descriptive writing 5th grade

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Teaching Descriptive Writing in the Upper Elementary Grades

Descriptive writing is one of my favorite units to teach. I love that it gives students lots of room for creativity while also getting them to think critically about a topic or story event. And it reinforces the idea that when we write, we write for the reader – we want to paint a picture in the reader’s mind.

Learning how to “show, not tell” isn’t just important in writing workshop. It also helps students in science (when recording observations) and social studies (when explaining about important people, places, and events).

Teaching Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing won’t be new to your 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders, but it’s still something they need to practice. We don’t want them to write a list of adjective-heavy sentences. We want them to engage the reader while describing in detail a topic or moment in a story. Lots of modeling, practice, and student-made anchor charts are great to use in these lessons.

Some minilessons you might teach include sensory details , figurative language, using specific vocabulary (i.e., vivid verbs, choosing synonyms for overused words, etc.), and varying sentence length and structur e.

Revising is also important since we want students to make sure their writing is cohesive and on topic. Students often think more = better when it comes to descriptive writing, but that’s not always the case. Having opportunities to read their writing aloud and get partner feedback is really helpful.

Use Mentor Texts

Descriptive writing mentor texts are a great way to share concrete examples of “show, not tell”. Owl Moon is a classic go-to, but here are some of my favorite books that may be new to your students!

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I love how Elisha Cooper takes a simple topic and describes it in such detail! Beach , Train , and Farm are great for modeling how to do a deep dive on a topic.

Ten Ways to Hear Snow is one of my new favorite picture books! You can use this charming story to model descriptive and narrative writing and, in particular, sensory language . It’d be great to have students write their own versions on other nature topics.

Another nice mentor text to use is The Night Box . It includes personification, onomatopoeia, similes, and metaphors that add detail to the story. And I love the tie-in to day and night if you want to fit in a quick science review!

Roller Coaster is one more tried-and-true read-aloud to model descriptive details. I like how it’s not just a description of how a coaster looks or how quickly it moves, but also what the people riding it experience.

Come On, Rain works well for teaching sensory language as well as how to write a small moment story. I love how Hesse uses vivid vocabulary to make the reader really feel the heat and the rain!

The Wild Robot is a must-have chapter book for upper elementary classrooms! You can read the whole book or an excerpt to model how sensory language and specific word choice help the reader to easily visualize the setting.

And don’t forget poetry! The Great Frog Race , The Best Part of Me , and collections of haikus and concrete poetry are awesome to use during this unit, too!

Revise Boring Sentences

This one’s so easy, but it works! Have students compare a short sentence with a much more descriptive one. Which one is more interesting/helpful, and why?

Then you can practice taking a short sentence and revising it to make it more descriptive and appealing to the reader. This is a great whole-class kick-off before students write on their own.

Use Picture Prompts

I love using pictures for writing prompts in this unit! Funny photos, landscape pics, photos of food and animals, and even famous paintings are fun to use. I like to use a mix of busy and simple images.

Bring in Media Messages

A descriptive writing unit is an easy place to tie in media messages . You can have students analyze radio commercials, print ads, real estate and catalog listings, etc., to see how the author used descriptive language. And then have them create their own media messages describing favorite products they want people to buy! They LOVE this activity!

I’ve also had students write travel brochures for places we’ve studied (like Virginia’s regions and bodies of water). That’s a perfect way to hit social studies during your writing workshop!

Play a Game

This activity is so simple and it’s always a hit! Have them write a short descriptive paragraph or poem about a food, toy, sport, instrument, place in your community, etc. Display them on desks or make a bulletin board, and then have students try to guess what each describes.

A modified version of “I Spy” is also good practice! You can have students zoom in on tiny details to make it more challenging.

Descriptive Writing Practice

Looking for a resource to use to teach this unit? My forms of writing digital activities walk students through descriptive writing with a sample text, guided practice, editable word lists, checklists, rubrics, and more.

I hope you and your students enjoy your descriptive writing lessons! What other favorite activities do you have to model and teach this form of writing?

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How to Teach Descriptive Writing in Upper Elementary

By Mary Montero

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If you’ve ever read your elementary students’ writing and felt that something was missing, it’s possible that your students are lacking descriptive writing! Before we teach descriptive writing to students, stories often feel flat and bare. But with the help of a few descriptive writing activities, your students can have truly engaging stories!

Here’s my process for turning students’ simple writing into descriptive writing.

Be sure your students are confident in basic sentence structure.

Before you dive in, you want to make sure your students are crystal clear on basic sentence structure and rules, such as what a complete sentence looks like. The reason for this is because descriptive writing adds another layer of complexity. If you students are struggling with writing complete sentences, then that struggle will only worsen with more detailed writing. I have an entire blog post here about how I teach complete sentences to my students ! 

Another tip, if you don’t already have an anchor chart in your classroom or in your students notebooks that review complete sentences, I highly recommend doing that. This will give your students a reference point as you move to more complex writing.

Introduce descriptive language with a mentor sentence (or two).

Before you explain what descriptive writing is, try this easy activity. Give students two different sentences. The first sentence should be really basic. For example: I ate dessert. Then, give students a descriptive sentence that deals with the same topic: I devoured a delicious cheesecake after dinner. Ask students what they notice about these two sentences. How are they different? Which one helps you picture the scene better? What makes it better?

After this introduction, it’s time to introduce more detailed writing. Explain to students that descriptive writing helps the reader visualize what is being written – like a mental picture! We can create that mental picture with specific words.

Look between the two example sentences again. Ask students which verb is more specific. Which sentence contains more detail? Which sentence gives more information? That is the descriptive sentence. You can continue this exercise with several mentor sentences.

At the end of the lesson, you want your students to grasp this knowledge: with descriptive writing, we want vivid verbs, specific nouns, and descriptive adjectives and adverbs. We also want to know the who, when, what or how. This creates the mental image.

Use descriptive writing prompts with students.

After modeling and examples, it’s time for the fun part – writing! With your students first writing practice, you probably want to give them a descriptive writing prompt. This can be a basic sentence to work with or an image. Then, challenge students with creating a descriptive sentence!

I personally find that using picture prompts works best for starting descriptive writing. I have fifteen descriptive writing picture prompts that you can use! These can be printed or used digitally. Each prompt has an image and guides students through selecting specific words to use in their descriptive sentence.

It’s normal for students to struggle at first with descriptive writing. If you notice that they are using some repetitive verbs or adjectives, create a chart with alternatives (ex. alternatives for the word “pretty”) or show students how to find synonyms.

If students are using over-the-top alternatives, such as replacing “pretty” for “prepossessing”, then you definitely want to talk with students about using words they know and feel comfortable using – not just random words from the thesaurus.

More Writing Tips

Writing can be a challenging subject to teach, which is why I’m here to help you along the way. If you want more writing tips , check out my other writing blog posts !

Mary Montero

I’m so glad you are here. I’m a current gifted and talented teacher in a small town in Colorado, and I’ve been in education since 2009. My passion (other than my family and cookies) is for making teachers’ lives easier and classrooms more engaging.

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Examples of Descriptive Writing Using the 5 Senses

What is Descriptive Writing?

Descriptive writing uses details and the five senses to describe a person, place, thing, or event. Proper word choice and the use of adjectives are very important for the reader to create a picture in their mind. Similes and onomatopoeia (sound words) are some other examples of descriptive writing.

Basic Sentence: The leaf fell off the tree.

Detailed Sentence: The yellow leaf fell off the big tree.

Descriptive Writing: SWOOSH! The smooth yellow leaf floated down from the enormous oak tree.

Using the 5 Senses

Using the five senses is one of the best ways to incorporate descriptive writing. Describing sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch will enable the reader to envision the words and better understand the writing. Although it may be difficult to use all five senses, even just using a few will enhance the reader’s experience.

Grab your FREE 5 Senses Charts!

It’s fun to choose one topic and describe it in depth. Look at the list below for some examples of descriptive writing ideas for kids to try.

• Food – pumpkin pie, ice cream, hot chocolate
• Animal – dog, bird, elephant
• Season – winter, spring, summer, fall
• Holiday – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas
• Place – zoo, island, school
• Event – birthday, parade, sporting event

Winter by Mrs. Sutton

Cold harsh wind engulfs me like a tornado.

White fluffy snow falls from the sky.

WHOOSH! The sound of the sled as it races past.

The smell of logs burning in the fireplace.

Sweet hot cocoa hits my tongue.

Autumn is Here by Mrs. Sutton

Bright vibrant red and yellow leaves.

The sound of leaves rustling in the wind.

Cool crisp air surrounds me.

The sweet smell of pumpkin pie as the warmth enters my mouth.

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Describing Personal Events – Fiction or Nonfiction

Use these descriptive writing prompts to let students reflect on their past and future. They will love sharing their lives with the class and using descriptive writing to do so.

• Describe the most interesting person you have ever met.
• Talk about a person you envy in detail. What do they look like or what do they have.
• Describe an inspirational friend or family member.
• Tell us about a place you love to visit with plenty of detail.
• Think of your favorite sport or hobby. Describe an object you would use to play that sport or do that hobby.
• Tell us about the first time you rode a bicycle.
• Imagine you are on a walk or hike, tell us all about it.
• Describe your favorite happy memory.
• What are you like first thing in the morning? Describe it.
• Detail your favorite outfit. Why do you love it so much?
• Describe your own face and what makes you unique.
• What type of music makes you happy? Talk about it in detail.
• Describe a time you felt excited.
• Tell us about a time something totally unexpected happened.
• Describe the house you currently live in (or one you grew up in).

Describing Hypothetical Scenarios

Hypothetical scenarios are super fun to write about. They are a great tool for descriptive writing prompts because they let kids use their imagination a little bit.

• Pretend you came across a spooky place or haunted mansion. Tell us what you see and hear.
• You’re at the art museum. Talk about a piece you see there. It can be a sculpture, painting, or something else.
• You found a lucky object, describe it to us.
• Invent a pet you’ve never had and tell us about it.
• Write about a day at the beach using all five senses.
• Tell us about a trip to an amusement park using all five senses.
• You’re at the zoo! What do you see and hear?
• Imagine you wake up in the hospital. What would you see and hear? What would you do?
• You have to describe Thanksgiving to an alien. How would you tell them what it is?
• It’s a snow day! Talk about what you experienced.
• Tell a time traveler what a smartphone is!
• Imagine you meet someone famous! Who are they and how is your experience?
• Describe a peaceful place you’ve visited or made up.
• Your birthday party is crashed by all sorts of birds! What’s it like?
• Monkeys took over your kitchen to bake a pie. What’s inside?

Describing Food and Other Objects

Food is the perfect way to describe things in our writing. These descriptive writing prompts allow kids to write about the good and bad of food, as well as other objects.

• Your parents served the worst vegetable ever for dinner. Describe it in detail.
• Your sister brought in something nasty from outside. What is it? Tell us all about it.
• The best dessert ever is __________. Tell us how it tastes.
• How is your favorite food made? Use tons of details using the senses.
• How would you describe a field of green grass?
• Tell us what you would do in a field of wildflowers on a summer’s day.
• Describe a normal trip to the grocery store. Walk us through the whole trip.
• What is your least favorite meal? Use details to describe why that is.
• Tell us about your favorite drink. Talk about the color, the taste, and whether it’s hot or cold.
• Something in the trash stinks. What is it?
• You wake up and smell something amazing coming from the kitchen. Tell us what you smell.
• You’re having a campfire with your friends. Describe what you see, hear, smell, and taste.
• What is the most disgusting food you have ever tried?
• You accidentally ate dog food! What’s it taste like?
• Your mom poured you a glass of sour milk on accident! Describe it.

Random Descriptive Writing Prompts

Use these random descriptive writing prompts to get the creative juices flowing in the classroom. Some are silly and some are more serious, but they will all help build students’ writing skills.

• Do you think using descriptive writing is important?
• Describe your bed sheets, pillows, and other objects in your room.
• Tell us about your favorite day. Talk about the weather, what you would wear, where you would go, etc.
• Describe the Fourth of July to someone with tons of detail.
• Walk us through a typical day at school. What might you see, hear, smell, and do?
• Pick your favorite teacher and describe them in detail.
• Use tons of descriptive words to describe a sunset!
• Pick a classmate in the room and write about their best qualities.
• Write a descriptive story using these 3 things: a whole pizza pie, a bucket of slugs, and a pack of wolves.
• Write about how it would feel to sit in the hot summer covered in a blanket.
• Tell us how you imagine it would feel to be trapped in a giant freezer.
• Describe a place you have dreamed about that doesn’t exist.
• Tell us about a trip to the dentist gone wrong!
• Write about something that makes you laugh.
• Tell us about something that annoys you. It could be the sound of someone chewing, noises on the chalkboard, etc.

If you liked these descriptive writing prompt ideas, fill out the form below to have a printable list emailed directly to you so that you always have it!

60 Descriptive Writing Prompt Ideas

This FREE printable list of 60 descriptive writing prompt ideas can be sent straight to your inbox! Simply drop your personal email address below & I’ll send it right over! 

*Using a school email address makes it very likely that you won’t receive your freebi e! 

Use these pre-planned descriptive writing prompts to make your descriptive writing lessons easier! All you have to do is pick one, model it for your students, and let the creative process begin!

To learn more about Teaching Descriptive Writing , check out these fun ideas.

You may also enjoy using my Weekly Descriptive Writing Prompts ! They are available in paper and digital forms. Simply pin the image below to save this post for later!

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Writing a Descriptive Paragraph (Gr. 5)

Must-have graphic organizer for middle-school writing lessons!

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Writing Prompts for 5th Grade

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By fifth grade, students are developing basic fluency as writers. In order to hone their skills, fifth graders should practice supporting claims with factual information, conveying information clearly, and writing narratives in a logical order. The following fifth-grade writing prompts encourage students to develop their skills through topics that are meaningful to them.

Narrative Essay Writing Prompts

Narrative essays tell a story based on a student’s personal experience. They encourage students to use descriptive writing to reflect on their experiences, explain them in a logical manner, and draw conclusions from them.

• New Beginnings . This is your last year of elementary school. What are you most excited or most nervous about when you think of starting middle school ?
• Betwixt . Students in 5th grade are often referred to as “tweens,” meaning that they are between the young child and the teen years. What is the hardest thing about being a tween in today’s society?
• Besties . What is the best book you’ve ever read? What made it so special?
• Reflections . Do you remember your first-ever day of school ? Describe one vivid memory from that day.
• Bullies . Have you ever witnessed someone bullying another student? What happened and how did it make you feel?
• Man’s Best Friend . Do you share a bond with your dog or other pet? Describe your pet, and explain what makes your relationship unique.
• Families . A family isn’t always a mom, a dad, and their children. Write about the ways your family is the same as and different from other types of families and what makes your bonds so strong.
• Holiday Memories . Think about one of your favorite holiday-related memories. Write an essay describing it and tell why it is so unforgettable.
• Guilty . Think about a time you did something that made you feel guilty. Describe what happened.
• The Ultimate Field Trip . If you could choose anywhere in the world to go on a field trip , where would you choose and why?
• Family Game Night . Do you enjoy playing games with your family? Describe your favorite family game or activity.
• Tasty Treats . What is your favorite food? Describe it as if you were introducing it to someone who has never seen or tasted it.
• Someday . Have you thought about what you want to be when you grow up? Write an essay explaining why you think you’d like that career.

Persuasive Essay Writing Prompts

Persuasive essays are those written to convince another person to agree with the writer or take action. These persuasive essay prompts inspire 5th graders to share their passions with an audience.

• Pets Day . You’ve just gone to work with your parent for “bring your child to work day.” Write an essay convincing your school to have a “bring your pet to school” day.
• Yuck . What is your least-favorite cafeteria food? Give three compelling reasons why your school should quit serving it.
• Let’s Trade . Your friend’s lunches from home always look better than yours. Write an essay convincing your buddy that you should start swapping meals every day. Be sure to highlight the benefits of the food you bring!
• Home Alone . Write an essay convincing your parents that you are old enough and responsible enough to stay at home alone.
• Sunny Day . The weather outside is beautiful for the first time in weeks. Persuade your teacher not to assign any homework so that you’ll have time to go out to play.
• The Sequel . The long-awaited sequel to your favorite book or video game is now available. Convince your brother or sister to do your chores this week so that you have plenty of time for reading or gaming.
• Seating Chart . Because of your teacher’s seating chart, you’re not going to be able to sit next to your friend all year! Persuade your teacher to let students choose their seats.
• Birth Order . Are you an only child, the oldest sibling, the youngest, or the middle? What makes your birth order the best?
• The Ultimate Game . What is the best video game on the planet? Explain why it’s better than similar games.
• Life Lessons . What are the three most important lessons parents should teach their children and why?
• Test Time . Do you think standardized tests  are helpful or harmful? Explain your answer.
• Tunes . Some studies have shown that listening to music can help students concentrate. Should students be allowed to listen to music using headphones during independent work times at school? Persuade the reader of your answer.
• Catch-22 . You’re not a big fan of writing. Write an essay  convincing your teacher that you shouldn’t have to write any more essays this year.

Expository Essay Writing Prompts

Expository essays are often called how-to essays. They usually teach the reader something or provide facts about a particular topic.

• Let’s Play . Your family frequently attends community theater productions, but your friend has never seen one. Write an essay describing what he or she can expect during the evening.
• Band . You're graduating elementary school, and a younger student is taking your spot in the school band. Explain to him or her how to clean and care for your  musical instrument .
• Lessons Learned . Write an essay to a younger sibling explaining two or three key strategies for having a positive 5th-grade experience.
• Class Pet . You’ve cared for your class pet this week, but now it’s another classmate’s turn. Explain how to feed and care for the pet properly.
• Upgrade Ahead . You have an idea to improve your school. Explain it.
• Safety Zone . Explain three of the best steps kids can take to be safe online.
• Family Traditions . Does your family have any customs or traditions that might be unfamiliar to a classmate? Describe them.
• Pen Pal . Describe for your pen pal who lives in another state an animal native to your area, including its physical characteristics, behaviors, and any sounds that it makes.
• Creepy Crawlies . Compare and contrast two insects or animals that are similar, but have different characteristics such as a bumblebee and a yellow jacket or a horse and a mule. How are they alike and how are they different?
• Clean Up . Your class is going to spend a day cleaning up at a local park. You’ve done this with another group before, but some of your classmates haven’t. Explain the process.
• Action . Your favorite book was made into a movie. Compare and contrast the film and book versions.
• Team Players . Explain how contributing responsibly helps or how it hurts a group when someone doesn’t do his part.
• Tell and Show . Your class is having a “tell and show” day. You have to describe your item in as much detail as possible without naming it. Only when the class guesses or gives up can you show your item. Write out the description of your item.

Creative Writing Essay Prompts

Creative writing allows students to engage their imaginations and story-telling skills while also practicing vital writing skills such as sequence and description.

• Magic Lamp . You’ve just found a magic lamp. What happens when you rub it?
• Say Cheese . You are given an exceptional camera. Everything you take a picture of becomes yours, but you can only take three pictures. Tell a story about the photos you take.
• Invisible Man . One morning, you glance in the mirror and realize that you don’t have a reflection. You’ve become invisible! Write a story about your day.
• Gone to the Dogs . Write a story from your pet’s point of view.
• All Hail the King . Imagine that you discover an uncharted land that you claim as a new country. And, you’re the ruler! Describe your country, its people, and your newfound position of power.
• Part of the Story . One night, you doze off after reading the latest book in your favorite series. When you wake, you discover that you’re in the story! Write about your adventures.
• Before or After . Imagine that you live either 100 years in the past or 100 years in the future. What is your life like?
• Dr. Doolittle . You’re walking through a pet store when you discover that you can talk to the animals. What happens next?
• Meet and Greet . Imagine that you can meet anyone you’re studying in school right now from famous scientists to historical figures to the characters in the class read-aloud . Write a story about your meeting with that person.
• Switcheroo . If you could switch lives with anyone in your school, who would it be? Write about your day in the life of that person.
• Holiday Loop . Imagine you get to relive your favorite holiday every day. What’s that like?
• Tall Tales . Tall tales are possibly true stories that contain highly exaggerated actions or events. Create a tall tale about something that happened in your family.
• Teacher's Pet . Imagine that your teacher is actually your parent. Describe a day in class.
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