater
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on a bus
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on the Green
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joggers
The thing that must be done in all of the above assignments is to make close observations before any form of writing is done, but to constantly refer to the thing described in all stages of the writing. Some students might choose to treat this as a stream of consciousness or freewriting assignment written at the site of the object, person, scene or event. The above list is basically in order of difficulty with the easier thing to observe or experience first. Start small with all students, and through a series of assignments work up to the bigger subjects.
For the first descriptive assignment a single object should be brought in for careful examination. For a group of your students a photograph of the object may be sufficient. The object should be defined with the following characteristics
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size—relative to other things
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shape -overall shape
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- shape of its parts relative position of its part
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color(s)
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materials texture(s), temperature—investigated by touch
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identifying marks
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Basic vocabulary for these areas must be taught through even eighth grade level. For example, a can of spray paint used to make that mural on a city building:
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size: about the size of a quart of milk
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shape: cylindrical (All the solid geometric shapes should be listed and illustrated) with a small cone on its top and a concave recession on its bottom a tiny cylinder on the top of the cone that has one hole along the side texture: smooth and shiny, painted metal sides, etc.
For a few days I brought in a box of objects in a brown paper bag. One student would take the hidden object outside to examine it and would then return to describe her mystery object to the class while a second student was to draw the object on the board based solely on the first student’s description. Again, size and basic shape must come first. The student who did the describing will modify and add details until the “illustrator” can draw the thing. The students (fifth through eighth) found this activity challenging and fun.
This past year I had the students describe a typical city object as a homework assignment. They agreed to only when I agreed to try to guess their mystery object from their descriptions. Because in most of the pieces an essential detail (e.g. It’s bigger than a car) was regularly left out, I was guessing for hours. Next time I’ll have them switch papers, ask each other for the missing clues and thereby edit each other’s works, learn to be more specific (to assume nothing) and to also have some fun playing this guessing game.
Each of the books included in this paper’s bibliography has at least one piece that describes a thing, and/or a place and in vivid detail. See the books on writing included in the annotated bibliography below for many brief descriptions of city objects, places and experiences, for example David Dillon’s “Writing: Experience and Expression” and Mayfield’s book which has a lesson on describing a photograph of a woman sitting and reading in a bookstore—a great example of describing a city thing. Gerald Levin’s collection of short essays has the largest number of prose pieces that would work well as models for this assignment. Of course, any book on the city will provide you with many descriptive passages.