Language and Grammar: Describe People, Places, and Things

Pair Talk Describe to a partner a familiar person, place, or thing from your life. Have your partner draw what he or she “sees” from your descriptive adjectives. Trade roles.

My sister Tina is tall. She has brown, curly hair and blue eyes.

Writing and Grammar: Write About People, Places, and Things

Study the Models When you write about people, places, and things, use colorful, descriptive words to bring them to life. Adding descriptive details helps readers see the people, places, and things in their minds.

Just Ok

Mia put on her blue dress and walked out into the small garden. Today her grandson Jamie was coming to visit. Mia cut some flowers and put them into a glass vase and put it on the table. She took her keys from the desk. Then she drove to the airport to get Jamie.

The reader thinks: “I can’t really see what Mia and her garden look like.”

Better

Mia put on her new, blue dress and combed her short, white hair. She walked into her small garden, where a buzzing, fuzzy, yellow bee zoomed above a fluffy dandelion. Mia hummed a cheerful tune as she cut some sweet-smelling flowers. Today her youngest grandson Jamie was coming to visit! Mia put the blossoms into a tall, glass vase and placed it on the shiny, wooden table in the kitchen. She took the keys to her old, red truck off the cluttered desk and drove to the airport to get Jamie.

Now the writer uses colorful adjectives. The reader can picture Mia and the places.

Add Sentences Think of two sentences to add to the BETTER model above. Be sure to use descriptive words to help bring the writing to life.

Illustration of the pen icon WRITE ON YOUR OWN Write about a person, place, or thing. Be sure to use colorful adjectives to help readers see who, where, or what you are writing about.

    Remember

  • • Adjectives usually come before the nouns they describe.

  • • Use a comma to separate two or more adjectives that describe the same noun.